Preview

Essay Destructors by Graham Green

Satisfactory Essays
Open Document
Open Document
498 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Essay Destructors by Graham Green
ESSAY DESTRUCTORS BY GRAHAM GREEN

A war always leaves a great impact on people´s lives. It changes their temper, their lifestyles and, thus, their relationship with others. The consequences of a war are wisely depicted in Graham Green´s story, the destructors, through its main characters: Trevor (usually) called to, Blakie and “Old Misery”. (Mr. Thomas)
To begin with, Trevor; T, is the latest recruit of the gang. Because of his witty ideas, he becomes the leader of it. He is portrayed as a cunning and cold blooded boy, especially when he comes up with the whole plan of pulling out Mr. Thomas´s house. Not only has he got everything well-planned, but also he has considered every detail thoroughly. Apart from that, T. is decisive and determined: “T. was giving his orders with decision: it was as though this plan had been with him all his life…” (Page 164).
Secondly, there is Blackie, who was the former leader of the gang. Everybody shows him respect and obeys every command he gives. However, when T. has a better plan that the ones Blackie has ever proposed, he is underestimated and no longer the leader of the gang. That’s why, he loses part of that respect. At the beginning, he is reluctant with T´s plan because he knows his actions have been diminished: “he went away to the back of he car-park and began to kick a stone…” (page 163). Apart from that, Blackie is more naïve than T. He is more emotional whereas T. is wore rational and cold-blooded. This is clearly shown when T. shows Blackie he has found Mr. Thomas´s savings, and the following conversation follows: “´you hate him a lot? ´ Blackie asked. ´Of course I don’t hate him! T. said. ´There´d be no fun if I hated him´…´All this hate and love´, he said, ´it´s soft, it´s hooey. There´s only things, Blackie´… (Page 166).
Thirdly, there is Mr. Thomas, who the boys call “Old Misery”. He used to be a builder and a decorator. Now, he lives alone in a partially deteriorated house, though it is the only house which

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    War affects all of us, even those not directly involved. Although both “For 7515-03296” and “Army of Music” have their suffering based on the same war and similar situations, the type of suffering portrayed is based on two different (but not opposite) tones. These tones dictate to whom the characters’ emotions are directed.…

    • 766 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Running Man Essay

    • 700 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Another character that is mis-judged, is none other than Tom Layton. Rumours are spread about him of ‘deformity and madness and as well as more sinister tales that could only be revealed in sly whispers.’ Mr. Layton is one of Mrs. Mossop’s favourite topics of gossip and the town of Ashgrove all listen eagerly to the controversial rumours that spread like wildfire. But Few people know of Mr. Layton’s deepest darkest secrets and one who does, is Joseph. The night that the young boy finds Tom drunk in the cellar, he learned of how he killed the young Vietnam boy and why he…

    • 700 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    World War II was a devastating war. The war affected so many people. People daily lives were affected by it like the teenagers in the the book A Separate Peace , where the teenage boys struggle with the concept of the war. In A Separate Peace John Knowles demostrats how the boys achieve a separate peace yet the setting and their behavior are tinged with war-like imagery.…

    • 463 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout history, war has been constantly evolving. Over time, it has taken a new less glorious form. World War One was one of the most devastating and transformative events in human history. In Erich Maria Remarque’s book, All Quiet on the Western Front, he depicts the horrors of “the great war” by showing the complete disregard for human life in modern warfare. This war modeled the way that any future war would be fought. It would shape human history by completely changing the game of warfare and people’s opinions of it. Remarque shows, from his point of view, the terrors that happen on a daily basis on the front lines, and away from it, of World War One. World War One changed the perception of war in a big way and opened the eyes of so many people to the horrors of modern warfare.…

    • 484 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    He helps the alcoholic when she is drunk, is there for the prostitute when she is feeling guilty, and overall looks out for the safety of them all. Despite his career as a gambler, he is an honest and fair man. He does everything he can to protect the people he is with. When Tom and Piney join the group, he takes them in and cares for them as well. It is when a snow storm hits and he sends Tom a couple days late before he starts to realize perhaps if he had sent Tom a day or two earlier, they all might have lived. He begins to think it could all be his fault. He watches his companions die a slow death and then kills himself.…

    • 837 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Generals Die in Bed

    • 1342 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The novel depicts how the war brings out disrespect and selfishness in the soldiers. Just like their constant companions the lice and the rats, the soldiers in the trench adapt to the hell that they find themselves trapped in – doing whatever it takes to survive. They even fight each other over food ‘at each others throats like hungry, snarling animals’. As the novel and the war progresses so does the inhumane side of the soldiers who become increasing more detached from killing, unconcerned with the death of friends. The soldiers are conditioned, hardened up and desensitised with self preservation becoming a key motivator. This is shown as the soldiers plunder the city of Arras, the allies ' town and vandalize houses with no consideration of the local people who will come back to a raided and shelled town. As they ransack the town ‘chewing food while pillaging,’ stealing and destroying people’s possessions, self satisfaction is their only concern. The soldiers become feral and even rebel against and shoot at their own Military Police who are trying to restore order. By these merciless and selfish acts the dark side of the soldiers’ nature is revealed.…

    • 1342 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A soldier’s suffering holds no refrain from anyone, no matter what title or identity they have. In both the worlds of soldiers in those in the poem entitled “losses” by Randall Jarrell and at Devon school in “A Separate Peace” by John Knowles, there are several relationships that they share. Both center around the lives of soldiers and soon to be soldiers during the cruel time of the second World War which was happening in Europe. Jarrell experiments with multiple identity in the combination of several speakers united in one, all wasted even before they could be conceded into the real experience of war. In the book World War II symbolizes many themes related to each other in the novel, from the arrival of adulthood to the triumph of the Evil…

    • 957 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Graham Greene showed the destruction of war clearly in the short story, “The Destructors.” While the bomb craters and destroyed buildings were made evident, the damage done to the psyches of the children were a little harder to see. Even though these children were too young to experience much of the war, and definitely never saw the front lines of combat, they still wore scars that maimed them forever. Childhood was a very formative time in their lives of a person. It shaped who they would become and what they did. This story was set in the years following the end of World War II, and the teenagers of England had grown up in a country that experienced heavy bombings from German aircraft. Children born around this time had never known the peace and security that a child deserves. The children in this story had their innocence stolen from them well before it should have been.…

    • 1436 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Gang Leader for a Day

    • 1772 Words
    • 8 Pages

    In the text the author, Sudhir Venkatesh, observes how elites use their power to control the less powerful. This is evident in the Robert Taylor Homes, where the Black Kings profit from drug sales that control the community, while the rest of the families are struggling to survive. There even appear to be hierarchies within a hierarchy. For example, within the Black Kings gang there were leaders such as a man known as “J.T.”, who would make thousands in profits from commanding others and then there were young teenage men who actually sold the drugs and barely earned minimum wage (256). Aside from the drug sale employees, other workers such as those who ran shops or did menial work from their high rises were also controlled by the gangs, who would use fear tactics to implement various taxes upon them. Clearly the majority of the society is being controlled by the middle and upper-class from surrounding neighborhoods and also the gangs in the lower-class community, creating social inequality. However, conflict and change do appear by the end of the book when the Chicago Housing Authority along with President Clinton decides to demolish Robert Taylor Homes in hopes of eliminating the hierarchy of…

    • 1772 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    War is often viewed as one of the most dangerous and brutal events ever created. It utterly destroys the humanity and mental state of soldiers fighting in the war. In All Quiet on the Western Front, a world renowned war novel by Erich Maria Remarque, the epigraph states that this novel “will try simply to tell of a generation of men who, even though they may have escaped shells, were destroyed by the war.” Staying true to this quote, Remarque tells of the horrors of World War I and fittingly describes the effects that war has on humans through the eyes of the protagonist, Paul Bäumer. In his epigraph Remarque says, “this book is to be neither an accusation, nor a confession, and least of all an adventure.” Except for a few notable exceptions,…

    • 1401 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Victor is show upset with him, for trying to become more of a white man. In Victor’s eyes, Thomas is assimilating too American culture and wants him to be more Indian, which may stem from his fear of alcoholism and the ties to American society. The two boys had a turning point where he convinces Thomas to only open up to being more native to his culture by letting his hair be free and not as uptight with his clothing. However, this doesn’t last long, as Thomas quickly dresses in his business fashion…

    • 946 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In addition, Mildred Taylor also suggests to the reader that T.J. will get into trouble because T.J. makes bad decisions. One example of this is how T.J. always goes to the Wallace Store, even though he knows that he isn’t supposed…

    • 838 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    So after T.J fled down to the wallace store to get back at T.J but not to the point where they were not friends anymore.Those represent the reactions because Stacy shows to T.J that he should not have trusted T.J but went along with it because of their strong friendship. Also, it explains that when the Logans are walking to school and they hop up on the bank because of Stacy's knowledge of when the bus rolls around. But T.J explains his perspective that the bus is not coming the trust is shown they all jump from the back and keep walking but as soon as a couple minutes role bynd the bus roll around the corner and to everyone's surprise trusting Stacey would have been much better than trusting T.J. Stacey moves on because he knows that he should have trusted in himself and not have taken point in T.J. And lastly, when TJs mother finds out about T.J going to the wallaces store, but knowing T.J he was afraid of the punishment and blames it on Christopher John everyone but Christopher John and Stacey don't repel against T.J because of both of the…

    • 1223 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The Wars by Timothy Findley is at first initially thought, a book about World War I but the pluralized title suggests that it is much more than that. With a closer look it becomes easier to recognize how structurally complex this novel is as it concerns itself around a number of ‘wars’. First, there is the raging war World War I, as well as domestic disputes within the Ross and d’Orsey families while the war rages, although there is still the internal struggle in which most characters face, most notably Robert. One of the most critical themes in this novel is the climatic change both Robert Ross and the society in which he lives undergo, as World War I overturns the past and destroys the fundamental and moral…

    • 1403 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Destructors

    • 1042 Words
    • 5 Pages

    In "The Destructors" Graham Greene uses Trevor and other characters as an example to assert that the war and the bombing that injured British cities during the war was causing people surrounded by the destruction to become desensitized. Blackie and the other members of the gang all distrust Old Misery's exhibitions of generosity and so go along with Trevor's plan to destroy his house. The local lorry driver finds the ruination of the old house hilarious. Trevor is held up as the story's most prominent example of war-caused sociopathy while on the other end of the spectrum is Mr. Thomas (that is Old Misery's proper name, the poor man lost his house, a show of respect is needed here) who shows that he still has some softer emotions left. Their reactions all fall on different points of that spectrum, but they all have one thing in common. That the war has affected the way they react to each other.…

    • 1042 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays