In the story "The Destructors" by Graham Greene, the idea of materialism is explored through the character Old Misery and the destruction of the house which work together in the story. The house before it was destroyed is a symbol for the upper class, and the destruction of the house is a symbol for the lower class. Thomas, or "old Misery," was the person who owned the big house and was once a decorator; this indicates that "whose real name was Thomas—had once been a builder and decorator." That is old Misery's name, and he was once a builder. Trevor wanted to destroy the house, and it wasn’t because he hated old misery; it was because he wanted to have fun, like in this quote, " "Of course, I don't hate him," T said. "There'd be no fun if