Anne-Marie G.

Christensen Engelsk stil 11/9 - 09

An essay on Graham Greene: The Destructors

Introduction

A character sketch of T:

Ts name is Trevor. But the other boys think Trevor to funny to use it, so they only
call him T. A silent, decided, and seemingly frustrated teenager. T has been in
the gang since the beginning of the summer holidays. He never wasted a word
even to tell his name until that was required of him by the rules. He’s words is
almost confined to voting “yes” or “no”. His father is a former architect and
present clerk and had come “down in the world”. His mother considers herself
better than the neighbors. T became a member of the gang because he wants to
take revenge of the society in which his father has come down. T has a dark gaze,
and is very determined and had a powerful leader inside him. Graham Greene
writes “he protested of the fury of the child he had never been.” (p. l.) T has
been child during the war, and maybe he hasn’t been allowed to be a child. He
has experienced too many awful things, which is tough for a child and which can
do, he grows up very fast. I think this is very common for a child I the war years.

The importance of the environment for the story:

The themes of the story:

a. A very important theme is the war and how it affects people. Ts father
has come down in the world because of the blitz. I think Ts family is a
picture of many families who have experienced the blitz. The boys in the
gang have lost their innocence and childishness and have become tough
and unaffected souls. They meet in a car park near an area that was
destroyed by bombs during the war and they are seemingly unaffected by
it because it’s such a normal part of their life.
b. The boys in the gang are in their teens and it’s also a big theme I think.
Graham Greene writes about T “(…) now in his fifteenth year crystallized
with the pain of puberty.” T is a common teenager who like everybody
else deals with the pain of puberty; He has to do things, breaking limits,
to go through a development, to find him. He creates attitudes and
opinions and learns how to relate to life. It’s the age which childish
innocence is gradually left behind in favor of worldliness. The boys in the
story are full of anger, selfishness, rebelliousness and ignorance of life.
Anne-Marie G. Christensen Engelsk stil 11/9 - 09

c. Is it worse to stealing than destroying? T says “we aren’t thieves” (P. 59 l.

11) some people may say it’s worse to stealing than destroying. I would
say destroying is scarier because “there is nothing personal” Destruction
done in cold blood is the scariest. I think it would have been better (and
much more human) if it were destruction done in anger.