The Moon Is Down by John Steinbeck

First published: 1942

Type of work: Novel

Type of plot: Parable

Time of plot: World War II

Locale: An unnamed town

Principal characters

• Mayor Orden, town mayor
• Madame, his wife
• Joseph, his servant
• Annie, his cook
• Doctor Winter, town doctor and the mayor’s close friend
• Colonel Lanser, a military officer in charge
• Lieutenant Tonder, a member of the colonel’s staff
• George Corell, a shopkeeper
• Alexander Morden, a local miner
• Molly Morden, his wife

The Story:

A town has been invaded with minimum casualties. Six of the local defense troops are killed, three are wounded, and three escape into the nearby hills. Mayor Orden is informed that the invading commander, Colonel Lanser, wishes to meet with him. Shortly thereafter, the colonel arrives at the mayor’s residence accompanied by a local shopkeeper, George Corell, who is now known to have been a spy for the invaders. The town doctor, Winter, who is a close friend of the mayor, is also present. Colonel Lanser informs the mayor that the invaders are there primarily to obtain coal and that they want the local people to mine it for them. He also informs him that the town will be allowed to keep its government as long as the people cooperate. The mayor and the doctor tell him that they are uncertain how the people will react to these demands.

Suddenly there is a disturbance in the back of the house: The mayor’s cook, Annie, has thrown boiling water on a soldier who had been looking at her through the window. The colonel orders the soldiers to move away from the house even though they had been following his earlier orders. Discussion continues about the likely reaction of the people to the idea of working for the invaders.

The colonel and his staff soon establish their headquarters on the upper floor of the mayor’s house. Days later, Corell arrives to speak with the colonel, suggesting that he be allowed to replace the mayor as the leader of the town. The colonel, however, recommends that he leave the area entirely. The colonel is trying to warn him of what is likely to happen to him if he stays. A report comes in that one of the invading officers has been killed. The man who committed the crime, Alexander Morden, a local miner, is quickly arrested. A trial is scheduled to take place at the mayor’s house. As the drawing room is being arranged, Joseph, the mayor’s servant, informs Annie the cook that two local men had escaped the night before in a boat for England. As the trial is about to begin the colonel tells the mayor that he regrets what has happened but that he needs to take steps to maintain order in the town. The mayor tells the colonel that his soldiers had killed six men when they invaded the town; if the miner is guilty of murder, he reasons, so too are the colonel’s own soldiers.

The trial begins during a day with heavy snow; the people in the streets are sullen and angry. Inside, after a brief review of the incident, the colonel declares Morden guilty. The mayor stands and speaks directly to the accused. He tells him that he is indeed going to die, but that his death will serve to unify the people against the invaders. Morden is then taken out of the house and shot to death. At nearly the same moment, a shot is fired through the window, hitting one of the invading officers in his shoulder. The colonel orders that all the guns in the town be confiscated and that all who resist be arrested.

The work of mining the coal moves forward, but there also are many accidents and delays. Young men continue to escape and go to England, and the English in turn bomb the mine. Enemy soldiers are killed or disappear, and the rest come to live in a state of constant fear.

One night, Annie visits Molly Morden, the wife of the executed Alexander Morden, and informs her that two young men who are leaving for England will be coming to her place, and that the mayor will be visiting as well to talk with them. After Annie leaves, a member of the colonel’s staff, Lieutenant Tonder, arrives at Molly’s house. He reads her a love poem, and she sarcastically responds by offering to go to bed with him in return for two sausages. He, however, is looking for something deeper—love and human companionship. She then tells him about her husband, Alexander. Tonder is shocked and then leaves.

A few minutes later, Annie returns to Molly’s house with the two men who plan to escape. The mayor and Winter also arrive, and they tell the group of their plan to kidnap Corell and throw him overboard on their way to England. The mayor and the doctor ask the men to tell the British to send them arms to fight the invaders. As they are preparing to leave, Lieutenant Tonder knocks at the front door. The others leave by the back door. Molly opens the front door for the officer, slips a pair of large sewing scissors into her dress, and kills Tonder.

One night, soldiers on patrol hear the sound of planes overhead. The planes drop hundreds of small packages into the darkness. At dawn the townspeople come out and remove the contents of the packages. The invaders also find the packages and discover that they each contains dynamite, instructions on its use, and a small piece of chocolate. The colonel discusses methods of response with his staff, but also tells them that there is no way to stop what is about to take place.

Corell visits the colonel. He had been injured the night that Molly killed Lieutenant Tonder and had narrowly missed being taken by the men who escaped to England. He tells the colonel that he must take a stronger position against the townspeople and that he should hold the mayor and the doctor responsible for attacks and acts of sabotage. The colonel responds by having the mayor placed under house arrest.

Later the doctor visits the mayor. They discuss the words of philosopher Socrates, from his Apology, written as he, too, faced death because of unjust accusations against him. Another officer comes in and informs the colonel that townspeople have been found with dynamite. The colonel informs the mayor that he will hold him responsible for any violence that occurs. Explosions are heard in the distance, and then an explosion hits close by. The mayor looks at the doctor and quotes Socrates’ last words: “Crito, I owe a cock to Asclepius. Will you remember to pay the debt?” The doctor says that he will.

Bibliography

Bloom, Harold, ed. John Steinbeck. New ed. New York: Bloom’s Literary Criticism, 2008. A collection of essays discussing various aspects of Steinbeck’s work and life. Part of Bloom’s series of author studies.

Coers, Donald V. Introduction to The Moon Is Down, by John Steinbeck. New York: Penguin Books, 1995. A clear, concise summary of Steinbeck’s purpose in writing the novel and the response to the novel in the United States and abroad during wartime. Based on Coers’s fuller treatment of the subject in John Steinbeck as Propagandist: “The Moon Is Down” Goes to War. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 1991.

Ditsky, John. “Steinbeck’s ’European’ Play-Novella: The Moon Is Down.” In The Short Novels of John Steinbeck, edited by Jackson J. Benson. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 1990. An insightful and useful discussion of the literary techniques and themes of The Moon Is Down. This collection also includes the essay “Dr. Winter’s Dramatic Functions in The Moon Is Down” by Tetsumaro Hayashi.

French, Warren. John Steinbeck’s Fiction Revisited. New York: Twayne, 1994. One of the best overall surveys of Steinbeck’s fiction. Contains a brief but balanced assessment of The Moon Is Down.

George, Stephen K., ed. John Steinbeck: A Centennial Tribute. New York: Praeger, 2002. A collection of reminiscences from Steinbeck’s family and friends as well as wide-ranging critical assessments of his works. One of several books published to commemorate the centenary of Steinbeck’s birth.

George, Stephen K., and Barbara A. Heavilin, eds. John Steinbeck and His Contemporaries. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press, 2007. A collection of papers from a 2006 conference about Steinbeck and the writers who influenced or informed his work. Some of the essays discuss his European forebears, particularly Henry Fielding and Sir Thomas Malory; and his American forebears, such as Walt Whitman and Sarah Orne Jewett. Other essays compare his work to Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, and other twentieth century American writers.

Meredith, James H. “Occupation, Resistance, and Espionage: An Analysis of John Steinbeck’s The Moon Is Down, Jack Higgins’ The Eagle Has Landed, and Paul West’s The Very Rich Hours of Count von Stauffenberg and Rat Man of Paris.” In Understanding the Literature of World War II: A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historical Documents. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1999. This casebook is designed to help students better understand literary works about World War II, including Steinbeck’s The Moon Is Down.

Morsberger, Robert E. “Steinbeck’s War.” In The Steinbeck Question: New Essays in Criticism, edited by Donald R. Noble. Troy, N.Y.: Whitston, 1993. Places The Moon Is Down in the larger context of Steinbeck’s wartime writing.

Parini, Jay. John Steinbeck: A Biography. New York: Henry Holt, 1995. A solid biography of the author. Useful for studies of Steinbeck’s personal life at the time he was writing The Moon Is Down.