Student Question

What is the rising action in "The Destructors"?

Quick answer:

The rising action in "The Destructors" is the making and implementing of the plan to destroy the interior of Mr. Thomas's beautiful home.

Expert Answers

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The rising action of the story comprises everything between the exposition that sets the scene or background for the story and the climax or high point of the story.

In "The Destructors," the exposition describes Trevor or T. taking over the gang of boys who live in the bombed-out landscape of 1950s London, where the destruction of the Nazi blitz has not yet been rebuilt. The climax of the story comes when the house the boys have targeted for demolition is finally pulled down by a truck.

In between, the rising action focuses on T.'s plan to destroy the interior of the beautiful, historically significant home owned by Mr. Thomas. T.'s father is an architect who can't find work in his field, and T. is able to get a tour of the home. Rather than wanting to preserve the woodwork, parquet, and corkscrew staircase, T. wants to demolish it. He recruits the boys to do so, locking Mr. Thomas in his outhouse, and then systematically destroys every bit of the home, including Mr. Thomas's china and linens. They even burn the money they find, to show they are not thieves, only destructors. All of this is a buildup to the climactic moment when the exterior of the house crashes down into rubble.

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