The Moon is Down question #7

In the book, "The Moon is Down" by John Steinbeck, Steinbeck uses many techniques to engage the audience and make the story effective. A few of these techniques would be suspense, deceit, and rebellion. These are a few of the techniques used that make "The Moon is Down" that much more interesting for the reader. As I said, suspense is one of the techniques Steinbeck uses. An example of this that first comes to mind, is the situation between Molly and Lieutenant Tonder. "Before she could get to her chair, there was a knocking on the outer door. She crossed the room and said to herself, 'I wonder what she forgot' "(Steinbeck, 73). When Annie leaves Molly's house and then there is a knock at the door, I knew something was up. I figured it would be a group of soldiers coming to take advantage of Molly. The mood of the chapter was mysterious and suspenseful as well and it made me anxious to see who was at the door. This suspense added interest to the book and made me want to keep reading. Another technique used was deceit. An example of this would be George Corell. George is the town store keeper, but he is really working for the Nazis as a spy and is a traitor to his own townspeople. This adds a twist to the book and makes it more interesting as well. One last technique used in "The Moon is Down" is rebellion. This is pretty much what the plot of the story leads up to. Smaller individual examples of this would be when Annie throws the boiling water on the soldiers and when Alexander Morden stands up for himself and accidentally kills Captain Bentick. Another example would be when Molly Morden kills Lieutenant Tonder. One last example and I think the strongest of all of them would be the blue parachutes and the destruction of the Nazis rail road tracks. These all add to the story in the way that the events are exciting and make the plot more effective and realistic.

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