Graham Greene's 'The Destructors'

Greene’s “The Destructors” calls attention to a topic that is frequently addressed, often in various contexts. Occurring nine years after the Second World War, the story’s focus on a gang of young boys from London offers a unique perspective on this particular time period. Instead of being presented with information about Nazism, Germany, and the Holocaust, readers are given insight into the traumatic events in England, specifically the first bombing blitz that took place from September 1940 to May 1941. The mindsets and lifestyles of the boys in this story have been heavily influenced by these incidents. They have little to no knowledge of a world without war. To them, everything has been destroyed or is yet to be destroyed. The Destructors is a work of literature about the somber brevity, or perhaps the denial, of anything beautiful in an era of destruction and terror, which Greene displays through an almost post-apocalyptic description of England and _ characterization.

The gang meets in an abandoned car-park, where the last bomb of the first blitz went off. There is little to see and do, except to pay a visit to the one house that still stands. Surrounded by bits of rubble and dismal remains of a neighborhood, the house sticks out like a “jagged tooth,” crippled and eternally leant due to the explosion. Greene emphasizes the air of mystery within the house when T. refers to going there. We are left to wonder, what makes this house so intriguing? The characters also play an important role in the description of war’s effects. Within his readers Greene evokes a sense of despair, utilizing the characters’ emotions and even their names. They speak “glumly” and with “somber conviction.” Ashamed and insecure, Trevor’s gaze is most always directed toward the ground. He is mocked, initially, simply because his name doesn’t “fit in” with the society the boys live