Steinbeck wrote war propaganda too..... and it is another of his masterpieces.
Written: Feb 27 '01 (Updated Feb 27 '01)
Product Rating:
Pros: A masterpiece in just 112 short pages. So much impact.
Cons: Nearly 60 years later, I would not have understood the full impact without the introduction.
The Bottom Line: So powerful and so much impact, written as "soft" propaganda during WWII. Steinbeck, history, and WWII buffs will really enjoy this work.
egab01's Full Review: John Steinbeck - The Moon Is Down
This is the first write-off I have participated in and I am pretty excited. You will find a list of all the other participants in this write-off at the end of this review, please make sure to go and read and rate their reviews as well.
When I heard about this write-off for Steinbeck’s 99th birthday I went to my local library and checked out several Steinbeck’s I had not yet read. I have now read around 15 titles by Steinbeck and have mixed feelings about his works. Some of his work is amazing and some of it is droll and beyond me; in general however I consider Steinbeck to be one of the most prolific writers of the 20th Century.
Of the four titles I checked out of the library I chose to do my review on “The Moon is Down” c.1942, with Introduction by Donald V. Coers c. 1995. I would like to note here that my ability to write commentary on “The Moon is Down” pales in comparison to Coers, so I have included in this review, along with my own words, several excerpts from the introduction, so as to truly convey the meaning of this story. While I would have enjoyed this work without Coers introduction, I can honestly say that I would not have been able to understand the full impact of the importance of “The Moon is Down” without the introduction. I recommend anyone reading this novella, just a mere 112 pages, to get a copy with the introduction, an additional 18 pages.
This not so fictional piece of historical fiction was considered to be soft and subtle for this type of literature. Steinbeck wrote “The Moon is Down” as a piece of (anti-Nazi) propaganda during WWII.
“By the summer of 1940 ….. the Nazis had engulfed much of Europe. John Steinbeck was by then a world-class author. He was also both a clear-eyed political realist who understood that U.S. involvement in the war was inevitable, and a patriot eager to contribute to the Allies cause” intro p. vii
“While working at the COI [Office of the Coordinator of Information] ….. discussed the idea that Steinbeck might write a work of propaganda” intro p. vii & viii
This next paragraph is essentially the plot, if you don’t want to know the plot skip the paragraph, but there is so much more – between the lines – that this is really just an overview of the story and character representations.
The Plot of “The Moon is Down” is so simple and yet had so much impact to those living in (occupied) Europe. A town is overrun by the enemy, conquered, and occupied. One the town thought of as their own turned out to be a spy, providing information and the set up to enable the infiltration, which lead to the occupation. The town’s mayor is kept in his position and made to enforce the enemy’s rules. Being a conquered people they are forced to do work against their will. Slowly but surely the people start to resist; each time the enemy takes action against the resistance it grows a little stronger. Some of the town’s people escape. There is a plan for some of them to try and get help from the Allied forces. The plan works and the Allies send some planes that drop a few hundred little packages of single sticks of dynamite. The town’s people gather as many of these as they can find. At the same time the soldiers of the enemy forces gather a few of the packages and discover the dynamite. They try to stop the town from gathering and using the dynamite, but it is too late and the resistance wins out in the end.
Steinbeck originally wrote “The Moon is Down” set in a medium sized American town. ”Steinbeck submitted ….. for approval to ….. the [office of] the Foreign Information Service. Officials there rejected it because they feared that postulating an American defeat might be demoralizing” intro. p. ix
Steinbeck revised the work and set it in an unnamed country in Europe. “The Moon is Down” became a staple of the underground resistance in many occupied countries in Europe. The Nazi’s banned it in the countries they occupied; yet many risked their lives to get it circulated. In Italy, if found with a copy, it was punishable by death.
”In spite of the Nazis’ efforts to suppress The Moon is Down, hundreds of thousands of copies of the Norwegian, Danish, Dutch, and French Clandestine editions circulated during the occupation. It was easily the most popular work of propaganda in occupied Western Europe.” intro. p. xiii
Many critics gave “The Moon is Down” favorable reviews, but there were a few who did not like it and gave it harsh reviews. They couldn’t understand how, unlike so many other works of the time, this could be considered a piece of propaganda. Nearly all the other pieces of propaganda during the war demonized the enemy.
Steinbeck took what was considered a radically different approach by humanizing the enemy. They had feelings, they thought about their own homes and their women and families back home. Steinbeck showed them as wanting the occupation to be as smooth and peaceable as possible. This is what actually made the work so popular to the underground resistance, they saw themselves, their town, and the enemy in the story -- they may be the enemy, but they are people too. When I finish reading I felt a little sorry for the enemy soldiers.
Anyone who likes Steinbeck will probably enjoy this work. Also history and WWII buffs will probably like this work. For those of you who had to suffer through “The Red Pony” and “The Grapes of Wrath” in high school, I urge you to give Steinbeck another try, and this may be a good choice. Personally, I did not have to read Steinbeck in high school; I had to suffer with Jane Austin. I discovered my love of Steinbeck around the age of 20. I wish I had read “The Moon is Down” sooner.
Participants in the Steinneck 99th Birthday Writeoff, in chronological order of publication, are:
In Dubious Battle (1936) - Caravan70 and Macresarf1
Of Mice and Men (1937) Stephen_Murray (movie) Skygirl
The Red Pony (1937) - Stephen_Murray
The Grapes of Wrath (1939) - Murasaki and NFP (movie) Ladydagney1 and Howard Creech
The Moon is Down (1942) - Gabriella
Cannery Row (1945) - GraceF and Kchowell (veneto)
The Pearl (1947) - Isinga
East of Eden (1952) - Ed_Grover
Sweet Thursday (1965) - Stephen_Murray?
Once There Was a War (1958) Jiahong
Travels with Charley (1962) - Eplovejoy and Hadassahchana
Plus An overview of Steinbeck on film - Stephen_Murray
In this masterful account set in Norway during World War II, Steinbeck explores the effects of invasion on both the conquered and the conquerors. Occu...More at HotBookSale
In this masterful account set in Norway during World War II, Steinbeck explores the effects of invasion on both the conquered and the conquerors. Occu...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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