War with the Newts by Karel Čapek
"War with the Newts" is a satirical novel that explores themes of colonialism, exploitation, and the consequences of humanity's hubris through a unique narrative about intelligent newts. The plot begins with Captain J. van Toch, a disillusioned sea captain who discovers a population of giant newts while searching for pearls. After assisting the newts in eliminating their natural predator, sharks, they become valuable allies and demonstrate remarkable ingenuity by constructing underwater infrastructure. However, as the newts' population grows, they are exploited for labor by unscrupulous business interests, leading to their mistreatment despite displaying high intelligence and capabilities.
The situation escalates as the newts, seeking independence and recognition, eventually revolt against their human oppressors. Their struggle for autonomy transforms into a full-scale war, with the newts' engineering skills posing a significant threat to human society. The novel culminates in a dire conflict that sees the newts attempting to reclaim their territory by submerging land, prompting a desperate response from humans. Ultimately, the narrative raises profound questions about power dynamics, environmental stewardship, and the potential repercussions of underestimating other sentient beings.
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Subject Terms
War with the Newts
First published:Vàlka s Mloky (1936; English translation, 1937)
Type of work: Novel
Type of plot: Science fiction—future war
Time of work: The 1930’s
Locale: West of Sumatra, Czechoslovakia, and other locations on Earth
The Plot
The plot of War with the Newts is comparatively simple. What makes the book provocative and memorable are its multiple satiric targets and wealth of satiric detail. The story opens with J. van Toch, a crusty, disenchanted sea captain, a parody of a character out of a Joseph Conrad sea story, who is looking for pearls somewhere west of Sumatra. The Ceylonese pearl fisheries have been depleted, so he has to find new ones. When he learns that terrified Bataks will not dive at Devil Bay, he investigates and discovers that the supposed sea devils there are actually newts, a species of giant salamander. The newt population has been kept down by sharks, but when Captain van Toch provides knives and harpoons with which to kill the sharks, the grateful newts supply him with a fortune in pearls. The newts also show a genius for underwater engineering and build breakwaters to keep out sharks.
Once they are safe, the newts multiply rapidly. When there are no more pearls left in Devil Bay, Captain van Toch (who is Czech, despite his Dutch-sounding name) goes to Prague to negotiate with Bondy, a financier, to export newts to other pearl islands and to establish newt farms.
When Captain van Toch dies, his “old, exotic, colonial, almost heroic style,” in the manner of Jack London and Joseph Conrad, is ended, and unscrupulous businesspeople take over. Soon the pearl market is glutted. The newts are proliferating so rapidly that the Salamander Syndicate is established to use newts for slave labor building dams, dikes, and breakwaters; deepening harbors and waterways; removing sandbars and mud deposits from harbors; and keeping shipping lanes clear. Although the newts demonstrate remarkable intelligence, not only mastering human languages but becoming impressive engineers and scholars, they are treated like expendable beasts.
Finally, the newts are driven to revolt and use their marine engineering skills to commit acts of sabotage that accelerate into full-scale war, as humans refuse to grant the concessions the newts demand. The newts have so overpopulated the world that they need more sea coasts and shorelines, so the nature of their warfare is to dig away at the continents until much of Europe and other parts of the world are under water. There is no defeating them, so the author, arguing with himself, decides to promote newt nationalism, to turn newt against newt until the newts exterminate themselves and the world is saved from a watery apocalypse.