The Moon Is Down

In an attempt to impress Molly Morden and fulfill his need for attention, affection, and acknowledgment, Lieutenant Tonder recites a poem by Heinrich Heine as if it were his own (76). The language of the poem symbolizes Tonder’s deep need for affection and confirmation that he is performing his duties as a soldier respectfully. By trying to claim the poem as his own work, Tonder briefly symbolizes the “passing” that his recruiters and military leaders convinced him would take place after the town’s conquest: “They told us the people would like us, would admire us” (76) and that the soldiers would eventually be able to “pass” as citizens. Tonder has expected this from the beginning of the conquest, when he expresses his desire to settle down near the town shortly after the war (29). Molly, however, recognizes that Tonder is trying to “pass” the poem off as his own and forces him to admit that he didn’t write those words for her. The interaction develops the theme of performativity without personal understanding—just as the soldiers act out orders without concern of the collective interest, Tonder enacts a courtship but doesn’t offer any true substance, and in fact foolishly attempts to court a woman whose husband he killed.