The Moon is Down: Author's values and attitude, perspective

The novel, Moon is Down, by John Steinbeck reveals many of Steinbeck's values and attitudes.  He oviously values freedom, fairness, and justice.  The reader can tell that Steinbeck values freedom because this book is about war.  The small town that this novel takes place in is being treated unfairly because it has been invaded.  The citizens of this small town fought back in small ways.  They all wanted freedom so they were very mean to the invaders.  The invaders even grew scared that the civilians would kill them.  Some civilians did kill soldiers.  Many people were shot because they tried to fight back or just because the soldiers were scared of them.  This book has a lot to do with freedom, so it can be concluded Steinbeck thinks freedom is important.  Steinbeck also values fairness.  He showed this through the mayor.  When one of the miners, Alex Morden, killed one of the soldiers, he was to be shot in the head.  While he was very guilty of this crime, he basically had no chance of a trial and was sentenced to be shot in the head right away.  Mayor Orden tried very hard to fight for him but the struggle was futile.  Orden tried to deal with the conquerers to make the people of his town have a fair chance at living normally.  However, the invaders were too powerful and none of his efforts could be seen.  This shows that Steinbeck values fairness greatly.  One last value that the reader can see is justice.  When Molly Morden's husband Alex died, she wanted justice (more like revenge) for his murder.  Tonder let his guard down and fell for Molly.  Molly knew that she could control him to an extent and then he came back to see her at night.  She took her knitting scissors and stabbed Tonder.  She murdered him as a way of getting justice for the murder of her husband.  While this was not the best way to get justice, the reader can still gather that Steinbeck valued justice.

Attitude is very important in a novel.  In this novel, Steinbeck came across with a vengeful attitude.  The vengeful attitude was carried throughout the novel with the angry townspeople.  Steinbeck seemed fairly angry in the duration of this novel.  The way he portrayed the townspeople with his words made the reader understand how truely angry they were.  Also, the fear of the soldiers foreshadowed that the people would get their revenge.  The attitude of Steinbeck carried over to the townspeople for sure!

The perspective of this novel is third person from the point of view of a narrator.  However, thoughts of characters are revealed, so the reader can still see much of what is going on in the minds of the characters. This perspective works well so you can see the views of the soldiers and the views of the townspeople.

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