Book War with the Newts by Karel Capek Summary - Essay Example

Newts - is a collective image. In the first book of the novel the newts are just a sensational novelty. The narrative starts in the spirit of a typical suspense, adventure novel, with the motive of nature mysteries. Relic animals is a beneficial subject for science fiction: Captain van Toch, on a certain island, finds unusual animals – of the size of a small child, with a tail, blinking lower eyelids and front paws just like hands of a child, with four fingers on each only, but very clever and cute.

The captain learns these lizards and they prove to be extremely intelligent and sensitive and very defenseless against sharks. The captain gives them knives, so they can open pearl shells and defend as well. Van Toch taught them to apply leverage, that is, gave them the first habits of work. An ordinary, innocent adventure novel slightly gets a little different accent. People, not noticing it even, begin to exploit the newts, but that exploitation was still of a romantic, adventurous shade. The prevailing tone of the first book is irony and humor.

It gives a mosaic of pictures and scenes representing the history of acquaintance of mankind and newts. Newts settle down on the neighboring islands and, increasingly, imitate man - for example, learn to pronounce some simple words. Each chapter is written in a peculiar style. The second book, in a satirical way, reproduces the history of capitalism development.At that, the writer expands the range of his satire and exposes to scourging criticism bourgeois economics and politics, etc.legal system, customs, religion, science, literature, art, school, etc.

 Production capacity increased to the limit and turnover of capital broke a record – in other words it was the great age. Nothing prevented the Age of the Great Utopia! With the lapse of time the newts were given weapons to guard their territory from the other newts, so they started to take military training. Newts, in front of our very eyes, turned into a class, powerful nation.  In the third book of the author’s attention was focused on international political situation in the mid-30ies.

The newts became a symbol of fascism. This part has the nature of a tragic grotesque. The writer stigmatizes not only the direct political and economic relationship of Nazi interests and the ones of monopoly capital, but also the affinity of bourgeois society and Nazi barbarism. Even before the fascist Italy attacks against Ethiopia, Capek disclosed the criminal and inhumane policy of noninterference, predicting the collapse and impotence of the League of Nations. The conference in Vaduz was a satirical anticipation of the infamous