John Steinbeck penned this small, quiet novel back in 1942. I picked up my old, pre-publication copy at a used book sale many years ago, having finally decided to fill the classical literature void in my small library by reading the works of those esteemed writers who’d somehow been missed while growing up.
It is not much like the works of Steinbeck with which most are familiar. His big novels of the Great Depression are somehow more accessible, yet this little book has haunted me since my first reading of it and now, as the Moon goes down over my beloved America, I decided to return to it.
I was not disappointed. Though almost effortlessly short, the story of the relationship between conquerers and those they have conquered in what was a surprise and nearly bloodless battle, set during the time the Nazis were moving through Europe, is deceiving in its uncanny insights into human nature and the nature of war.
Two quotes remain with me:
“That is a great mystery,” said Doctor Winter. “That is a mystery that has disturbed rulers all over the world – how the people know. It disturbs the invaders now, I am told, how news runs through censorships, how the truth of things fights free of control. It is a great mystery.”
“You see, sir, nothing can change it. You will be destroyed and driven out.” His voice was very soft. “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.”
I ponder their profound implications and then I remember that Steinbeck was an American and, despite his early, leftist leanings, I see clearly that these words, and indeed, this whole, small tome, is really the voice of the American soul. The soul of land of the free and home of the brave, where independence is something to be celebrated with rockets’ red glare every 4th of July, intended to give succor to those upon whose own beloved soil then trod the jack-booted minions of evil.
I can’t help but see the words on the old, musty pages of this book as having a message for the current “Leader” in the White House. Whether or not he and his Chicago political machine are yet aware of it, President Obama’s near-bloodless conquering of a free and peace-loving people has come at a price. And in the same way as the people in Steinbeck’s fictional town came to terms with the reality of their situation, so, too, will the American soul come to terms with the forced labor that has been thrust upon Her. The truth of things will inevitably find their way to freedom, and the free men and women of America will fight in their defeat to win the war against the progressive liberals, Democrats, and Republicans who now feel they are the conquerers.