The advantages and disadvantages of writing The Moon is Down as a play

When I first received my copy of The Moon is Down I was very surprised to see that it was written as a play to be acted out on stage. I had been expecting just a regular novel, but was astonished to find that it was not written as prose. While reading The Moon is Down by John Steinbeck I noticed that there are several advantages and disadvantages to writing the story as a play opposed as to a novel.

While reading The Moon is Down I noticed one major advantage John Steinbeck created for the reader in writing this as a play. This advantage was the scene directions on each page. Since I was able to read the scene directions I was able to get a much clearer picture of the setting and the way the characters were moving around the room. For example, at the beginning of the book the directions were able to describe the grandeur and warmth of the mayor's living room (Steinbeck 1). Throughout the book the scene directions began to indicate the room losing its warmth and luxurious feel as the soldiers took over (Steinbeck 57). Without these directions I would not have been able to notice how gloomy the mood in the story had become. The scene directions also gave important character descriptions on a few of the soldiers (Steinbeck 21-24). These descriptions were vital in helping me keep straight which character were which and their personalities.

Not only were there advantages there were also a few disadvantages to making this story into a play instead of a novel. One of these is that the reader does not really know what the characters are thinking in this story. All the reader has to rely on is what the characters say. While a few say exactly what they are thinking, it is hard to gain insight into characters that do not. Another one of the disadvantages of this book being written as a play is that often a scene will end and leave the reader wondering what was going to happen next. An example of this is when Molly goes to open her front door for Lieutenant Tonder armed with a pair of scissors (Steinbeck 81). The reader can guess that Molly will maim or kill Tonder with the scissors, but the curtain comes down before the reader can find out for sure (Steinbeck 81). This makes the curious reader wait till one of the other characters says what happened at Molly's house that night.

Bibliography: Steinbeck, John. The Moon Is Down. New York. Penguin Group USA, 2009. Print