The Moon is Down: Question 7

            In The Moon is Down, Steinbeck uses several techniques to keep the reader engaged. The first technique used by Steinbeck is suspense. Suspense is always a good way to keep a reader engaged, because it keeps them guessing. When someone is left guessing, they want to keep reading more and more. This was true for me in this novel because I read it very quickly and really enjoyed it. In the novel, he uses suspense on several occasions, especially when Molly Morden kills Lieutenant Tonder. “Molly went to the center lamp, and her burden was heavy on her. She looked down at the lamp. She looked at the table, and she saw the big scissors lying besides her knitting. She picked them up wonderingly by the blades. The blades slipped through her fingers until she held the long shears and she was holding them like a knife, and her eyes were horrified. She looked down into the lamp and the light flooded up in her face. Slowly she raised the shears and placed them inside her dress" (Steinbeck 1532). This quote, although long, shows an example of how much Steinbeck builds up suspense in the novel. We are now wondering and guessing what she is going to do. Is she going to kill him, or is she going to use them as protection in case he tries to attack her or rape her.

            Another thing that Steinbeck uses to engage the audience is mystery. We can assume, or read the introduction, that the novel is a World War II novel. Although it is labeled fiction, it could very well have happened, or something very similar to this plot. The way Steinbeck uses mystery is not typical. He uses it in that we are never directly told what the name of the town is, and that the invaders are the Nazis from Germany and the Leader is Hitler (Steinbeck). This kind of mystery lets the reader imagine their own picture of what the plot is.

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

*Kindle page numbers