The Destructors

"The Destructors" is a 1954 short story about teenagers who destroy a house, written by Graham Greene. The story is ironic—showing how destruction is allegedly a form of creation. The story is set in the mid-1950s, and is about a boys' gang named the "Wormsley Common Gang", after the place where they live. Trevor, or "T.", the protagonist, devises a plan to destroy a beautiful two hundred-year-old house that survived The Blitz. Under T., their new leader, the gang accepts the plan 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 and leader, 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—but they burn it nonetheless. The final damage to the house is done when a parked lorry pulls away a support pole from the side of the house. Mr. Thomas is released from the outhouse by the aforementioned lorry's driver and after being laughed at is left with the dusty rubble of what once was his home.

Television adaptation

"The Destructors" was adapted for television as part of the 1970s British drama series Shades of Greene. It starred Michael Byrne, Phil Daniels and Nicholas Drake.

Allusions and references in other works

• In the film Donnie Darko (2001), the title character contributes to discussion of "The Destructors" in his English class. Donnie Darko, who prior to the movie burned down a house, thinks that "The Destructors" suggests destruction as a form of creation. Frank, influenced by the former idea, makes Donnie flood the school (so he meets Gretchen, his later girlfirend) and light the house of a pedophilic motivational speaker whose material is found in the process of extinguishing the fire. A teacher protests this choice of curriculum during a PTA meeting, implying that it inspired a copycat incident of vandalism to the school—which was flooded by a broken water main—in a way similar to the protagonists of the Greene story.

References

External links

• The Destructors Study Guide