The Moon is Down: Who is the "hero" in this book and what are some of his/her traits? What does he/she accomplish, and how is he/she portrayed? Does the hero represent an abstract idea such as goodness, truth, courage or evil?

Usually most books I read have a distinctive hero. This book, however, as I’ve mentioned in previous blogs, isn’t like the ordinary novel. The Moon is Down doesn’t revolve around a certain character. Many different characters are mentioned, and none of them is placed higher than any other. Normally I would pick one, and at first, I thought I would use Mayor Orden as the ‘hero’ of this novel. Then I got to thinking: he really isn’t  the hero at all. Yes, he is an important character, but he isn’t really the hero here. All people interpret books differently, and I’m sure someone will use a different hero, but to me, I think that the ‘hero’ of The Moon is Down is the people of the town. They are the brave ones who fight for their cause and never give up. Every single one of them is a hero. From the beginning, even though Mayor Orden is the mayor and ‘leader’ of the town, he admits that the people are the ones in control. When Lanser asks Orden to convince the townspeople to cooperate, Orden says he’ll have to wait to see what the people think. Lanser thinks it’s absurd and mentions that Orden is the authority. Orden simply says, “You won’t believe this, but it is true: authority is in the town. I don’t know how or why, but it is so. This means we cannot act as quickly as you can, but when a direction is set, we all act together.” (Steinbeck, 19) The part that I find most important is “we all act together”. It’s true. They do act together. Everyone works for the greater good, and for what’s best for the town. They accomplish much. They resist, they fight the soldiers psychologically, and they ask for help from England, and use explosives and poison to fight back.  People like Alex give their lives for their cause, and take drastic measures to rally on the rest of the people. (Steinbeck, 55) Many give their own lives to protect their families and fight for their freedom. Even the small and meek fight, and Molly is an example of that. She kills Tonder because she knows that’s her part. (Steinbeck, 86) Orden and the Doctor give their own lives too, but when thinking about his death, Orden says something quite profound, “ I am a little man and this is a little town, but there must be a spark in little men that can burst into flame.” (Steinbeck, 106) Later he says to Colonel Lanser, “You will be destroyed and driven out. The people don’t like to be conquered, sir, and so they will not be. Free men cannot start a war, but once it is started, they can fight on in defeat. Herd men, followers of a leader, cannot do that, and so it is always the herd men who win battles and the free men who win wars. You will find that is so, sir.” (Steinbeck,  111) The people of this town truly are the ‘free men’ here. They light the spark, and though they know the consequences, they fight on anyway.  I think that the townspeople represent the abstract idea of freedom. They get crushed down by oppression, but they get back up again and fight. They make many sacrifices, but in the end, though everything looks hopeless, they don’t quit. They keep on fighting. If that is not considered heroic, I don’t know what is!

Steinbeck, John. Moon Is Down. N.p.: Penguin Group, 1942. Print.