War with the Newts critique

War with the Newts is a satire piece of science fiction in which the author ridicules the world of his time. During different parts of his story, Capek utilizes everyday items familiar to the readers, such as newspaper bits and pieces, common people testimonials, questionnaires answers presented in different languages to intensify the severity and global spread of the problem. Capek tackles in his satire crucial topics that need to be understood by mankind in order for humanity to survive. Capek, through his satire, tries to spread awareness of the human condition and the true evil nature of the Homo sapiens. He creates the Newts' community to symbolize any other community among men. In the following, I will discuss a cycle that is ignited and ended by our greed and ego. Read through to understand my logic.
In his story, Capek presents the captain Von Toch who is driven solely by his appetite for the pearls. The more pearls he gets, the richer he becomes and the bigger his ego. He discovers the Newts and through some sort of business agreement trades them food for pearls - or in other words the essence of life. And in order to further boost this race to riches - or shall I say to depletion - the industrialist Mr. Blondy gets into the picture to make the process an efficient one. From here we get to the second step in the cycle, which is enslavement. Capek here critiques the industrial era that is marked by enslaving the workers to push them for a maximal output at the lowest cost possible. The syndicate of the salamander permits the trade of Newts, which can be considered as 'human resources' or workers following the orders and mechanically enhancing their masters' egos. Capek hints the differences in freedom of the different classes of his era. The topic of discrimination is also apparent: the Newts represent the different - be it in races, in country of origin, in right to education. The author reflects a common situation occurring on an everyday basis: a group is victimized because of superficial differences in appearances, in economical standing, in education level, etc. (Nazism, African Americans...).
To keep track of the cycle, starting by the captain's greed, passing by the enslavement and discrimination of the Newts because of industrialism and the evil human nature, the next topic considered is resource allocation. In the first place, the Newts are working for men to enrich them and fill their egos, and for a faster process, more Newts are needed and therefore more resources are required to suffice the larger population. It is a race for the resources, it has always been and will always be - up until today, energy: fossil fuels - and this race is translated by violence and ultimately by war because of the egoism of men. The Golden age of the Newts is ended by their rebellion and threat to the human kind. Egoism is what led to war and Capek's message is loud and clear. And in order to close the cycle, he hints a war between two groups of Newts ignited by their greed and egoism.
In conclusion, the Newts are no more than a symbol, they represent any community in the world that would ultimately turn to violence if enslaved and depraved of freedom and resources to survive.