Dialogue of the deaf (metaphor)
The story recreates a “dialogue of the deaf” – two men are trying to prove their rightfulness, but they do not want to understand each other. In effect, two men are “two parallel diversities of statements” with logical gaps between them, unable to compound a dialogue. On the one hand, there are legal genres under consideration – interrogation, accusation, conviction, etc., and on the other hand – instruction on fishing for beginners. Such genres do not complete with each other, but they only are combined. The common thing between the characters is an event, not an understanding.
As dropped from heaven (simile)
When Denis Grigoryev says that he does not know what unscrewing these nuts on the rails leads to, the magistrate says that Denis is as if “had been born yesterday or dropped from heaven”. This simile shows Grigoryev’s misunderstanding of the situation and his stupidity.
Like air of moroseness (simile)
There is unkempt hair on Grigoryev’s head, which gives him an “even more spider-like air of moroseness”. It means that his appearance is a little shabby, and his hair resembles a perfect mop of tangled fabric.
