Allusions
Dostoyevsky was accused by the liberal press that the story is actually a low parody on the fate of Russian socialist writer Nikolai Chernyshevsky who wrote his novel What Is to Be Done? and numerous letters while being arrested and confined to Peter and Paul Fortress and his wife, socialite Olga Sokratovna Chernyshevkaya. Dostoyevsky himself denied the allusions were intentional.
Read more about this topic: The Crocodile (short Story)