The Moon is Down 2

Question two asks what the causes gains and losses dealt with in the book. The book I will be writing about is The Moon is Down. The author is John Steinbeck.

There are many causes, gains, and losses, dealt with in "The Moon is Down"  The main conflict of the story is that the Nazi's are taking over a coal mining town but cannot seem to control the townspeople who do not want the soldiers there. The cause of this conflict is World War II. The fact that there is a coal mine in the town makes it a key spot for the Nazi’s in war. Therefore another cause is the Nazi’s. They want to control everyone in the town and of course the town doesn’t want that. The Nazi's use threats and punishment to scare the townspeople. Alexander Morden is an example of the Nazi’s punishment. Captain Loft demanded Alexander, who had a very short temper, to get back to work when he did not want too. Another solider, Captain Bentick, was killed when he tried to interfere.  Alexander was then sentenced to trial and was shot in a public execution. This led to his wife Molly to kill different solider later in the book. When the Nazi’s arrived in the town they built train tracks. This ended up being a loss for them because the townspeople blow them up towards the end of the book. Finally, a loss for the soldiers is the soldiers themselves. They lose by having some of their own die.  

I do not think that there are very many gains from the conflict. I guess that one gain is for the soldiers. They scared the townspeople by killing Alex in public. I think the townspeople gain the most. Because of the parachutes the townspeople come together and rebel against the townspeople.  

Overall I think the book focuses on the conflict the entire time.

Steinbeck, John. The Moon Is Down. New York: Penguin Group, 1995. Print.