The Destructors

This article is about the short story. For the punk rock band, see The Destructors (band). For the 1974 film, see The Marseille Contract.

"The Destructors" is a 1954 short story about young boys 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 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, and after being laughed at, he is left with the 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, stating "The Destructors" suggests destruction is a form of creation. A parent of a pupil protests the use of this book in the curriculum during a PTA meeting, implying that it inspired an incident of vandalism to the school — a broken water main (which flooded the building) and an axe in the head of the mascot statue — in a way similar to the protagonists of Greene's story.

References

External links

Works by Graham Greene

Novels	The Man Within (1929) The Name of Action (1930) Rumour at Nightfall (1932) Stamboul Train (1932) It's a Battlefield (1934) England Made Me (1935) The Bear Fell Free (1935) A Gun for Sale (1936) Brighton Rock (1938) The Confidential Agent (1939) The Power and the Glory (1940) The Ministry of Fear (1943) The Heart of the Matter (1948) The Third Man (novella; 1949) The End of the Affair (1951) The Quiet American (1955) Loser Takes All (1955) Our Man in Havana (1958) A Burnt-Out Case (1960) The Comedians (1966) Travels with My Aunt (1969) The Honorary Consul (1973) The Human Factor (1978) Doctor Fischer of Geneva (1980) Monsignor Quixote (1982) The Tenth Man (1985) The Captain and the Enemy (1988) No Man's Land (2005)

Travel books	Journey Without Maps (1936) The Lawless Roads (1939) In Search of a Character: Two African Journals (1961)

Plays	The Living Room (1953) The Potting Shed (1957) The Complaisant Lover (1959) Carving a Statue (1964) The Return of A.J. Raffles (1975) The Great Jowett (1981) Yes and No (1983) For Whom the Bell Chimes (1983)

Screenplays	The Future's in the Air (1937) The New Britain (1940) 21 Days (1940) Brighton Rock (1947) The Fallen Idol (1948) The Third Man (1949) Loser Takes All (1956) Saint Joan (1957) Our Man in Havana (1959) The Comedians (1967)

Story collections	Twenty-One Stories (1954) A Sense of Reality (1963) May We Borrow Your Husband? (1967) The Last Word and Other Stories (1990)

Short stories	"The End of the Party" (1929) "Proof Positive" (1930) "The Basement Room" (1936) "Across the Bridge" (1938) "Alas, Poor Maling" (1940) "The Blue Film" (1954) "The Destructors" (1954) "A Shocking Accident" "The Invisible Japanese Gentlemen" "The Last Word"