"The Flies Have Conquered the Flypaper!" The Human Spirit Can Never Be Defeated by Evil!

One of my favorite books is The Moon is Down by John Steinbeck, a novel he wrote as propaganda for the allies during World War II. It tells the story of a little unnamed coastal coal-mining town conquered by an invading force. The enemy have taken over most of an unnamed country across the water from England. I've always thought of it as a village in France, but it could be one of the Scandinavian countries, Norway, Denmark, or Sweden. Steinbeck interviewed many refugees from those countries and used their stories to develop his plot. And the book is a masterpiece in my opinion in both effective propaganda and literary merit. I've listened to the audio book at least half a dozen times and read it as well.

Despite its popularity in the occupied countries of Europe (It was translated, copied, and reprinted in the tens, perhaps hundreds, of thousands.), Steinbeck was shocked at the criticism at home. He treated the enemy like human beings rather than cartoon villains. Some thought he was "naive" and the book was too sympathetic to the enemy. On the contrary, it shows how people who are basically decent get caught up in evil, often maneuvered like pieces on a chessboard by godless politicians. Haven't we seen that often enough with the treatment of our own children and grandchildren sent off to fight and die in useless foreign wars? Have you read the book or watched the film, 13 Hours, about the Benghazi debacle? Some things never change!

Steinbeck's story isn't resting on the ash-heap of history; it has as much to teach us today as it did when it was published in the 1940s. Spoiler alert! If you want to read the story without knowing anything about the ending stop now. But from my own perspective, even knowing every bit of the story, I always hear something new when I listen to it. So let me give you a brief summary.

The invaders, headed by Colonel Lanser, a veteran of an earlier war (one thinks immediately of World War I),  have taken over the town with the help of a local treasonous merchant, George Corell, who prepared for the invasion by sending the small police force into the mountains for a shooting contest with prizes and loaning his sailboat to the local police chief and postmaster. The invaders conquer the town and have a band playing in the square within an hour of landing. The people stand around gape-mouthed and shocked with the only response being from the handful of soldiers who hotfoot it back to town with their rifles where most of them face the machine guns of the enemy and are mowed down.

Under the control (by force) of the conquerors, the people in the story are, in the words of the mayor, "confused." Mayor Orden and Dr. Winter, the town doctor, are the authorities of the town and the colonel, following the policies of "the leader," keeps the mayor in place with the intent of knowing what the people are thinking and how they are reacting to their conquest. The townspeople are cogs in the war machine and must mine the coal under the watchful eyes of armed soldiers who believe they are a "peaceful people" who will submit quietly to their oppression. Only gradually does the resistance grow.

It seems to me that the book is especially relevant today. We are a conquered people under the control of an evil oligarchy of elitists who consider us nothing but deplorables. Our only purpose in their sight seems to be to enrich them and serve their power-hungry vanity. The book has much to teach us about how to live under the conquest of tyranny: quiet resistance. We saw some of that during COVID among those who refused the jab and wore masks only when absolutely forced to do so.

The one element missing from Steinbeck's novel, and it's a big one, is faith in God. Freedom, democracy, justice, liberty, betrayal -- they all play their part but only from a secular viewpoint. There is no Fr. Edmund Campion, Msgr. Hugh Flaherty, or Fr. Miguel Pro in the story. We see the guerrilla warfare response from the town from a purely human perspective. I don't think God is mentioned even once. The civic virtues, however, are in full view. Since grace builds on nature that is a significant element.

As the people learn to fight back with stealth weapons (sticks of dynamite) dropped by the allies, the tactics of the enemy become more and more bloodthirsty. The mayor and the doctor become hostages. Unless order is maintained they will be killed in retaliation.

In the final scene, the mayor recites Socrates' speech to his executioners, one he had recited as a schoolboy. Here is the full scene which is a powerful summary to the story.

The death of Socrates

The Mayor raised his head and looked at the ceiling and he muttered, “Um — um — um. I wonder if 1 can remember — how does it go?”

And Winter prompted him, ‘“And now, O men... " And Orden said softly, ‘“And now, O men who have condemned me.... 

Colonel Lanser came quietly into the room; the sentries stiffened. Hearing the words, the colonel stopped and listened. Orden looked at the ceiling, lost in trying to remember the old words. 

“‘And now, O men who have condemned me,’” he said, “‘I would fain prophesy to you — for I am about to die — and — in the hour of death — men are gifted with prophetic power. And I — prophesy to you who are my murderers — that immediately after my — my death... 

And Winter stood up, saying, “Departure.” Orden looked at him. “What?” And Winter said, “The word is ‘departure’, not ‘death’. You made the same mistake before. You made that mistake forty-six years ago.” 

“No, it is death. It is death.” Orden looked around and saw Colonel Lanser watching him. He asked, “Isn’t it ‘death’?” 

Colonel Lanser said, “ ‘Departure’. It is ‘immediately after my departure’.” Doctor Winter insisted, “You see, that’s two against one. Departure is the word. It is the same mistake you made before.” 

Then Orden looked straight ahead and his eyes were in his memory, seeing nothing outward. And he went on: “‘I prophesy to you who are my murderers that immediately after my — departure -- punishment far heavier than you have inflicted on me will surely await you.’ ” 

Winter nodded encouragingly, and Colonel Lanser nodded, and they seemed to be trying to help him to remember. And Orden went on: “‘Me you have killed because you wanted to escape the accuser, and not to give an account of your lives .’ ” 

Lieutenant Prackle entered excitedly, crying, “Colonel Lanser!” Colonel Lanser said, “Shh ” and he held out his hand to restrain him. 

And Orden went on softly, “‘But that will not be as you suppose; far otherwise.’” His voice grew stronger. “ ‘For I say that there will be more accusers of you than there are now’ ” — He made a little gesture with his hand, a speech-making gesture — “‘accusers whom hitherto I have restrained; and as they are younger they will be more inconsiderate with you, and you will be more offended at them.’ ” 

He frowned, trying to remember. And Lieutenant Prackle said, “Colonel Lanser, we have found some men with dynamite.” And Lanser said, “Hush.” Orden continued. “‘If you think that by killing me you can prevent someone from censuring your evil lives, you are mistaken.’” 

He frowned and thought and he looked at the ceiling, and he smiled embarrassedly and he said, “That’s all I can remember. It is gone away from me.” 

And Doctor Winter said, “It’s very good after forty-six years, and you weren’t very good at it forty-six years ago.” 

Lieutenant Prackle broke in, “The men have dynamite, Colonel Lanser.” 

“Did you arrest them?” “Yes, sir. Captain Loft; and... "

Lanser said, “Tell Captain Loft to guard them.” He recaptured himself and he advanced into the room and he said, “Orden, these things must stop.” 

And the Mayor smiled helplessly at him. “They cannot stop, sir.” 

Colonel Lanser said harshly, “I arrested you as a hostage for the good behaviour of your people. Those are my orders,” 

“But that won’t stop it,” Orden said simply. “You don’t understand. When I have become a hindrance to the people, they will do without me.” 

Lanser said, “Tell me truly what you think. If the people know that you will be shot if they light another fuse, what will they do?” 

The Mayor looked helplessly at Doctor Winter. And then the bedroom door opened and Madame came out carrying the Mayor’s chain of office in her hand. She said, “You forgot this.” 

Orden said, “What? Oh, yes,” and he stooped his head and Madame slipped the chain of office over his head, and he said, “Thank you, my dear.” 

Madame complained, “You always forget it. You forget it all the time.” The Mayor looked at the end of the chain he held in his hand — the gold medallion with the insignia of his office carved on it. 

Lanser pressed him: “What will they do?” 

“I don’t know,” said the Mayor. “I think they will light the fuse.” 

“Suppose you ask them not to?” 

Winter said, “Colonel, this morning I saw a little boy building a snow man, while three grown soldiers watched to see that he did not caricature your leader. He made a pretty good likeness, too, before they destroyed it.” 

Lanser ignored the doctor. “Suppose you ask them not to?” he repeated. 

Orden seemed half asleep; his eyes were drooped, and he tried to think. He said, “I am not a very brave man, sir. I think they will light it, anyway.” He struggled with his speech. “I hope they will, but if I ask them not to, they will be sorry.” 

Madame said, “What is this all about?” 

“Be quiet a moment, dear,” the Mayor said. 

“But you think they will light it?” Lanser insisted. 

The Mayor spoke proudly, “Yes, they will light it. I have no choice of living or dying, you see, sir, but —I do have a choice of how I do it. If I tell them not to fight, they will be sorry, but they will fight. If I tell them to fight, they will be glad, and I who am not a very brave man will have made them a little braver,’ 

He smiled apologetically. “You see, it is an easy thing to do, since the end for me is the same.” 

Lanser said, “If you say yes, we can tell them you said no. We can tell them you begged for your life.” 

And Winter broke in angrily, “They would know. You do not keep secrets. One of your men got out of hand one night and he said the flies had conquered the flypaper, and now the whole nation knows his words, they have made a song of it. The flies have conquered the flypaper. You do not keep secrets, Colonel” 

From the direction of the mine a whistle tooted shrilly. And a quick gust of wind sifted dry snow against the windows. Orden fingered his gold medallion. He said quietly, “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.” 

Lanser was erect and stiff. “My orders are clear. Eleven o’clock was the deadline. I have taken hostages. If there is violence, the hostages will be executed.” 

And Doctor Winter said to the colonel “Will you carry out the orders, knowing they will fail?” 

Lanser’s face was tight, “I will carry out my orders no matter what they are, but I do think, sir, a proclamation from you might save many lives.” 

Madame broke in plaintively, “I wish you would tell me what all this nonsense is.” 

“It is nonsense, dear.” 

“But they can’t arrest the Mayor,” she explained to him. 

Orden smiled at her. “No,” he said, “they can’t arrest the Mayor. The Mayor is an idea conceived by free men. It will escape arrest.” 

From the distance there was a sound of an explosion, and the echo of it rolled to the hills and back again. The whistle at the coal-mine tooted a shrill, sharp warning. Orden stood very tensely for a moment and then he smiled. A second explosion roared — nearer this time and heavier — and its echo rolled back from the mountains. Orden looked at his watch and then he took his watch and chain and put them in Doctor Winter’s hand. “How did it go about the flies?” he asked. 

“The flies have conquered the flypaper,” Winter said. 

Orden called, “Annie!” The bedroom door opened instantly and the Mayor said, “Were you listening?” 

“Yes, sir.” Annie was embarrassed. And now an explosion roared near by and there was a sound of splintering wood and breaking glass, and the door behind the sentries puffed open. And Orden said, “Annie, I want you to stay with Madame as long as she needs you. Don’t leave her alone.” He put his arm around Madame and he kissed her on the forehead and then he moved slowly towards the door where Lieutenant Prackle stood. In the doorway he turned back to Doctor Winter. 

“Crito, I owe a cock to Asclepius,” he said tenderly. “Will you remember to pay the debt?” 

Winter closed his eyes for a moment before he answered, “The debt shall be paid.” 

Orden chuckled then. “I remembered that one. I didn’t forget that one.” He put his hand on Prackle’s arm, and the lieutenant flinched away from him. 

And Winter nodded slowly. “Yes, you remembered. The debt shall be paid.”

History repeats itself. The war now is different, and it is once again a world war with the enemy using different tactics to defeat all freedom loving people. Many during the battle of the pandemic became sheep in the hands of the enemy. The oligarchs no doubt have more plans for world conquest. But the enemy can never conquer the human spirit especially if we are united to God and desire nothing but His will. Death is not a defeat. It is often the greatest victory as the Crucifixion showed us. And so let us never fear and never give up. Because the enemy can only kill us. The one to fear is He Who can cast us into Gehenna. So let us fear the Lord, because that is the beginning of wisdom!