The Moon is Down: Techniques

In writing The Moon is Down, John Steinbeck uses several different types of techniques to get the reader more involved with the story.  One of these is mystery.  The very beginning of the story starts off with a mystery.  Where is the setting?  Who is the invading army?  When is this story taking place?  Steinbeck is not very descriptive of these details, leaving it up to the reader’s imagination to connect the dots.  I believe that the reason why he did this is so that the reader would not read the book with a feeling of prejudice over a group’s ethnicity but rather that he or she would understand the theme behind the story- soldiers are people, too.  Another mystery in the book is whether Lieutenant Tonder died or not.  It is later confirmed that he did.  The way that Steinbeck wrote this part of the chapter, “She looked at the table, and she saw the big scissors lying beside her knitting. She picked them up wonderingly by the blades. The blades slipped through her fingers until she held the long shears and she was holding them like a knife, and her eyes were horrified. She looked down into the lamp and the light flooded up in her face. Slowly she raised the shears and placed them inside her dress,” suggests that Molly Morden had killed him, but it never mentions the actual murder.  The final mystery that I noticed when reading this book is whether or not Mayor Orden dies.  Colonel Lanser said, “My orders are clear. Eleven o’clock was the deadline. I have taken hostages. If there is violence, the hostages will be executed.”(Steinbeck 81) The Mayor is supposed to be killed, but like Lieutenant Tonder, his death is not mentioned; the story ends before he is executed.   In the beginning of the story, Dr. Winters keeps telling Joseph that the invaders are a “time-minded people” so it is assumed that at 11 o’clock he and the other officials will be executed like promised.  The invaders think that by killing the top officials in the town they will be able to destroy the spirit of rebellion in the people, like it would for themselves, but the people of this town can rise up to be leaders when there is need (Steinbeck 77).   

            Although this is not a very funny book, there are a couple of comical lines, both in the beginning.  The first of which is Joseph being so precise about where the furniture was placed and how everything appeared.  “He wanted no levity, no rolling thumbs, no nonsense from furniture. Doctor Winter moved his chair a few inches from its appointed place and Joseph waited impatiently for the moment when he could put it back again.” (Steinbeck 9)  It was also amusing listening to how Mrs. Orden couldn’t decide whether to serve tea or wine when the invaders came in (Steinbeck 13). 

            The final technique used in this story is suspense.  One of the best examples of suspense from this book is after Alex Morden is killed.  It was interesting to see how the people would react to the first civilian murder in the town. 

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