Destruction And Happy Themes In The Destructors By Graham Greene

In the story “The Destructors” by Graham Greene, there is a gang of adolescents who call themselves the Wormsley Common Gang who are living in London surrounded by the aftermath of World War II. They all spend their time in a car parking lot that is next to a two hundred year old house belonging to an old man named Mr. Thomas or as they call him Old Misery. Trevor, one of the new recruits, is infatuated with Old Misery’s house and doesn’t say no when invited inside. Later on he goes back to his gang and suggest the idea of destroying the house while Old Misery is gone for a couple days. All the members are there on time when the day of the destruction comes expect for one, the original leader of the gang, Blackie. All things are going great until Mike comes running from home to tell them that Old Misery is on his way back to the house. They all panic but Trevor is not going to let this stop him from ruining his plan that he sought out to do. At the end, he is able to carry through with destroying Old Misery’s house. Trevor, being the protagonist, reflects his envy of the house through his actions and gets his happy ending where no matter who was affected by his plan he was able to accomplish what he said he wanted to do.
Their surroundings being full of destruction and hollowness reflect how Trevor has an emptiness at heart. He claims to not hate Old Misery and rejects having any type of emotions towards him stating, “All this hate and love” he said “its soft, its hooey. [They are] only things, Blackie.”(101). Saying it is soft and hooey to have

The story is vivid with Trevor’s emotions, thoughts, and struggles with living in London post war. The gang shows the spiteful tendencies of human nature and how they are a part of a new generation who could care less of another person’s regard since they have nothing to