The Destructors Essay The Destructors Essay The Destructors

1. The Destructors Essay
The Destructors
Short Story Analysis
This short story written by Graham Greene depicts a group of teenage boys, who call themselves
the Wormsley Common Gang, after an area where they lived in. The story takes place in Post–World
War II. England, almost everything in their part of town is destroyed, with the exception one
house that stands with minimal damage. The house is owned by Mr. Thomas (or Old Misery) an
old man who lives there alone. The boys do not trust Mr. Thomas, despite his charitable offerings
of candy. Trevor, or T, becomes the gang's leader, taking Blackie's place, he organizes them, and the
boys are eager to follow. However, the youth do not want to be known as common thieves, instead
aim to prove a point, to take...show more content...
Thomas comes home unexpectedly. "Just give me a minute and I'll fix it. I swear I'll fix it.' But
his authority had gone with his ambiguity." (pg. 374) It is there that we sense a bit of confusion
and panic in T, but his confidence and cunning return to him very quickly when he devises a plan to
occupy Mr. Thomas. All this evidence supports the fact that T is somewhat of a complex character,
also being given very little background on him helps to give him a sort of mysterious and
omniscient tone. The dominant atmosphere of the plot, I think, is a mix of liberation and heroism.
Liberation due to the fact that the boys created a symbol by tearing down the house, somewhat
liberating society from it's constraints to social and economic categorization. And heroism due to the
fact that the boys themselves risked many dangers and hazards to prove a point to society.
By looking at the Thematic Structure of the piece, we see that Trevor is aiming to prove a point, he
wants to get revenge on middle class society, and in his mind the only way of doing so is by
tearing down the nearest house that took the least damage from the bombings. The image of the
house being torn down from the inside, somewhat represents what the war did to the gang's
childhood, it destroyed and disrupted their lives causing much pain and sacrifice. The house itself
represents middle class society and the adult world, and the reason why T wants to tear it down is
because the war (which he considers an
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2. The Destructors Essay
Characters
Trevor (T) :
A silent, decided, and seemingly frustrated teenager . He speaks nothing more than needed and "
yes" or " no" forms most of his answers. He becomes a member of the gang because he wants to
take revenge of a society in which his parents have come down. His father, formerly an architect, is
working as a clerk ; and his mother considers herself better than the neighbors. This leaves T with
nothing better to do than join the local gang. In the destruction of Old Misery's house, he is given the
ability to lash out at the world in response to the misfortune it beset onto him.
T is very decided and sees the world as a collection of sayings powered by actions. He tends to
destroy Old Misery's house and...show more content...
Blackie
Before T becomes the leader of the gang, Blackie is the head. He is a just leader who is not
jealous and wants to keep the group intact. He wanted to keep T in the gang, although he was
slightly upper than the other boys. His leadership ends when the boys go on T's side to destroy the
Old Misery's house. At first, Blackie is depressed and feels like going home and leaving the gang,
but thinking that how famous the gang will be if they can do such a thing, he rejoins the gang.
When the boys decide to destroy the house, Blackie approaches the house through a lane because
he doesn't want to be seen by the police. Formerly being a leader, he wants to keep the gang away
from probable troubles caused by the police.
Although Blackie is robbed of his leadership, he cooperates well with T and even, at the final
phases of the house's destruction, he regains his leadership by giving orders to other members of the
gang.
Mike
A coward nine – year old member who can't open his mouth because he's been threatened . He has
been said that a frog will be thrown in his mouth if he talks too much! Mike is a sample of the very
low – class people in the society: those who are forced to remain silent and keep their words for
themselves even if they have great
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3. The Destructors
John Copenhaver
English 102
Fiction Essay, Thesis and Outline
Instructor Freshwater
Thesis Statement:
Both Greene's "The Destructors" and Lawrence's "The Rocking–Horse Winner", particularly the
climax of each story, illustrate a powerful preoccupation with the ruining of lives because of a desire
to control the material world.
Outline:
I. Introduction––thesis statement as well as introductory material regarding the two texts to be
referenced.
II. The Destructors––a discussion of Greene's story a. major plot points from the story b. T.'s impulse
to control the material elements of the house c. the obsession with materialism and its effect on Mr.
Thomas's life
III. The...show more content...
Young Paul decides to take to gambling, specifically on horse races. In a bit of magical realism, Paul
is able to accurately predict the winner of any horse race so long as he rides his own wooden
rocking–horse while searching for the answer. But no matter how much that Paul earned through
gambling, it was never enough. As the Derby drew near, "the boy grew more and more tense. He
hardly heard what was spoken to him, he was very frail, and his eyes were really uncanny"
(Lawrence 306). In the end, Paul made over 70,000 pounds on that race alone, but the stress of his
divination costs him his life (Lawrence 308). Because Paul believed that more and more money was
necessary for his family to survive, he continued to push himself harder and harder to win more and
more. The stress of this path, however, was ultimately self–destructive and cost Paul his life. No
matter how hard he tried to control the material wealth of the family, his underlying belief that there
must always be more money would destroy his very life for the sum of more than 70,000 pounds. In
both Greene's "The Destructors" and Lawrence's "The Rocking–Horse Winner" we see a pervasive,
and perverse, need to control the material world in both the characters of T. and Paul. The former
attempted to enact such control by destroying what he found beautiful, while Paul was driven to win
more and more money. The end result of both actions, though, was remarkably similar: the material
control sought
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