112 pages, Paperback
Published November, 1995 by Penguin Books
So I found this book in a tiny library in my neighborhood, and I am sorry to admit I didn’t know it existed. As the author of The Last Night to Kill Nazis, I was a tad embarrassed. This book interested me for many reasons. Clearly, I enjoy WW II fiction in general. I like political fiction, and unlike some readers/writers, I don’t think the word propaganda is a dirty word, as I have written lots of well-intentioned propaganda in my life.
You can’t blame Steinbeck for wanting to write something that helped the cause after he helped farm workers with The Grapes of Wrath. When this was written in 1941 and published in ‘42 no one was sure the Nazis would be defeated. I think it is easy to say in hindsight, hey Steinbeck, keep politics out of your novels.
The origin of this novel is very interesting. Steinbeck wanted to do something to help with the war effort. He wanted to write something about what effect fascist occupation would have on people. The first draft titled “The New Order” (also the name of a thrash metal album by Testament), had a more speculative nature and was almost pre-Red Dawn. It was set in a cold unnamed American town. This is of course, would have given the novel a more Man in the High Castle, or It Can’t Happen Here feel than it ultimately did.
Steinbeck submitted this to the OSS (which ran spy efforts in World War II), which had a Foreign Information Service, which was also doing Radio Free Europe and making flyers to drop. Wild Bill Donovan, the founder of OSS appealed to Steinbeck, suggesting that American defeat in fiction would be bad for morale. This led to an interesting artistic choice in the next draft. At this point, Steinbeck implied that it was set in Norway, but the invading army is not named.
The Moon is Down is a moralistic fable focused on a small town and how it deals with military occupation. It is a short and fantastic drama, even if I think the first draft sounds more interesting. The message is front and center and often directly on the nose, but to me, this was part of the power. Several lines are quotable and stand out.
How you handle defeat…
“Free men cannot start a war, but once it is started, they can fight on in defeat. Herd men, followers of a leader, cannot do that, and so it is always the herd men who win battles and the free men who win wars.”
Being the spark of resistance…
“I am a little man, and this is a little town, but there must be a spark in little men that can burst into flame.”
When you lose, and you lose again…
“Defeat is a momentary thing. A defeat doesn't last. We were defeated and now we attack. Defeat means nothing. Can't you understand that? Do you know what they are whispering behind doors?”
Humanity of your enemy…
He paused for a moment, and then he said, “Hunter, I'm a good, loyal man, but sometimes when I hear the brilliant ideas of headquarters, I wish I were a civilian, an old, crippled civilian. They always think they're dealing with stupid people. I don't say that this is a measure of their intelligence, do I?”
Courage in the face of occupation…
The mayor spoke proudly. “Yes, they will light it. I have no choice of living or dying, you see, Sir, but I do have the choice of how I do it. If I tell them not to fight, they will be sorry, but they will fight. If I tell them to fight, they will be glad, and I, who is not a very brave man will have to be a little braver.”
The Moon is Down may not be the pure classic of Grapes of Wrath or Of Mice and Men, but it is a powerful piece of propaganda, and my opinion is that there is nothing wrong with that. I personally consider this an important, but I really wish we could read The New Order.
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