The Moon is Down-Colonel Lanser

Colonel Lanser is a very important character in the novel, The Moon is Down, and can almost be considered the antagonist. He is the leader of the invaders and is in contact with Mayor Orden. If you split the characters into two groups Colonel Lanser would be the head of the 'bad guys' and Mayor Orden would be the head of the 'good guys'. Colonel Lanser is one of the first characters introduced when the invaders, well, start their invasion. He has an all business attitude and he does not like to be questioned by his soldiers. We soon find out that he has been in another war before. Having gone through this before Colonel Lanser knows that nothing good comes from war. In a way I do not think he believes in it. He knows that being the Colonel is his job, but that is all he sees it as. He understands that it probably will not last long anyhow so he wants it to go as smooth as possible. I think that Colonel Lanser works directly under the ringleader of this war, or Hitler, what ever floats your boat. He knows that he must follow orders exactly and abide by any rules that he is given. He is a very disciplined man who seems perfectly fit for the job. Because Colonel Lanser is such a powerful character in this book I think he could have had some serious say in how the invasion turns out. We never really found out what happens at the end of the novel, but I am just going to pretend that if there is ever a sequel  Colonel Lanser is going to step up to the man and join the townspeople in getting back their freedom! John Steinbeck really should have capitalized on that idea...

Steinbeck, John. The Moon is Down. New York: Penguin Classics, 1942. Print.