The Destructors by Graham Greene: A Summary
The Destructors (A Summarized Summary)
By: Felix Cheung, Pareen Sehat, & Sean Stubbs What its About: In the short story, The Destructors, by Graham Greene, a gang of youths expresses their anger and frustration against society by destroying the last remaining house on a bombed out street. The protagonist, Trevor, or T, becomes the gang’s leader, who is fuelled by a desire to take revenge on the middle class. The previous leader of the gang, Blackie, loses his position when Trevor develops a superior plan for the gang’s activities. This plan involves destroying the inside of Mr. Thomas’ house, as his middle-class residence is the only one left standing on the block. The boys do, not trust Mr. Thomas, or “Old Misery,” even though he offers them candy. Trevor organizes the gang, who are eager to follow his lead as part of their dreams of becoming an infamously known gang. However, the youth do not want to be known as common thieves, as T. and Blackie burn the money they find. Instead, they just want to prove a point. T’s leadership is threatened as he panics when Old Misery returns early. However, he regains control and finishes the destruction of the interior of the house. When Old Misery returns, the boys lock him in the outhouse, but throw him a blanket and food to show that they don’t hate him. The last thing the boys do is attach a rope to the back of a parked truck and the next morning, the unwitting driver pulls down the house when he tries to drive away. Elements of Fiction: The Cast (Characters): Trevor protangonist of the story, and leader of the Wormsley Common Gang once part of the middle class, but now finds himself taking revenge on it Blackie former leader of the Wormsley Common Gang portrayed as an antagonist when he is in threat to T’s power The Gang consists of youth who have experienced the hardships of war motivated to make a name for themselves Mr. Thomas an old, middle class man, whose house is the only one remaining standing on the block
By: Felix Cheung, Pareen Sehat, & Sean Stubbs What its About: In the short story, The Destructors, by Graham Greene, a gang of youths expresses their anger and frustration against society by destroying the last remaining house on a bombed out street. The protagonist, Trevor, or T, becomes the gang’s leader, who is fuelled by a desire to take revenge on the middle class. The previous leader of the gang, Blackie, loses his position when Trevor develops a superior plan for the gang’s activities. This plan involves destroying the inside of Mr. Thomas’ house, as his middle-class residence is the only one left standing on the block. The boys do, not trust Mr. Thomas, or “Old Misery,” even though he offers them candy. Trevor organizes the gang, who are eager to follow his lead as part of their dreams of becoming an infamously known gang. However, the youth do not want to be known as common thieves, as T. and Blackie burn the money they find. Instead, they just want to prove a point. T’s leadership is threatened as he panics when Old Misery returns early. However, he regains control and finishes the destruction of the interior of the house. When Old Misery returns, the boys lock him in the outhouse, but throw him a blanket and food to show that they don’t hate him. The last thing the boys do is attach a rope to the back of a parked truck and the next morning, the unwitting driver pulls down the house when he tries to drive away. Elements of Fiction: The Cast (Characters): Trevor protangonist of the story, and leader of the Wormsley Common Gang once part of the middle class, but now finds himself taking revenge on it Blackie former leader of the Wormsley Common Gang portrayed as an antagonist when he is in threat to T’s power The Gang consists of youth who have experienced the hardships of war motivated to make a name for themselves Mr. Thomas an old, middle class man, whose house is the only one remaining standing on the block