"The Moon is Down" Question 8

How accurately does this novel reflect evens in history?  I’d say pretty accurately.  “The Moon is Down” is a work of historical fiction.  The characters are fictional but the actual events are actual events in history.  There were little towns in Europe and there was an actual Adolf Hitler and there were Nazi’s and these Nazi’s did invade these little towns in Europe because Adolf Hitler told them to.  In “The Moon is Down” there was a very prominent relationship between the soldiers and towns people, more so than any other relationship.  Steinbeck wrote it so that the soldiers had the upperhand for most of the novel and the townspeople were the under dogs.  He wrote it so that it appeared the soldiers had the responsibility of keeping the towns people in check and doing what they’re supposed to being doing at all times and the townspeople were responsible for doing what they were told to be doing so that them and their family wouldn’t face the consequences.  There was also the relationship between the Mayor and the Colonel.  They were both men of power and both men with big responsibilities that, if not completed, had big repercussions coming their way.  Ultimately Colonel Lanser had the power over Mayor Orden, but the Mayor still stood his ground.  When the Colonel told him to tell his people to cooperate he refused.  Also, through out the novel the Mayor personally helped people to flee the country to escape the soldier’s wrath.  Steinbeck made this relationship a little un-stereotypical.  He made it appear the Colonel was in power and controlled the Mayor, but at the same time behind the seen you could see the Mayor was still holding his own.  It says in the nicely sized introduction at the beginning of “The Moon is Down” that John Steinbeck was actually a CIA agent for America during World War II and this book was modeled after people and events he met and saw working for the CIA in World War II.  I can say with confidence that he modeled this novel after people and events he saw during World War II. 

Simon, Marion, and C. Bosker. John Steinbeck: The Moon Is down. Paterswolde: Dalcomtext, 1997. Print.