The Destructors, by Graham Greene, is a combination of mischief, leadership, challenges, hopelessness, and new beginnings. This novel is about a gang of boys that call themselves the Wormsley Common gang that destroy a house. Everyday they meet in a parking lot located by near the town that was bombed during WW2, everything in this part of town is completely destroyed except for this one house, owned by a man named Mr.Thomas. A while after a new kid, Trevor, or “T”, moves into town, he comes up
Rocking Horse Winner and The Destructors There are many differences and similarities between Graham Greene’s “The Destructors” and D.H. Lawrence’s “Rocking Horse Winner.” One general difference is that in “The Destructors” the setting is in Great Britain, after the bombing had happened during World War 1, when the buildings were destroyed. The setting of “Rocking Horse Winner” is a suburban community located on the outskirts of Baltimore, Maryland. This one distinct difference affects the entire
A Comparison of The Destructors and Lord of the Flies In Graham Greene's "The Destructors," the author presents the Wormsley Common car-park gang, a group of adolescent delinquents who commit petty crimes for fun. William Golding, in his novel Lord of the Flies, presents a slightly younger group of boys who are wrecked on an uninhabited island and develop a primitive society that eventually collapses and gives way to despotic savagery. Although these two cases seem rather
The Signficance of Violence in Graham Greene's The Destructors In serious fiction, no act of violence exists for its own sake. Graham Green, in his short story “The Destructors,” reveals certain intangible needs met through one central act of violence. One need we all have as humans is the need to be creative, to express ourselves, to use our imagination. All little boys use their imaginations, which is based on what they see in their environment, whether that be television or their own neighborhood
Compare & Contrast The Rocking Horse Winner and The Destructors In D.H. Lawerence's short story, “The Rocking Horse Winner”, and Grahm Greene's “The Destructors, there are many truths to consider. Although these two stories are considerably different, the message is the same. Whether in a life-like story, such as “The Destructors”, or a fantacy, like “The Rocking Horse Winner”, the seeds of materialism are planted and nourished in lives of the characters. The aspects of materialism in these
Winner" and Graham Greene's "The Destructors" the reader can immediately see both the differences as well as the similarities in both stories from the authors' choices of setting, tone, and characterization. The author's use of imagery and the plot in both stories makes it clear that materialism can play a great part in how people's attitudes and behavior are affected and altered towards others because of a lifestyle filled with misfortune. In "The Destructors" and "The Rocking Horse Winner", the
A Critical Analysis of "The Rocking-Horse Winner" by D.H. Lawrence and "The Destructors" by Graham Greene In both stories, "The Rocking-Horse Winner" by D.H. Lawrence and "The Destructors" by Graham Greene we see the common theme of wanting to be envied by others because of what we have or can do. The need to do better, have prestige and more power than anyone else is a very common human conflict that is dealt with on all levels of humanity. The emotional environment that man grows and
similarities between Graham Green’s “The destructors” and D.H. Lawrence’s “Rocking-Horse Winner.” “The Destructors” has flat characters, which strive to be the first gang to destroy a home, in efforts to prove themselves to other gangs in the area. In this story, they set out to demolish Old Misery’s gorgeous home. While in “The Rocking-Horse Winner,” Paul’s goal is to help his family become wealthy. Another difference is that the setting of "The Destructors" is in Great Britain. The story takes place
The gang members in Graham Greene’s “The Destructors” are catastrophic young children and teenagers who are unfortunately being greatly affected by their surroundings. Placed in wartime London, their town is in rubble from bombings. Peer pressure is no help when a destructive surrounding and vulnerable ages are strongly influencing the instinctive human behavior of the members, which causes many of their horrific actions. The characters of Greene’s short story are different in their own way. Mike
incongruence between what is presented and what actually is. Graham Greene’s short story, The Destructors, first published in 1954, is often viewed as commercial fiction due to its frequent use of action and suspense to draw readers in. It does however incorporate literary elements that could allow it to be categorized as literary fiction to an extent. The presence of irony, particularly irony of situation, in The Destructors is a literary characteristic that serves to add suspense to the plot by revealing the
Is it possible for someone to experience something even if they never have truly experienced the event? Many will disagree, but Graham Greene can easily cause someone to feel this way. In the short story, “The Destructors”, by Graham Greene, he uses several different literary elements to help the reader become one with the story. Some of the elements include characterization, symbolism, and the usage of several different themes throughout the story. Greene uses characterization to help one become
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
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
characteristics go along with this, and the conflict that he encounters is perfect for his tone and character. In Graham Greene’s “The Destructors” the main character is a bit different. His tone is more quite and stern. The conflict that he encounters is different and his motivations are as well. The characterization of each is revealed differently. In “The Destructors the main character and his motivation is portrayed slowly whereas in “The Rocking-Horse Winner” the tone, conflict and motivation of
Is man’s natural violent tendencies a product of their environment or is a more dominant inner force to blame? Although published in 1954, Graham Greene’s short-story, “The Destructors”, holds values and themes that still hold prominence even sixty-three years later. The story follows a group of boys called the Wormsley Common Gang in a neighborhood ravaged by the second world war in London. This particularly group of adolescent delinquents enjoy committing crimes such as stealing bus tickets from
Conditions within various regions often restrict freedoms and creativity of the individual, as a result of human experiences, an individual may commit an act of violence, intended with a different goal, not just that of destruction. In "The Destructors," the author uses diction, setting, and syntax to unveil a general truth of an aspect of human nature: creativity. The poignant use of diction throughout the short story, mostly in the action segment, subliminally demonstrated the positive aspects
In The Destructors by Graham Greene there is a group of kids that are in a gang. The gang does some bad things but in the story they have a few good moments. The good moments may be overlooked by the bad regardless the good qualities are subtle yet meaningful. The boys may be tough and do crazy acts of destruction they still have a heart and care about things. For example when the gang takes care of Mr.Thompson when he is stuck outside of his house. They give him a blanket and want him to have a
The Destructors, written by Graham Greene, is an ironic piece depicted after World War 2 in London, England, where a group of mischievous kids harass an old man who lives next to their hangout. The faction always took part in little acts of thievery, harassment, and downright nonsense, until the day they decide to go for the big act: Taking down Old Misery’s masterpiece of a house. Though it may be that the house was old, and had already missed being destroyed by the Blitzes of WW2, this story involves
another to give the person, place, or thing an entirely different meaning that is much deeper and more significant. In “The Lottery”, by Shirley Jackson, and “The Destructors”, by Graham Greene both authors use symbolism by giving meaning to objects and people that represent a meaning beyond what is written. At the beginning of “The Destructors” the character Trevor, or better known as “T” is introduced to the Wormsley Common Gang, a group of young boys. In the story he symbolizes innocence being lost
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