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Who Is The Protagonist In The Destructors

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How does a two-hundred-year-old house crumble to rubble at the pull of a rope? And more importantly; who is behind it? In Graham Greene’s short story “The Destructors” a small boys gang in post-World War II London accepts a new member into their ranks. He takes charge as the group sets out on a mission to destroy an old nearby house from the inside out. Meeting the protagonist Trevor for the first time we’re given the immediate impression of a stereotypical sullen bad boy. However, first impressions are deceptive. Underneath his tough and audacious exterior, Trevor hides a childlike innocence that reveals itself in moments of conflict. Within the Wormsley Common Gang, a name like Trevor is a liability. Fortunately for Trevor, the gang appreciates “possibilities about his brooding silence” (1)1 and accepts him as a member. Additionally, the “odd quality of danger, of the unpredictable” (1)1 that he projects intimidates them. Thanks to this quality and his silence Trevor is perceived as tough. When Blackie laughs at Trevor’s plan to destroy Old Misery’s house, he stops abruptly “daunted by [Trevor’s] serious implacable gaze”. (3)1 Even …show more content…

Thanks to his air of toughness he is accepted into the gang, and under his audacious leadership the gang is pushed to new heights. However, though he appears tough and audacious, Trevor also has an innocent childlike side that is revealed when conflict cracks his outer shell. This contrasting dimension of naïveté and morality that we discover late in the story makes Trevor a dynamic and likeable character, prompting us root for him despite our better judgment. Graham Greene’s choice to explore the cracks in the walls we build around ourselves as well as the ones we live in elevates “The Destructors” from a short story about young boys wreaking havoc to a thoughtful composition on what must be destroyed in order to rebuild, reveal, or

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During his time studying these boys, he found that most cases of conflict were resolved without the use of weapon(s), but rather with “harsh conversation”. This observation highly contradicts the typical view of gang members who are commonly stereotyped by their local community and justice system in Oakland. Rios describes how the boys “Conversations often involved references to guns as analogies for resolving conflict and demonstrating manhood”. The fact that most conflicts are dealt with in non-violent ways, highlights the negative role

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Language is a powerful device that can shape any reader to react a certain way. In Warren Fellows’ The Damage Done, figurative and descriptive language have been used to get a shocked and sympathetic response from the reader. The Damage Done narrates Fellows’ life imprisonment in a Bangkok Prison. It depicts the horrific events he had to withstand, the unfair treatment he received and the poverty in third world countries.

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Also, from my observation of the author’s interaction with the gang members, he acted in a way, that was out of respect, and in no way condemning of the gang members or their culture. He befriended them and truly showed great interest in their personal lives. He also knew that he couldn’t’ approach these gang members in a hostile manner, as he learned this from a gang member, who stated that “You can’t just walk into the neighborhood and act like a tough guy, you get beat up.” Moreover, I also observed that the author seemed mild mannered, and certainly did not come across as this know it all, arrogant researcher. I can only imagine how scary this entire experience may have been for him, but nonetheless, he allowed himself to “hang around” the gang members as they drove him around their dangerous neighborhood.

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In the short story, “The Rip”, author Robert Drewe uses the idea of Sophie holding a jellyfish “at arms length” to display how she is becoming wary of her father, John, and is keeping him distanced from herself. he reassures her, as if he was trying to reassure himself that their relationship will not become an “anecdote”, but a reality. John is thinking about how he wants to be freed from his emotional turmoil, and how badly he wants to spend this quality time with his daughter and protect her. This “protection” is symbolised by the shark attack (the divorce of John and his wife), and the fear running through everyones minds. This makes the reader feel as if John is putting pressure on himself to make Sophie like him.

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Another aspect is that fighting amongst each gang is fostering a criminal environment. Throughout the book and when Mitchel turned his life around by contact of becoming friends with Elias Batrouney, I related with him, Mitchel. It has encouraged me to take a serious view of my life on what I wanted to do with my life and vocation, starting my apprenticeship in a school environment. Brendon Wild P.3 I enjoyed reading this book as the characters are boys and it is written in an area of controversy.

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The Destructors Essay Nine years after the bombing of England by the Nazi Germans in WWII, families and children there still struggle to live normal lives again and some never knowing what normal is. Growing up and living with cities destroyed and rules not very enforced, children grow accustomed to these lives of destruction. In “The Destructors” by Graham Greene, Trevor (“T”) is justified in destroying Old Misery’s house based on his own perspective. Trevor is just a kid who has grown up in a broken world, and he feels that if he doesn’t steal anything then he is doing nothing wrong.

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The narrator described the very stereotypical gang members in Harlem being “filled with rage” and “popping off needles every time they went to the head” (Baldwin 123). Lastly, the change in the author's tone was very evident. The readers could notice when the narrator was talking about life in Harlem or Sonny’s drug abuse because it had a very bitter and cold tone. However, when Sonny was talking about his music the tone was hopeful and positive. Baldwin wanted to show that music was the one thing helping with Sonny’s pain.

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In the book “The Things They Carried”, Tim O’Brien admits to killing only one man during his war career, and relays it in the chapter “The Man I Killed”. In this chapter, O’Brien surveys the mangled body of the Vietnamese man he has just murdered, and desperately attempts to humanize the dead man as a coping method for his guilt. The chapter embodies a unique, and extremely detailed repetitive writing style which serves as a symbol of O’Brien’s scrutiny over his irrevocable action. The chapter begins with an exceptionally detailed description of the Vietnamese soldier’s body, as O’Brien surveys his destruction.

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In the United States, every year there are around 2,000 gang-related homicides and in the realistic fiction novel, The Outsiders, by S.E Hinton, it explores the issues of gang violence, and teenagers in gangs. Around 40% of all members in gangs are teenagers, who are getting involved in some dangerous things very early in life. In the novel The Outsiders, the “Greasers” which is a gang of all teenagers, fight other gangs and commit serious crimes such as murder. We as a society need to pinpoint why teenagers join gangs and stop them beforehand. We also need to help people get out of gangs if they are already in one.

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Jeffrey is constantly treated by the towns people on his skin colour rather than his amazing sporting skills. This is evident when Jeffrey tries to join in with the cricket team, they purposely tease him about his skin colour and shirtfront him when he tries to join in. Silvey uses different language techniques to allow the reader to feel empathy for Jeffrey through Charlie. "It 's like watching a puppy crossing a busy street." Pg 78 Silvey, C. (2011).

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How Savagery Takes Over George R.R. Martin once said, “There is a savage beast in every man, and when you hand that man a sword or spear and send him forth to war, the beast stirs.” William Golding demonstrates that every person has savagery inside of him in his novel, Lord of the Flies. In this novel, Golding shows us that civilization is lost and savagery begins when the urge to kill takes hold of us. William Golding’s character development of Jack and motif of weapons help develop his point.

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Patrick Granfors Mrs. Collins English 9 22 January 2015 Analytical Essay for The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton In The Outsiders, by S.E. Hilton, we go to a time where gangs remain dominant and run the streets. S.E. Hinton tells us about two enemy gangs. The Socs, one of the many provocative gang groups, kids who live lavish lives and get away with the crimes they commit because they look clean cut and look like good innocent kids on the outside.

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718 Words | 3 Pages

“The Destructors” is a story of the Wormsley Common gang’s destruction of an old house shortly after World War II. The gang consists of teenage boys who meet every day in the parking place next to an old house. Mr. Thomas is the owner of the house. The teenagers consistently harass him and finally destroy his house under Trevor’s leading. In Graham Greene's “The Destructors,” Mr. Thomas’s house symbolizes England after World War II.

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769 Words | 4 Pages

What is deconstruction in literature? According to Merriam Webster, a deconstructionist literary criticism is a “philosophical or critical method which asserts that meanings, metaphysical constructs, and hierarchical are always rendered unstable by their dependence on ultimately arbitrary signifiers” (Merriam). In other words, a deconstructionist literary criticism looks at the book as a whole and deconstructs the pieces of the novel and how they may seem unstable when compared to the whole meaning. This mindset is exhibited in that of The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka. Franz Kafka leaves many aspects of the novel unexplained and he includes details that are unstable to the meaning of the novel as a whole.

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Trevor visiting a more beautiful side to the area reveals the confliction he has

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