The Moon Is Down

The Moon is Down centers around one town’s experiences with occupation and the moral, ethical, and political implications of the actions on both sides of the war. Steinbeck discusses the moral complexities of war through the theme of performativity and how it occurs in different social, political, and military roles. By adhering to perceived duties and performing actions based on those duties, the characters of The Moon is Down struggle to differentiate between which actions are authentically theirs and which are performances given to fulfill perceived roles.

As the only character with past wartime experience, Colonel Lanser often remarks on how his staff is merely “playing war” by believing in the idealism their military recruiters and leaders disseminated among the soldiers prior to their deployment (22). Lanser himself acknowledges his own form of “playing war” by strictly adhering to protocol despite any disagreements he has with the actions his role forces him to take. This is seen in the performativity of Alex Morden’s execution trial. Lanser claims that “The coal miner must be shot publicly, because the theory is that others will then restrain themselves from killing our men” (49). Alex’s death is used as a performance of power by Lanser and his soldiers, as it fulfills their expected roles of conquerors and oppressors. Lanser acknowledges the futility of having a trial for a man that everyone present at the trial already knows will be shot by saying “...whether we know it or not, it is what must be done” (55). Lanser sets an example for his staff to perform the duties of their station under any circumstances.

The violence that Lanser and his soldiers enact upon the townspeople in response to their disobediences is another form of performativity, as the violence accomplishes nothing but is yet continued because Lanser, the soldiers, and Lanser’s superiors rely on violence as a means to assert power. “Nothing was cured by the shooting” (59) that Lanser’s soldiers frequently employ, as the townspeople continue to revolt against their conquerors, despite the threat of execution. Like Lanser’s derision on “playing war,” the violence of wartime is here displayed to be mere performativity and simulations of power struggles. Since war is associated with violence, executions, and oppression, then Lanser and his soldiers must fulfill that expectation.

As each character in the novel is relatively static, and the focus of Steinbeck’s writing is on the events of the plot and representing the ethical contradictions of war, then each character becomes a performance of a stereotype associated with war or power. Mayor Orden and Doctor Winter perform the roles of democratic, righteous leaders willing to give their lives to preserve the cause of the town’s freedom. Colonel Lanser, though often displaying moments of compassion and regret, performs the role of an oppressor when called to action. Steinbeck uses the performativity of each character’s role in war to highlight the strength of implied social, political, and military roles upon an individual’s actions.