The Moon is Down: Mayor Orden

In The Moon is Down, Mayor Orden plays a large role. Mayor Orden is the mayor of the unnamed town in which the story takes place. Some people infer that the town is supposed to represent or be Norway and the invading country is supposed to represent, or is Germany. Mayor Orden is the kind of person who is kind and understanding to all people. Even when the town is invaded, he still listens intently to the Colonel and considers what he has to say even though they want control over the town (Steinbeck 509).  Most people would not want to oblige by the invaders rule, and at least try to resist. Mayor Orden understands however that there is no way their little town could win over such a larger country. Orden was such a good mayor because he always thought of the townspeople. When the invaders asked if the town would resist or not, he said he would ask his people before answering. He never made a decision without thinking of his people, which made them have so much respect for him (Steinbeck). In the novel, Mayor Orden represented loyalty, unlike George Corell. While George Corell stood for betrayal of the town, using the town’s trust against him. Everyone in the town then turns to Mayor Orden for support and hope. They know that he would never do anything to hurt them. What made Mayor Orden a special character in the novel was that he knew that his fate would not be in his favor, but never lost hope or ran away from his people. He always encouraged his people to never stop fighting and never give up hope. At the end of the novel he knows he will be killed, and accepts that. As he goes away to meet his fate, he says to Dr. Winter a line, which meant never let them stop fighting. This just proves how much he cared (Steinbeck 1892).

 Steinbeck, John. The Moon Is Down, a Novel,. New York: Viking, 1942. Print

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