The Crocodile

Author: Dostoevsky

Translated by Sami Al-Droobi

An exceptionally satirical novel in which Fyodor Dostoevsky reveals the absurdity of social and intellectual reality through an improbable incident treated as entirely normal.

A civil servant is swallowed alive by a crocodile, yet he does not die; instead, he finds himself in a state of strange comfort and tranquility, to the extent that he refuses to leave and continues to perform his intellectual and administrative duties from inside the crocodile.

From this absurd situation, Dostoevsky weaves a scathing critique of society, prevailing economic and social ideas, and the bureaucratic mind that justifies oppression, adapts to the irrational, and even defends it.

The novel is not merely an amusing tale, but a satirical mirror revealing how humans can coexist with their suffocation if they convince themselves that it serves "the public interest" or "the greater idea."

"The Crocodile" is a short work in size, but profound in its meaning, proving that satire can sometimes be more eloquent than tragedy, and that laughter can hide the deepest forms of critique and awareness.