Trapped in Capitalism’s Mouth: A Marxist Analysis of “The Crocodile”
Keywords:
Capitalism, close reading, Marxist theory, symbolism, class struggleAbstract
In the Crocodile, Fyodor Dostoevsky uses satire to critique societal systems and human behavior through a surreal and absurd event. This research paper applies close reading and Friedrich Engels' Marxist theory to analyze how the story critiques capitalism, bureaucracy, and social exploitation. The crocodile symbolizes capitalism as a system that consumes individuals, while Ivan Matveich's captivity and the public spectacle exposes the absurdity of commodifying human suffering. Through this analysis, the paper aimed to demonstrate how Dostoevsky used satire to reveal class struggles, alienation, and the dehumanizing effects of capitalist systems, emphasizing the story's relevance to discussions on power and inequality.
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