What universal theme does The Moon is Down address? What does the author understand about human nature?

The universal theme of The Moon is Down by John Steinbeck is that the general population has more power than the armed soldiers that oppress them. This theme can be seen through the struggle between the townspeople of a country and an army that occupies them. The soldiers have sent out to break the people's spirits, but they soon find that this is an impossible feat. Even though the soldiers have guns and have taken away the public's weapons, the soldiers are still in grave danger (Steinbeck 12). This is due to the determination of the civilians to get rid of the soldiers. These people are so determined to get their lives back; they will do anything including murdering the soldiers and blowing up supply lines (Steinbeck 86). This makes the soldiers have to watch their backs day and night because they cannot trust any of the people. This exhausts the soldiers and confuses them because they were led to believe that the civilians would welcome them (Steinbeck 66). Soon the soldiers discover that they will not be able to hold these people down forever, and a soldier named Lieutenant Tonder even starts to ramble insanely (Steinbeck 68). Part of his ramble is that, "the flies have captured the flypaper" (Steinbeck 68). This means that the soldiers have captured and oppressed a people that will kill the soldiers before they give up and accept the occupation.

From reading the Moon is Down it is clear that John Steinbeck understands that people under oppression will never stop their struggle to be free. They will do anything and they can only be discouraged, but not broken. This can be seen in the way the civilians in this book fight against the soldiers. For example, a woman named Molly exploits a soldier's loneliness and kills him when he comes to her house for comfort (Steinbeck 81). Another thing that the author understands about human nature is that people under oppression do not need a leader. They do not need someone to give them a directive because they will fight hard and fearlessly while their freedom is at stake. This is seen when the mayor finds out that he will die if the people do not stop blowing things up (Steinbeck 97). He knows that the people do not need him to lead them and will be better off without him if they can still fight (Steinbeck 99).

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