The Moon is Down: Who are the "bad guys"?

One point that I believe Steinbeck was trying to make in his book The Moon is Down is that there are not always good forces against bad forces.  People in general tend to view their side as the “good” side and whoever they are against as the “bad” side.  Really, both sides in opposition are fighting for what they believe in, whether it is their country, its leaders, the ideals, their family, etc…  That is why each side sees themselves as the “good guys” and the other force as the “bad guys”.  It may be common to view the defenders as good and the invaders as bad, but this book shows that many times the actual soldiers fighting the wars are not doing it to take over the world but rather because their country needed them and they were loyal.  Perhaps they did not agree with the leadership, but they did not want their country to be defeated now that it is already at war.  When the soldiers were discussing the war with each other, Tonder said, “‘I dreamed the Leader was crazy.’  And Loft and Hunter laughed together and Loft said, ‘The enemy have found out how crazy. I’ll have to write that one home. The papers would print that one.  The enemy have learned how crazy the Leader is.’”  A famous historical example of someone who fought for his country but was opposed to the the leader and his principles was Erwin Rommel.  An important aspect of this book is how John Steinbeck reminds the reader that every soldier in a war is just a human.  In order to create a break in the barrier of good and bad, he writes simple conversations between the soldiers that would be typical for any young men, regardless of what side they are fighting for.  He even makes them come across as humane, which is not what one would picture an enemy being.  Steinbeck shows that the soldiers are just ordinary people.  “Tonder looked in amazement at his hand and he felt his bruised face with his hand and he looked at his hand again and his head sank down toward the table. ‘I want to go home,’ he said.” (Steinbeck 52)  When one soldier suggested shooting a dog that barked too much and became bothersome, another replied, “Why? Let him howl. He sounds good to me. I used to have a dog at home that howled. I never could break him. Yellow dog. I don’t mind the howl. They took my dog when they took the others.” (Steinbeck 65)

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