The Moon is Down: WWII

            Although it is never directly said, The Moon is Down is a story of World War II. The small town, which is never named in the novel, is invaded by a much larger country. Many say that the two are Norway and Germany. This could be the case, or it could be any small town that was invaded by Germany. The novel depicts the captains, lieutenants, colonel, and major, whom the reader can assume Steinbeck, wanted to represent Nazis. In the novel there is a leader that is briefly mentioned. According to the Nazis, he has a very specific plan of everything he wanted done, much like Hitler (Steinbeck 815). In a rant, Tonder says he thinks that the Leader is crazy, which we can all assume Hitler had to be in order to do such awful things (Steinbeck 1289).  The novel was controversial because many thought the Nazis were described as nice and wanting to be accepted, and they thought that Steinbeck should have described them as monsters, and we know them to be. During World War II, the novel was given to guerrillas to read and be motivated to never stop fighting for the end of the war (Lombardi 3). The novel gives a message of resistance and the effects it has on both sides. On the townspeople’s side of the resistance, they lost several people because of their fighting against the invaders. On the other side, the invaders started to be beaten down by the constant fighting and hate from the townspeople (Steinbeck). Briefly in the novel it mentions that England and Russia are the ones fighting against the invaders, which also makes it more apparent that the invaders are the Nazis from Germany. Along with being distributed to the guerrillas, the novel got around to other countries. In Italy, if you were caught with the book, you would be killed. This proves what a strong novel it really was and is.

               Lombardi, Esther. "Steinbeck: Novels 1942-1952." About.com Classic Literature. New York Times Company, n.d. Web. 18 Aug. 2012. <http://classiclit.about.com/od/steinbeckjohn/fr/aa_jstein3.htm>.

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

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