The Moon is Down, A Book Review

John Steinbeck - The Moon is Down

"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."

The Moon is Down is a novel of courage, defiance, and indignation of the oppressed, capturing how people stand in times of being conquered. Reading from the soldiers' point of view is both strange and refreshing.

The story is set in a little town, which the conquerors invaded with the help of the town's storekeeper. Attempting to give an impression of cooperation, the conquerors took residency at the mayor's place. The town mayor, however, refuse to be used as a tool to control the people.

"Some people accept appointed leaders and obey them. But my people have elected me. They made me and they can unmake me."

"They hate us. They hate us so much."

When the townspeople grew resentful of the conquerors who took away their freedom in their own little town, who forced them to work, and reared dominance either by killing or by withholding supplies, it set the soldiers on their nerves, tethering on the edge of their sanity as they received the enraged silence and coldness of the people.

"I'm lonely to the point of illness. I'm lonely in the quiet and the hatred."

They watched their backs, or they die. They cannot go out alone or they die. And the constant fear drove them insane.

"Our people are invaded, but I don't think they're conquered."

It is astounding to see a little move produce a domino effect. If the soldiers decide to kill, the people will kill more. In an attempt to prove a point and restore order, the soldiers will kill one more and the cycle continues until the resentment piles up.

"...,go, knowing these men will have no rest at all until they are gone, or dead. You will make the people one. It's a sad knowledge and little enough gift to you, but it is so. No rest at all."

"Your private anger was the beginning of a public anger."

If there's one quote from the book to summarize it all, it will be this. "Defeat is a momentary thing. A defeat doesn't last."

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