Which of the following should not be taken literally and must be understood as a whole?

a. conflict
b. idiom
c. characterization
d. interpretation

B. Idioms should not be taken literally and must be understood as a whole.
For example: it's raining cats and dogs.
It's not really raining cats and dogs - you need to know this idiom in order to understand that it means there are some heavy rains outside.