The Crocodile

Interesting Facts

• «The Crocodile» is a satirical work in which Dostoevsky mocks the bureaucracy and social order of his time.
• The main character, Ivan Matveich, ends up in the stomach of a crocodile but continues to live and even engage in conversations, serving as an allegory for the absurdity and ridiculousness of certain social phenomena.
• The work was written in 1865 and first published in the magazine «Epoch», which was edited by Dostoevsky's brother, Mikhail.
• «The Crocodile» was intended as the first part of a cycle of satirical stories, but subsequent parts were never written.
• The story is filled with elements of grotesque and fantasy, making it unique in Dostoevsky's oeuvre, as he usually wrote in a more realistic style.