The Moon is Down: Author's Values and Attitudes

            One value that the author had in writing The Moon is Down is freedom.  It would be hard to imagine a person who does not value freedom, but John Steinbeck is certainly no exception.  When the invaders came into the country, the people lost some of their freedoms and that did not go well with them.   One of the civilians, Alex Morden, had enough when he was told that he must work.  He accidentally ended up killing one of the soldiers in a fit of rage and defended his actions by saying that he is a free man and does not like being told what to do (Steinbeck 42).  Another value that Steinbeck would seem to have is propriety.  When the invading army came in the town, instead of being angry or nervous about what would happen, Joseph and Mrs. Orden were anxious about how the furniture looked and whether the invading the invading colonel would prefer tea or a glass of wine (Steinbeck 13).  Colonel Lanser also asks Mayor Orden if he may sit down when he can do whatever he wants after invading the country (Steinbeck 39). 

            An attitude that Steinbeck seemed to have is that an invading force cannot expect to enter a country and have everyone be enthusiastic about their arrival, especially when some of their resistance died in the process.  Another attitude expressed through Mayor Orden which Steinbeck might have agreed with is that a civilian should not be punished for attacking one of the invading soldiers when they had killed several of the defenders.  The mayor said that the only fair way is to kill Alex along with the soldiers who killed the six members of the resistance.  The colonel, of course, would not hear of this and ended up convicting Alex for the murder.  A third attitude that I believe the author portrayed is that a good official represents and protects the people.  Mayor Orden is a fairly good example because he is not giving into the enemy.  He tries to save Alex and he dies bravely at the end of the story.  This story was written from a using a third-person perspective.       

Steinbeck, John. The Moon Is Down. New York: Viking, 1942. Print.