The Destructors
In the short story ‘The Destructors’, Graham Greene sets out to explore the moral confusion of a gang of illassorted children and youths whose criminal activities are relatively minor, until inspired and emboldened by their latest recruit and newest leader, they painstakingly destroy a beautiful house and mastermind its total collapse into ruins. It is through the strange and disturbing character of this youth that Greene presents his view of inner city Britain after World War Two. The story is set in London, Britain, a decade or so after the end of World War Two, and is based around the Wormsley Common Gang. The gang is made up of nine to fifteen year old boys who gain enjoyment from participation in minor illegal or immoral activities, such as catching free rides on buses. Trevor was a new member to the gang, their latest recruit. The other gang members substituted his name to simply ‘T’ as they found his name amusing. This could be due to the upper class sound of the name. The other gang members also knew that T’s father who was originally an architect, was now only a clerk, and had come down in the world by moving into their neighbourhood. These differences set him aside from the other boys. T never spoke unless he had to. He didn’t even tell his name until it was required by the gang rules. I think this shows that he is ashamed, or doesn’t like his name. When he does say it, he says it in a matter of fact way. These facts also prove that he is a bit of a loner. T had only been with the gang for one month, when he overthrew the current leader to take control of the gang. He had a plan, which appealed to the rest of the gang. His plan was to bring a house completely to the ground. He happened to know that Christopher Wren, a famous architect who also built St Paul’s Cathedral, had built this house. His reason for wanting to destroy this house could be because of the memories it brought from when his father was also an architect and they were well off.