Greene’s narrator is selectively omniscient. Although the reader is made aware of the internal doubts and anxieties of Blackie, the deposed leader, the inner workings of T.’s troubled mind remain closed. The narrator is also decidedly neutral and uncensorious in the general treatment of this focal character. To proponents of the tradition represented by the objects T. destroys, this child seems the very essence of evil. Greene, however, offers nothing to suggest anything other than a mysterious amorality that is cold, implacable, and generally inexplicable, although he piques curiosity with oblique references to T.’s background and mental state. When Old Misery suddenly returns home and threatens the enterprise, T. protests this unforeseen complication “with the fury of the child he had never been.” Earlier, T., who generally looks down when he speaks, proposes the destruction of the house to the incredulous boys with “raised eyes, as grey and disturbed as the drab August day.”

Prior to T.’s membership in the gang, its members’ preoccupation was with adolescent mischief, such as stealing free rides on public transportation. T., however, is decidedly unchildlike and becomes the instrument that destroys not only the house but the group’s collective innocence. The pleasures of their previous childhood preoccupations are forever lost to them. T. has taken them abruptly from innocence to experience, summarily depriving them of a gradual but essential learning process. In this regard, T.’s actions are presented as more the product of fate than malevolence.

The economy of description in character development is characteristic of Greene’s writing. Extensive graphic detail and character background are all but nonexistent, but there is enough to make the reader more than willing to supply the missing dimension.

Paradox

Greene illustrates the instability of postwar England by depicting conflicting forces throughout “The Destructors.” The tension these forces create mirrors a society that has endured trauma but has been profoundly altered by it. Social dynamics are shifting, and the youth no longer feel the same connection to the past as previous generations did. Greene frequently employs paradoxes in his writing, and in this story, they are used to convey the atmosphere of the community where the Wormsley Common gang operates.

Greene’s use of paradox is evident in T.’s attitude towards Mr. Thomas. On one hand, he sets out to destroy Mr. Thomas's house, treating him with disrespect and suspicion. However, T. does not harbor any personal hatred towards him. His aim to ruin Mr. Thomas’s life is not out of personal animosity but stems from a desire to eliminate the last remnant of traditional beauty in the war-ravaged landscape. While his destructive actions are not personal, their impact is deeply personal for Mr. Thomas, though T. cannot comprehend this. Another paradox appears when T. takes Mr. Thomas’s seventy one-pound notes, not for his own benefit, but simply to burn them. He takes items of inherent value without any intention of using that value. T.’s feelings about Mr. Thomas’s house are also paradoxical. He recognizes its beauty, but his views on beauty, especially as they pertain to social classes (the house symbolizes the upper class), make it easy for him to destroy it.

A further example of paradox is seen in the truck driver who ultimately brings the house to its final ruin. The reader might expect this man to react with guilt or horror, but instead, he laughs. He had no role in planning the destruction and feels no attachment to the old man or what he stands for; yet, his reaction defies expectations. He shows no sympathy or compassion and bursts into uncontrolled laughter, saying, “You got to admit it’s funny.”

Allegory

Beneath the surface of “The Destructors,” allegorical elements allow Greene to comment on postwar England. The characters in the story symbolize both the older generation and its traditions, and the younger generation's rejection of past values and empty promises. Mr. Thomas represents the old ways and the past belief in the authority of elders. He initially believes he can dictate the boys' actions simply because of his age. Greene uses the boys' determination to destroy Mr. Thomas’s house, designed by a respected English architect, to show that the longstanding class struggle, symbolized by property, has intensified. The lower class, represented by the gang, refuses to passively watch the upper class enjoy valuable property; instead, they destroy it, thereby achieving a semblance of balance between the haves and the have-nots.

The story also serves as an allegory about power. T. joins the group and quickly usurps power from Blackie. Once in control, he immediately raises the stakes of their mischief. T. becomes a dictator within the group, issuing orders and making decisions unilaterally. In the aftermath of World War II, these images are unsettling, portraying a new generation of power-hungry youth emerging from the wartime experience. Readers might see this as a commentary on the cost of war or a warning about future trends if action is not taken to change the current direction.

The reader’s first impression of “The Destructors” is that the story is a simple chronicle of senseless violence and wanton destruction carried out by thoughtless, unprincipled adolescents. Graham Greene’s story, however, is actually a metaphor for class struggle in English society in the decade following World War II. The tension between working-class Britain and the upper-middle-class society that had absorbed all but the last vestiges of the nobility had surfaced dramatically in the years following the previous world war. These years were marked by repeated challenges, both social and political, to the established order of an empire in decline. Old Misery’s house somehow survived the battering of a second great war, as did the monarchy and the entrenched class sensibility of British society. The house, however, is considerably weakened, held in place by wooden struts that brace the outside walls. In its fragile state, it needs support, as does the political and social structure that it represents. It cannot stand as it once did, independent with the formidable strength of the British Empire. The interior, although a trove of revered artifacts of civilized European culture, nevertheless represents a tradition that is increasingly meaningless to the lower classes.

The members of the Wormsley Common gang—who significantly are twelve in number, like the apostles of the New Testament—are forces of change, agents subconsciously representing quiet, methodical revolution. Their demolishing of the house is painfully systematic. The boys work with steady persistence on their enterprise of destruction. They work, paradoxically, with the seriousness of creators. As Greene’s narrator asserts, “destruction after all is a form of creation.”

T. and his followers represent the extremes of nihilism, the philosophical doctrine that existing institutions—social, political, and economic—must be completely destroyed in order to make way for the new. In the context of nihilism, the destruction of Old Misery’s house is both positive and necessary. T., whose nihilism is intrinsic to his distorted personality, makes it clear that he feels no hatred for old Mr. Thomas; like a true nihilist, he feels nothing, rejecting both hate and love as “hooey.” For someone with such a dangerously warped sense of mission, T. is also curiously ethical and high-minded. When he shows Blackie the bundles of currency discovered in Old Misery’s mattress, Blackie asks if the group is going to share them. “We aren’t thieves,” T. replies; “Nobody is going to steal anything from this house.” He then proceeds to burn them one by one as an act of celebration, presumably a celebration of triumph over the currency that more than any other entity determines the distinctions of social strata in postwar Great Britain. The truck driver, with his reassurance to Mr. Thomas that his laughter is nothing personal, reflects the position of the underclass: utter indifference to the sacrosanct values of tradition and civilized society.

The modernist era in English literature began in 1914 with the start of World War I and lasted until 1965. This literary period reflects the nation's wartime experiences (World War I and World War II), the rise of British talent in the 1920s, and the economic depression of the 1930s. By the end of this period, literature and art showed the nation's increasing uncertainty, which became especially evident after World War II. This uncertainty eventually led to the hostility and protest seen in the postmodernist period.

In the early years of the modernist period, prominent fiction writers included E. M. Forster, Joseph Conrad, Ford Madox Ford, Virginia Woolf, and Somerset Maugham. One of the major achievements of this era was the publication of James Joyce’s Ulysses, which remains revered as a masterpiece of twentieth-century literature. During the 1920s and 1930s, novels by D. H. Lawrence and Evelyn Waugh were sharply critical of modern society, reflecting a sentiment shared by many English people at the time. In the 1930s and 1940s, traditional fiction by authors like Greene was well-crafted enough to compete with the innovative fiction of the day and to attract a broad and loyal readership.

Many writers of this period, including Greene, were born around the turn of the century, near the end of the Victorian era. These writers grew up in an environment influenced by Romanticism, often leading relatively sheltered childhoods that left them unprepared for the harsh realities of adult life. This background, combined with the tumultuous events of the early twentieth century, led writers like Greene to question the values of their past and reassess the world they lived in as adults. This reevaluation is evident in Greene’s fiction, where he explores themes of morality and creates characters capable of both good and evil.

Teddy Boys

In 1950s England, the emergence of organized groups of teenagers intent on causing disruption and disrespect sparked public concern. Known as teddy boys, these groups banded together in acts of delinquency and destruction. In many ways, they were the forerunners of modern-day gangs. These boys are seen as products of the postwar society in which they grew up, having been exposed to violence and instability during their childhoods.

The teddy boys got their name from their distinctive attire; although they were typically working-class boys, they chose to wear Edwardian-style suits traditionally worn by young upper-class men. This suit, commonly known as teddy style, combined with the delinquent behavior of its wearers, drew significant media attention. The teddy boys were not just inventive in their delinquent activities; they also made irreverent modifications to their suits, such as adding bolo ties inspired by movie Westerns.

In 1975, Thames Television in England adapted "The Destructors" into a television series, along with two other short stories by Greene, "The Basement Room" and "Under the Garden." This series consisted of thirteen episodes.

Sources

Costa, Richard Hauer, “Graham Greene,” in Concise Dictionary of British Literary Biography Vol. 7: Writers After World War II 1945–1960, Gale Research, 1991.

DeVitis, A. A., “Graham Greene,” in Twayne’s English Authors Series Online, G. K. Hall and Co., 1999.

“Graham Greene,” in Newsmakers 1991, Gale Research, 1991.

Jones, Richard, “The Improbable Spy,” in Virginia Quarterly Review, Vol. 55, No. 2, Spring 1979, pp. 338–49.

McCartney, Jesse F., “Politics in Graham Greene’s ‘The Destructors,’” in Southern Humanities Review, Vol. 12, No. 1, Winter 1978, pp. 31–41.

Miller, R. H., “Short Stories, Plays, Essays,” in Understanding Graham Greene, University of South Carolina Press, 1990, pp. 149–76.

Nehring, Neil, “Graham Greene,” in Dictionary of Literary Biography, Vol. 162: British Short-Fiction Writers, 1915–1945, Gale Research, 1996, pp. 125–39.

Spurling, John, Graham Greene, Methuen, 1983, pp. 71–75.

Waugh, Evelyn, “Felix Culpa?,” in Commonweal, Vol. 48, No. 14, July 16, 1948, pp. 322–25.

Further Reading

Bloom, Harold, and William Golding, eds., Graham Greene, Modern Critical Views series, Chelsea House, 1992. Esteemed literary scholars Bloom and Golding delve into Greene’s life and works in this Modern Critical Views series. They analyze his biographical background, themes, style, and influences.

Cassis, A. F., ed., Graham Greene: Man of Paradox, Loyola Press, 1994. This compilation of fifty-seven essays and excerpts features writings by Greene, interviews, and commentary by others, providing insight into Greene’s personal and professional life. Topics include his writing, Catholicism, and his role in contemporary society. Notable contributors include Evelyn Waugh and Anthony Burgess.

Thomson, David, England in the Twentieth Century, 1914–1979, Viking Penguin, 1990. Thomson offers a comprehensive overview of twentieth-century world events, particularly focusing on their impact on England. He covers significant global occurrences, such as both world wars and the depression, alongside important domestic issues and events, concluding just before Margaret Thatcher's tenure as prime minister.