but allegorically about the power struggles between Sri Lanka maintaining its independent status and it being destroyed from the inside out and completely changed into something different. The house allegorically represented the post independent Sri Lankan state and the power struggle between the boys actually represents the power struggle between Blackie (a.k.a. UNP of Senanayakes, Jayewardene and Wickremasinghe (all belonging to the same extended family) ) and Trevor or T. (a.k.a. SLFP of Bandaranaikes (Father, Mother, Daughter and Son – a nuclear family) ). Mike represents the military. Each part of the story represents the events that took place to destroy the post independent Sri Lankan state. So we can see that while the story seems to have two levels, one of action and suspense about boys destroying a home, and another about human nature, we see that this story actually operates on several levels when we see its allegorical effects as well.

A central theme to this story is power.  The boys struggle with the shifting power in their little community, and Mr. Thomas struggles with his mistaken belief that he still has power.  Mr. Thomas assumes he does because he is an elder, and they are still boys.  However, the boys have learned at an early age how to gain their own power and how important power is.  Blackie gives in to the power of T. when the boys give their allegiance to him.  Blackie knows he must accept T.'s power because that is the way of things - submit to power or be tossed into open war.

This theme suggests that human nature is geared towards domination.  Humans want to have power - the history of human development is a timeline of communities gaining power over each other.  If humans can't have power, they will respect another's power.  If that leader wavers, then the power shifts and the followers will pick a better leader.

At its most basic, "The Destructors" can be read as an observation of man's inhumanity to man. Trevor, the gang's leader on their project of destroying Old Misery's house, is the son of an architect who has come down in society rather abruptly after being let go from his job. Consequently, Trevor channels his anger into destroying a valued symbol of the world that has treated his family so badly, a house designed by Sir Christopher Wren.

The fact that the boys are so quick so follow Trevor and discard Blackie as their leader suggests that loyalty among these boys is not valued. And the narrator mentions that Mike had been told at the age of nine, “If you don’t shut your mouth . . . you’ll get a frog down it.” Brutality toward others is commonplace in these boys' milieu.

The boys don't think about what the destruction of the house will do to Old Misery (or the disrespectfulness of their nickname for Mr. Thomas). Though the elderly man had shown them some kindness by giving them sweets, they are eager to destroy his house. They give no thought to his humanity or vulnerability as a senior citizen.

In the story's final scene, there is another example of man's inhumanity to man; the lorry driver whose truck ultimately pulls down Old Misery's house is unable to contain his laughter at the sight of the house reduced to rubble, even when Old Misery exclaims, “How dare you laugh . . . It was my house. My house.”

Because the members of the firm that sacked Trevor's father and the lorry driver are adults, Greene reminds us that it is not just children who are cruel to one another.

It is important to remember the context of this excellent short story. The author chose to set this tale in the aftermath of the bombing of London in World War II, and in particular to explore the impact of the bombing and war on the younger generation, who would have known no other reality except for war. The various characters we meet in the form of Blackie and T. are presented as teenagers who have become curiously detached from "normal" feelings and emotions. This is of course exemplified in the character of T., who says, when he is burning Old Misery's money:

"All this hate and love," he said, "it's soft, it's hooey. There's only one thing, Blackie," and he looked around the room crowded with the unfamiliar shadows of half things, broken things, former things.

This quote shows just how detached T. has become from "normal" human emotions. He is presented as a character who has internalised the external war and violence into his own psyche, and as a result is not able to experience emotions such as "hate and love" as any normal child would. The message of this story is that the innocence of humans is something that can very easily be tainted or lost, with horrific consequences.

Graham Greene's story "The Destructors" reveals the perversity of human nature as well as the human tendencies toward envy, malice, and imitation. Let's look at this in more detail.

Perversity refers to the desire to act in an unacceptable or unreasonable way. The boys in the story have no reason at all to act as they do. The Thomas house is an historical and architectural treasure, and for some strange reason, this is why T. wants to destroy it. His desires are beyond all reasonableness and are clearly unacceptable on many levels. Yet he goes ahead with his plan.

T. seems to be guided by envy, at least in part. The Thomas house is grand and beautiful. It is also the only one left of its kind in the neighborhood, and T. wants it gone. His father, who is an architect, has lost respect and social standing, and T. feels that loss and wants to get even in some way with those, like Mr. Thomas, who still have respect and social standing. His ideas and actions are malicious and senseless, for Mr. Thomas is not at fault for what has happened to T.'s father.

The rest of the boys in the gang go right along with T. He has become their leader, and they want to fit in with the crowd. They know that pulling down the house is wrong, yet they imitate the others, fearful of breaking ranks and being rejected by the group. They will not think for themselves or stand up for what is right.

Finally, we see the perversity in human nature again in the driver at the end of the story. The boys attach a rope to his truck so that the house will fall when he drives away. The driver does not realize this, but he laughs when poor Mr. Thomas is freed from the outhouse and cries at the destruction of his house. The driver says he cannot help but laugh because the whole thing is funny. Of course, it is not funny at all, but people tend to behave in completely unacceptable and unreasonable ways, and the driver is a good example.

You have asked a very interesting question, and this is because it is clear Greene does not want to present a group of delinquent youths that are evil - he is careful to explain their motives and especially those of T. by referring to the post-war conditions of life that they have grown up in. These children are literally children of the war in that they have grown up surrounded by the debris of the London Blitz and in many ways they are victims of the social upheaval caused by the war and the class system. It is also clear that T. and the gang destroy Old Misery's house through no motive of hatred or revenge - think of how they care for Old Misery during his night of captivity in the outside bathroom and also how T. neither loves nor hates. However, images abound of hollowness and rotting from within, which perhaps suggests that human nature needs an appropriate context and setting with which to flourish. Given the bleakness of the setting, Greene is clearly pointing towards the moral malaise that has occurred and its impact on the youth who had never known a reality other than war and its aftermath.

This question is certainly not a simple one to respond to because it is evident that the presentation of the gang and its members is not simply a caricature of delinquent youth. Greene is in fact very careful to explain their motives and especially those of T. by referring to the post-war conditions of life that they have grown up in. These children are literally children of the war in that they have grown up surrounded by the debris of the London Blitz and in many ways they are victims of the social upheaval caused by the war and the class system. It is also clear that T. and the gang destroy Old Misery's house through no motive of hatred or revenge - think of how they care for Old Misery during his night of captivity in the outside bathroom and also how T. neither loves nor hates. However, images abound of hollowness and rotting from within, which perhaps suggests that human nature needs an appropriate context and setting with which to flourish. Given the bleakness of the setting, Greene is clearly pointing towards the moral malaise that has occurred and its impact on the youth who had never known a reality other than war and its aftermath. Thus, respectfully, I think this story paints no clear message of human nature, but instead looks at the impact on human nature if certain key essentials (such as peace and stability) are removed from the upbringing of children's lives.