Essay One Graham Greene’s “The Destructors” was published in 1954. It took place in London nine years after the conclusion of World War II (1939-1945). Greene was born in 1904, just outside of London where he lived in that city at various stages of his life. In “The Destructors”, There are three main characters we are going to be discussing. The first character is Blackie. Blackie was the leader of the gang whom loses his leadership to Trevor. Then there is Mr. Thomas who symbolizes Trevor in diverse ways. Also, there is Trevor, who is the protagonist of the whole story, in which he becomes the leader. This essay is based on three different symbols throughout the story the house, the money and the burning of the money. The glossary …show more content…
Blackie loses his membership to Trevor as everybody in the gang wanted to destroy Mr. Thomas and he didn’t think it was a clever idea. The reason they wanted to destroy the house Mr. Thomas leaved in was because he stopped them at the market and Mr. Thomas says “’You belong to the lot that play in the car-park?”’ (106). Mr. Thomas also states “’I got some chocolates,”’. (106) The gang took Mr. Thomas as asking them that as way in trying to bribe them and for them to stop bouncing balls on his wall. Blackie then states “’ We’ll show him we don’t take bribes.”’ (106) So, the next morning they decided to get up early to go and bounce the ball only to find out there was no sign of Mr. Thomas. The next day Blackie had set for the gang to spread into pairs and see how many free rides they could get from the thoughtless conductors. Trevor was in where in sight at first and then he showed up and Blackie asks, “’Where you been T.?”’ (107) and Trevor answers,” I’ve been there.”(107) He says that because he has been at Mr. Thomas house looking at it after he said he ringed the doorbell and told Mr. Thomas he wanted to see his house and Mr. Thomas invited him in. Trevor then told stories on the house and how he knows Mr. Thomas won’t be there. Trevor then tells the gang he wants to pull the house down. They had a vote on it, so Blackie says, “’It’s proposed that tomorrow and Monday we destroy old
In the short story “The Possibility of Evil,” Shirley Jackson uses several symbols to tell the story about Miss Strangeworth. One symbol she uses consist of the roses that Miss Strangeworth treasures. The roses represent the love and perfection of Miss Strangeworth. As we know, Miss Strangeworth believes that the world is horrible and unclean and that she is the only perfect person. She loves her roses dearly which emphasizes her needs for everything to be perfect just like her. She values her roses so much because only she takes care of them making them a symbol of perfection and becomes one of the items that Miss Strangeworth loves and sees as superior to other roses. Another symbol Jackson uses compose of Pleasant Street, the street that
The different groups of friends were completely different from each other. There was the group that wanted to be popular and get all the girls with a party, and there was a group that had all the music records that the other needed. That was the group that was trying to make money as well. Both parties also wanted girls. The fact that these two groups had seemingly presented themselves as gangs shows how much they wanted to be apart from each other. The gangs symbolized the separatism of the youth. The catch to their separateness is that they really needed one another to get what they wanted. The one group needed music and the other group needed money. They ended up making a deal with each other, which was conspired by Bacc. The fact that they were able to come together like that symbolized that they really should be together.
The book emphasizes the idea of how difficult it is to leave the gang lifestyle. There are frequent cases of relapse by individuals in the book, who were once out to again return to gangs. This case is brought by what gangs represent to this in the book and what leaving entails them to give up. The definition of gangs presented to the class was, three or more members, share name, color, or affiliation, or must exist in a geopolitical context. To members associated with gangs, this definition can include your family members, neighborhood, everyone that they associate with. Take for example Ronnie from Jumped in by Jorja Leap it states,” Ronny’s role models are gangbangers. His family is a hood. His mentors are older homies in county jail.”(102). Ronnie and other gang members like him do not
he begged them. As he walked on, a young black male offered him a ride and a
Everything was great, every day was the same except that particular day when your life
He stood with Princeton boys waiting before the counter. In the fourth time, he realized that nothing has ever been served to him and they waited for him to realize that he was the only Negro present there. Later, he talks about his white friend who took him to the movie This Land is Mine, then they went to the “American diner”. When they ordered hamburger and coffee, the bartender said, “We don’t serve Negroes here” (57). After hearing such sardonic comment, Baldwin walked out. When he re-entered street something happened. He felt like everyone was moving towards him, against him. He experienced physical sensation when he saw the white gleaming face. He felt like his head to neck connection had been cut. He wanted to curse white people. Then he entered the glittering restaurant, and frightened the waitress, he looked at her frightened face, her frightened eyes. The waitress said “We don’t serve Negroes here” (58) with apologies and fear, which made him colder, murderous. He felt like strangling her. He felt a thousand bells ringing, as the waitress stepped closer he threw a water mug full of water and hurled out. He was not afraid to show his anger. Baldwin was discriminated in the public for being black, he was ready to strangle people, but he was afraid of his own thought. While Staples was
T abides by his sayings at the beginning of the project while he announces that nothing will be robbed or taken from the house. He burns the pound - notes found stashed in Old Misery's bedding along with Blackie. Upon questioning, Blackie discovers that T doesn't burn the bills in an act of retaliation against Old Misery, but rather just to keep faithful with the principles he set forth at the beginning of the destruction.
This story talks about how Edward Perry and Alfonso led the gang, and why kids wanted to be a part of it. It also focuses on Bobby Gore and David
The opening paragraph of the story contains a metaphorical passage: "I stared at it in the swinging light of the subway car, and in the faces and bodies of the people, and in my own face, trapped in the darkness which roared outside"(349). This reference is significant because it is a contrast to the dismal society that the narrator and his brother Sonny live in. The darkness is the portrayal of the community of Harlem that is trapped, in their surroundings by physical, economic, and social barriers. The obvious nature of darkness has overcome the occupants of the Harlem community. The narrator, an algebra teacher, observes a depressing similarity between his students and his brother, Sonny. This is true because the narrator is fearful for his students falling into a life of crime and drugs, as did his brother. The narrator notes that the cruel realities of the streets have taken away the possible light from the lives of his brother and his students. The narrator makes an insightful connection between the darkness that Sonny faced and the darkness that the young boys are presently facing. This is illustrated in the following quote:
The first major symbol in this story is the battle royal itself. The battle royal symbolizes the struggle for equality in the black community. The fight shows how the black Americans try to overcome the brutal treatment and the fear that comes from the violence of segregation and slavery. When the narrator is in the elevator with the other fighters, he thinks that he has the option in participating in the battle, but in reality he has no choice. This event introduced another theme of a reward that cannot be attained. This battle is also a representation of how the white men feel dominant and feel pleasure in keeping the black men fearful of them. In addition to the white men’s sense of dominance over the black men, this event is also pointed towards black society when the narrat...
An inference that can be made about the author Graham Greene in the two texts “Henry Graham Greene” by the Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica and “The Destructors” by Graham Greene is that his technique is emphasizing and using evil/corruptness to represent the characters and the actions being shown in the texts. According to the Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica it states, “...but explores the contrasting moral attitudes of its main characters with a new degree of intensity and emotional involvement.” This evidence supports the inference that his technique is emphasizing and using evil/corruptness to represent the characters and the actions being shown in the texts because in an example text “The Destructors”, the characters being as wicked
The shy man tried to steal from Fred. In lines 473-474 it says, “He’s very shy, and I think it will do him some good to have a chat with you.” This is also a sign he he is not smart since he even saw the shy man break into Fred’s dad’s house. Both of these examples mean that Blackie is not
However, the more he uncovers the truth about society and the role his past plays, he understands he will never return. Following the narrator’s moving speech about a black family’s eviction, Brother Jack, the leader of the Brotherhood organization, recruits him to be their speaker. After an unarmed former member of the
The gang meeting “every morning in an impromptu car-park, the site of the last bomb of the first blitz” has a great impact on their actions. The destruction of the town around them leads T to propose the destruction of a neighboring house which belonged to a man known as Old Misery. Blackie begins to appear to be the more civil of the two boys when he argues against T’s proposition saying “We’d go to jug” and “We wouldn’t have time” (53). Greene even writes “Blackie said uneasily, ‘It’s proposed that tomorrow and Monday we destroy Old Misery’s house’” (53). When the gang votes to follow through with the destruction, Blackie even contemplates giving up his leadership. “He thought of going home, of never returning…” (54). However, he gave into the pressure of wanting to belong to this gang and hold onto his leadership. After all, he had nowhere else to go. “Driven by the pure, simple and altruistic ambition of fame for the gang, Blackie came back to where T. stood in the shadow of Misery’s wall” (54). Not only does the rubble influence the children to act out, but it also desensitizes them, along with the residents of the town. This is shown very clearly when T. replies “Of course I don’t hate him… there’d be no fun if I hated him… all this hate and love… it’s soft, it’s hooey.