The Moon is Down question #1

The writing "The Moon is Down" reveals a lot about John Steinbeck's values and attitudes. One of the things the book reveals about what John Steinbeck values would be courage. I feel like courage is shown through the townspeople and especially towards the end of the book. At the end of the book, plans of revolt start to form. The first real act of revolt I think was when Molly kills lieutenant Tonder when he comes to visit the second time. Her bitterness for him because of the death of her husband Alex was too much for her to forgive and she took her revenge. This is also displayed when the Anders boys flee and then when the planes carrying the parachutes are sent. These blue parachutes were just what the townspeople needed to get the ball rolling. These gifts contained chocolate, dynamite, and directions on exactly what to do with it. "They went to them and picked them up. They saw the gift and suddenly each finder grew furtive, and he concealed the long tube under his coat and went to some secret place and hid the tube" (Steinbeck, 90).The townspeople needed to have courage in order to pull this off and they did. "The Moon is Down" also revealed the authors attitudes. This story I think reveals John Steinbeck's attitude about World War II and this attitude being that he does not agree with Germany and is celebrating their defeat. This idea is displayed by the way he wrote about their revolts and victories. These would be when Molly kills Lieutenant Tonder. It was also shown by the parachutes and their success in blowing up the Nazi's rail road tracks. "The Moon is Down" by John Steinbeck is written in third person. I think this was a good choice for this type of book because it does not tell the story from a certain side. It is written in a way that the reader does not see the story from the Nazi's or townspeople point of view, but simply how it is.

Steinbeck, John. The Moon Is Down, by John Steinbeck,... Stockholm: Continental Book C°, 1949. Print.