Kids will be kids, but the meaning behind this changes with current events. The short story “The Destructors”, by Graham Greene, sets his story in post-World War two Great Britain. This story shows the effects of the war nine years after it had ended and what it was like for some kids to grow up living through it. The children in the story were raised in poor and broken-down homes from all the violence and destruction around them. Since most of the children in this book were hardly old enough to be able to remember a pre-World War two life, they have naturally become violent and desensitized to destruction themselves. In “The Destructors”, Greene describes human nature as naturally desensitized due to post-World War two effects.
As a child
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There is not much left standing so when these boys see a nice house that has survived the wreckage they wonder how and why they were not lucky enough. They think it would be fun and gain them fame if they destroyed an old man's home who did not harm them. In the story Greene shows how T disregards all his actions by saying “'Of course I don't hate him,' T. said. 'There'd be no fun if I hated him.'-'All this hate and love,' he said,' it's soft, it’s hooey. There's only things, Blackie,' and he looked round the room crowded with the unfamiliar shadows of half things, broken things, former things. 'I’ll race you home, Blackie,' he said” (Page 6). Trevor, a 15-year-old, is genuinely having fun while destroying Old Misery's house from the inside out. He has no remorse for what will happen to Old Misery after it's all done. He sees the world as materialistic, he does not consider anyone's feelings, he instead simply thinks about the present and what he can do to enjoy himself. Most would say that this behavior is not normal for a kid, but post-war, destroying the house was just another game, just like racing. He is so insensitive to the fact that he could be potentially ruining someone's life, he acts as if he does it every day because destruction is so common for