The Destructors, by Graham Greene

The cause of the gangs delinquency in regard to ....

A) Their reaction to the name Trevor / Name of higher up social class B) Their reaction to Old Misery's gift of chocolates / felt like a sympathy gift C) Blackie's reaction to the word "beautiful" / reminded of what was before the war D) Trevor's comment on hate and love / words were just things to him. Emotions cause one to be weak E) Summer's reaction to the word please / words of the weak who didn't have money had to beg from higher ups for things F) The setting / nine years after WWII and how it still affected people from the lower class

The gangs motivation with account to...

A)age and beauty of the house / reminded them of the times before the war B)Blackie reasoning for not going home after losing his position as leader / the exploits will bring the gang fame around London and didn't have anywhere else to go C) seriousness of the destruction of the house / fame of it and creating a new environment for them D) the burning of the bank notes / Society can only be happy with the things that they want - not a thief E) Their consideration for Old Misery / reminded them of what it was before they war and how those people had more happiness than them (jealous) F) Larry the driver reaction to the house falling down after the boys tied it to his bumper / that the final building from the war that held the beauty finally fell just like the rest of London

Where did Greene move to in 1966?

Antibes, a city in the French Riviera

When did Greene die? Where was he buried?

April 3, 1991 Corseaux Cemetery

Who was the former leader of the gang?

Blackie

Where did Greene work during WWII?

British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) in Sierra Leone

cor

British exclamation of strong surprise or irritation. Cor is from Gor, or Gord, an earlier regional dialect pronunciation of "God".

Did Blackie steal or bring his own saw?

Brought his own

Did Blackie and Trevor burn or steal Mr. Thomas' life savings?

Burn because they aren't thieves

What did the boys bring him while Mr. Thomas was stuck in the loo?

Buttered buns, Sausage roles, and a blanket

Where did the gang meet every morning?

Car-Park, the site of the last bomb of the first blitz

True or False: Trevor hated Mr. Thomas

False

Summers

Goes by is last name. Small sallow boy. He afraid of getting caught by the police. The boys follow his example.

Background

Graham Greene's "The Destructors" was first published in two parts in Picture Post on July 24 and 31, 1954. Later that year, the story appeared in a collection entitled Twenty-One Stories. Because Greene arranged the stories in reverse chronological order, "The Destructors" was the first story in the collection. "The Destructors" disturbed its readers, yet it remains one of Greene's most anthologized short stories. Despite its setting in post-World War II England, the story is universal in its reflection of human nature. The story contains many of Greene's hallmarks, most importantly that of placing people who have the capacity for good and evil in situations where they must make a choice between the two. The boys in "The Destructors" are still young enough to be innocent, yet they make cruel and selfish choices. This story is also a link to Greene's earliest fiction in which he often portrayed young people being initiated into the adult world. Commenting on this story and three others ("A Chance for Mr. Lever," "Under the Garden," and "Cheap in August"), Greene declared that he was completely satisfied and had never written anything better.

Who's the Antagonist ?

Graham Greene's short story "The Destructors" does not have a traditional antagonist. The story is told from the point of view of a boy named Trevor, and the victim of his rampage is Mr. Thomas. Greene's short story features a gang of young boys led by Trevor, who set out to destroy a historic house that survived the German bombing of London. The house belongs to a man named Mr. Thomas, who is the closest thing the story has to an antagonist (both the person and the house see below), although he merely serves as a victim to Trevor's rampage, rather than an opposing force. The protagonists are the boys who destroy the home of Mr. Thomas, led by "T". Defining the antagonist is a bit more complicated, since we can look at the Old Misery's house as an antagonist but deeper inspection could point one to recognize that the fact that society's current state is perhaps more accurate. Trevor is looking to destroy the house as it is a symbol for hope for society as it has survived the war and thus the two are working against each other; Trevor against society.

Where did Greene attend in 1922? What did he do there?

He attended Oxford University where he edited the school paper and wrote his first novel

What is the setting of the story?

London, 9 years after WWII

Who laughed at the name "Trevor"?

Mike

What was unexpected?

Mr. Thomas is coming earlier than expected

Trevor "T"

Newest member of the gang. He usually silent. Comes up with the plan of destroying the House. Round character (well developed)

Did Trevor steal anything from Mr. Thomas' house?

No

Where did Greene work as a journalist?

Nottingham Journal and The Times

When was Graham Greene born? Where?

October 2, 1904 in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, England

Who had once been a builder and decorator; living alone in a crippled house?

Old Misery/ Thomas

Lav means

Outhouse

Who is the protagonist in this story. Who or what is the antagonist. Identify the conflict

P: Trevor A: the house since survived the war C: man vs society

"The House Slept" is an example of?

Personification

What was the first thing they did the second day?

Picking up the top floorboards next to the outer wall

How is suspense created

Planning how to destroy the house and how it went until they had a problem and when Mr.Thomas came home early until it collapsed

Why was Greene sent to London in 1920?

Psychoanalysis

Plot ?

Set in the mid-1950s, the story is about the "Wormsley Common Gang", a boys' gang named after the place where they live. The protagonist Trevor, or "T.", devises a plan to destroy a beautiful two-hundred-year-old house that survived The Blitz. The gang accepts the plan by T., their new leader, and executes it when the owner of the house, Mr. Thomas (whom the gang call "Old Misery"), is away during a bank holiday weekend. Their plan is to destroy the house from inside, then tear down the remaining outer structure. Mr. Thomas returns home early, however, and the gang locks him in the outhouse. T. refuses to stop until the destruction job is complete, because even the facade is valuable and could be reused. Inside, they find a mattress filled with money—which they burn. The final destruction of the house occurs when a lorry pulls away a support pole from the side of the house. Mr. Thomas is released from the outhouse by the lorry driver to see the rubble of what once was his home. When the driver finds the situation funny Mr. Thomas is incensed, but he is still unable to stop laughing.

The Lav stood like a tomb is an example of?

Simile

Wren

Sir Christopher Wren (1632-1723), a celebrated English architect - the person who built Old Misery's house originally. He also built St. Paul's cathedral in London.

What was the alternative that Blackie proposed instead of destroying the house?

Stealing Free Rides

Who is a thin yellow boy?

Summers

What was the Suspense of the story ?

Suspense is created throughout this story, perhaps most obviously when the gang questions T. of his whereabouts and T.'s responses are short and curtailed, with his eyes looking down as shown by 'He looked at the ground, as though he had thoughts to hide.' The manner of his short responses creates tension and in turn suspense, this reaches a climax when 'T raised his eyes, as grey and disturbed as the drab August day.' this sentence confirms the author's build up of tension and thus the reader focuses on the following 'We'll pull it down' which is central to the story. Suspense is expanded upon later in the story by the premature return of Old Misery and T's breakdown and the subsequent 'He protested with the jury of the child he had never been.' is completely against T's previous way of acting and this sudden change creates suspense while also showing the uncanny or unnatural view that Trevor never had a childhood in which he behaved like a child.

What does theme does this story show?

The author uses the story to show the underlying need for destruction present in human nature, and our ability to destroy beautiful objects for pointless reasons. The destruction of the house is seen as pointless in itself since nothing is gained. Post-war London's changing social structure could also show the fact that the youth is no longer as connected to the past as previous generations. Thus changing social dynamics and shifting power between generations is an integral part of this story.

Who crashed the house down?

The driver of the lorry

The Lorry Driver

The driver who pulls down the house without knowing the boys tied a wooden struts propping the house up to the back of the lorry.(he cant help to laugh about it).

The Setting ?

The setting is in England after the end of World War II when everything is still bombed out and demolished. A parking lot in a town surrounded by bomb-destroyed neighborhood is where the boys meet. The one house left standing is where the action takes places.

Mike

The youngest boys from the group. His mouth is always dropping open in surprise. He's told he'll catch a frog that way. He wants to contribute to the group and be taken seriously. He informs the group of Old Misery coming inside, and takes part in trapping him in out door lavatory.

What characteristics do the gangs two exploits- pinching free rides and destroying the house- have in common

They knew it was only for the rich so by doing this it made them on equal grounds with one another

"Pinched" means

To steal

Who's the Protagonist ?

Trevor "T" He's the main character who believes that in destroying the house there's creation and the house is a reminder of War World II.

True/False: Mike was the one crying out from the lav

True

Mr. Thomas "Old Misery"

Used to be decorator and builder. His house as the only house that survived the bombings of World War II. He is kind to the boys and offers them 3 packs of smarties candy (Which the boys believe its some kind of bribe). Mr. Thomas is a flat character in because he has only one or two personality traits, which are not altered in course of the narrative.

Where did Greene spend his last years? Who did he become friends with?

Vevey, Switzerland Charlie Chaplin

Who did Greene marry in 1927?

Vivian Dayrell-Browning

What's the gang called that Trevor Joined?

Wormsley Common Gang

Does Mr. Thomas' horoscope foreshadow anything?

Yes, it foreshadows his house is in danger of a serious crash

Does Greene attempt suicide?

Yes, multiple times in 1910

shore

a beam or timber that is propped against a structure to provide support

What was Mr. Thomas wearing when he finally got out of the loo?

a grey blanket

Rendezvous

a meeting aranged for a specific time and place

Lorry

a truck used to haul cargo

Monocle

a type of eyeglass that corrects vision in one eye

Ignoble

adj. dishonorable; shameful, degrading syn: despicable; base ant: noble; glorious

Altruistic

adj: unselfish, concerned with the welfare of others

Exploit

an interesting/daring action or accechivement

skirting-boards

baseboards; boards placed along the base of the walls of a room

Lav

bathroom

Dithery

behave in a nervous and indecisive way

Barrow-boy

boys who sold fruit or vegetables from a barrow, or cart

Morris

car made by the Morris firm, a British auto-maker

Deviation

change from what is usual

Rebuke

criticize sharply

Parody

deliberately ​​copy​​ anothers ​​work​ ​in ​​a​ ​comic ​​or ​​satirical ​​way

Disperse

distribute over a wide area

Perturb

disturb and trouble someone

Ambiguity

doubt about the meaning; something can be understood or comprehended in more than one way

parquet

fancy flooring composed of wooden boards or blocks arranged in a geometric pattern

Daunted

feel intimidated or discouraged

Facade

the face of a building

Tactless

unconcerned about upsetting or disturbing people

Abstain

verb: choose not to consume or take part in (particularly something enjoyable) Synonyms : desist , refrain Considered a health nut, Jessica abstained from anything containing sugar-even chocolate.

Did Mr. Thomas start screaming and yelling or did he stay relatively quiet while captured in the loo?

He remained relatively quiet

Why did Mike go home while everybody else stayed?

He went home to bed

Joe

He's the "Fat Boy". he worries about getting asked to spend money. he drops a penny from the top and watches it spin.

What does Mr. Thomas carry his own

His Bag

What did Mr. Thomas climb in order to get to the loo?

His garden wall

Blackie

Is 15 yrs, and is the leader of "the Wormsley Common Gang". Becomes jealous of "T" for taking leadership of the gang.

Why is Old Misery coming back so soon?

It was too cold and wet

How does this story differ from commercial fiction in its use of the formula. Does the story have a happy ending

It's both commercial and literary because it was an unbelievable story but it also gave in to the character's development more such as Trevor. Don't know because there is no perspective

Incendiaries

missiles​​ containing​​ highly ​​flammable ​​substances​​that​​ cause​​ ​​fire ​​on​​ impact

Exhilaration

n. high spirits; invigoration; excitement

Surname

n. last name; family name

Facades

n. the face of a building

Hooey

nonsense

Scandalize

offend someone

dado

wood paneling along the lower part of the walls of a room

What was Greene's father?

A housemaster at Berkhamsted School

What did Mr. Thomas' horoscope say yesterday?

"Abstain from any dealings in first half of week. Danger of serious crash."

Implacable

(adj.) Inflexible, relentless; obstinate; not to be satisfied or pacified or calmed; unyielding

Restive

(adj.) impatient, nervous, restless, hard to manage, balky

Impromptu

(adj., adv.) without preparation, offhand, suddenly or hastily done; (n.) an extemporaneous composition or remark; a minimal piece suggestive of improvisation

Shambles

(n.) scene of great disorder, Derived from schamel, a Middle English name for a bench used to display raw meat for sale, the word came to mean a butcher shop or a slaughterhouse; a place of mass bloodshed; and by extension, any state of complete disorder and confusion, mess

When did Greene separate from his wife?

1946

When will they meet on Sunday Morning

9 A.M.

Bogies

slang for police

Pinch

steal