The Moon is Down Question 2

            John Steinbeck wrote the novel, The Moon is Down.  It is about World War II and a town that was invaded by an opposing force.  Like every novel, this one has a conflict.  The conflict is the invasion in the small town, which we do not know where it is or what the name of it is.  “The town was occupied, the defenders defeated, and he war finished” (Steinbeck 3).  When this town was invaded, the townspeople did not know how to act and they were frightened.  One person that was especially uncomfortable with the invasion is the cook named Annie.  I feel so important because my name is in The Moon is Down.  There are soldiers outside of her house while she was trying to cook and live her life.  I would feel uneasy if just regular people were standing outside of my door but it would be even worse since they were soldiers.  Annie went and told Madame that she felt uncomfortable.  “Now the door on the right opened, and straw-haired, red-eyed Annie put an angry face into the doorway. ‘There’s soldiers on the back porch, Madame,’ she

said. ‘Just standing there’ (Steinbeck 13).  Even though she does not mention that she is uneasy, if you read between the lines you are able to see it.  When Annie got fed up with the soldiers outside her door, she threw boiling water outside and all over the men.  This probably was not the best method to get rid of people.

            Something that the townspeople learned from the invasion is that not all people can be trusted, especially the people in charge.  Their trust faltered because George Corell, the storekeeper, was a spy for the opposing side of the war.  He was the one who led the invasion and made all the uneasy and unkempt.  All in all, The Moon is Down  has causes, gains and losses of the conflict.

Steinbeck, John. Novels, 1942-1952: The Moon Is Down ; Cannery Row ; The Pearl ; East of Eden. New York: Literary Classics of the United States, 2001. Print.