world literature

The setting is World War II and in less than an hour a small Norwegian town is captured by the Nazi forces. Peace has been in the hamlet for so long that the Mayor is befuddled as to what is the proper protocol for a city under occupation.

If you believe this is a simple story of naive people then you are just as bad as the Nazi commander who thinks the same. Steinbeck's brilliance has presented us with a complex psychological drama of war. What we have portrayed is a commander who surrenders his common sense and judgement to his far off superiors in controlling the town. He is so sure of his stance even when he sees things are falling apart.

Come to this little hamlet and witness a people whose stubborness won't allow them to be conquered. Feel the alienation of the German soldiers as they become stripped of their humanity and relegated to madness. See those whom you think are naive and stupid rise to the occasion in displaying great courage and leadership.

Steinbeck has done an exceptional job in displaying the horrors and absurdity of the so-called conquered and conquerer. Are the two what they appear to be or are they something more? Find out as the moon slowly comes down.

I imagine many people who read this book don't realize that Steinbeck wrote "The Moon is Down" as a vehicle for propaganda. It was translated into many languages and distributed throughout the world. The original setting was a small town in the United States, but William "Wild Bill" Donovan of the OSS and others felt it would be too horrific for the people of the United States so soon after World War II so Steinbeck changed the setting to an unnamed northern European country. Steinbeck did considerable research on resistance in occupied countries and found that though the countries had different histories, cultures, languages, etc., the most successful methods of resisting and fighting the enemy were the same everywhere: the method he portrays in "The Moon is Down." Students who choose to read this book for a school assignment will really impress their teachers if they note that the title is a phrase from Shakespeare's "MacBeth." (Be sure to find the source in the play--I'm not going to give you everything!)

In an unnamed country (similar to Norway) during World War II, a German sympathizer lures local men and the town's twelve soldiers into the forest long enough for the Germans to take the town. They occupy the home of the mayor as a sign of their power and commandeer the local coal mine. Mayor Orden has never before been a brave or very forceful man, but he is not a fool, and while he tries to keep order in the town, as the Germans demand, he refuses to use the power of his office to betray the ideals of his people. Soon the locals begin to sabotage everything the Germans can use to prolong the war.

The narrative is dramatic, full of conversation and containing minimal description, which gives it the feeling of a simple morality tale. Steinbeck depicts the German soldiers, at first, as almost bumbling--organized, to be sure, but basically human, showing footsoldiers getting homesick, seeking understanding of the orders they must fulfill, complaining about the weather, and wondering if their mail will arrive on time. Gradually, as Berlin exerts more and more pressure to take out the coal, the German occupiers must impose more drastic measures. Local resistance becomes more violent in response: soldiers disappear and are found dead in snowbanks, small explosions blow up rail lines, and the miners have "accidents" which prevent the coal from being removed. Even the arrest of Mayor Orden and Doctor Winter cannot force the citizens to give in to tyranny.

Though the novel was published in 1942 expressly for "propaganda" in Europe's occupied countries (where it was quickly translated and disseminated secretly), it is a good story which transcends its original purpose and, as a result, it continues to find an audience. The depiction of the Germans as ordinary but flawed humans--"herd men who win the battles"--rather than as terrifying monsters, makes their defeat seem possible. Depicting the townspeople as resourceful but ordinary--"free men who win the wars"--rather than as heroes, makes their resistance seem a natural, and victory seem possible. Though the characters are shallow, Mayor Orden does grow and change, and his references to Plato's defense of Aristotle in a crucial conversation with Doctor Winter put the relationship of the individual to authority into a wider context. Simple, direct, concise, and humane, this may be the most effective piece of mass propaganda ever written. Mary Whipple