Graham Greene’s “the Destructors”

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Essay One

Graham Greene’s “The Destructors” (1954) is a coming to age story about a gang of boys who decide to destroy a house to battle against the circumstances and values of their current society. The characters are Trevor, the protagonist; Blackie, the second in command; and Old Misery, the owner of the house the boys are planning on destroying. It takes place in “London nine years after the conclusion of World War II.” The setting and theme are supported by the symbols Greene utilizes in the story. The text defines symbol as “Something that means more than what it is; an object, person, situation, or action that in addition to its literal meaning suggests other meanings as well.” (1645) The two main symbols identified within the story are the house, and the burning of the money.

        Old Misery’s house serves as a key symbol in the story. The house is the only house left standing in a long row of bombed out houses. Trevor says, “’It’s a beautiful house’” and “’It’s got a staircase two hundred years old like a corkscrew.’” (107) The house stood like “a man wearing a top hat and a monocle, with a haw-haw accent.” The house is a symbol of wealth, and a society of the past the boys could no longer have. It is a reminder of the reasons their lives are problematic and disrupted.  Destroying the house gave the boys the ability to lash out at the world in response to the misfortune it beset on them. The house becomes a powerful symbol of Trevor’s extreme detachment from society and his withdrawal from the values of his current day. Trevor wanted the house to be broken like he was on the inside. The house is the symbol for Trevor’s rage.

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The burning of the money symbolizes the defiance to the circumstances they were born with. This rite of passage is a symbol of power, status, and new circumstances.  Trevor says to Blackie, “’I saved these for you and me- --a celebration.’” (112) Burning the money was a celebratory act that allowed Trevor and Blackie to feel free from the disdain and oppression in their life. “Taking it in turns they held a note upwards and lit the top corner, so that the flame burnt slowly towards their fingers.” (112)  As they burned the seventy bills, “the gray ashes floated above them and fell on their heads like age.” They are burning away a good man’s life to retaliate against their frustrations with generational conflict and materialistic civilization.