Graham Greene's The Destructors

Literary Criticism Review: The Destructors
“There are infinite shades of grey, but writing often appears so black and white.” American author Rebecca Solnit quipped when it came to her own writings about political and sociological undertones within certain classic stories. In his article, Philip C. Kolin reveals the ever present sense of grey that resides the short-story “The Destructors” by Graham Greene. Although the story that rests on the surface is just that of delinquent children creating chaos in reflection in the world around them, Kolin attempts to find a far more meaning through the symbolism and his own personal interpretation of what lies between the lines of this timeless classic.
Through his own analysis, Kolin has delved deep
in explaining how the actual setting of the story played a major role in setting the dark and depressing atmosphere. The tone that the city emits in its post-war state appears to be that of pure dread and utter submission to that of darker days. Dingy colors, drab textures, decimated buildings, neglected flora, and a feeling of since past doom blankets the Common for an excellent display of literary world building. Kolin’s suggestion that even the names of the children within the Wormsley Common Gang could be analogous to the setting on a more ironic level, especially the name of the young boy named Summers. He even manages to somehow compare the bright and cheery pre-war London life to what it has become since the German Blitzkrieg. The transition of a vibrant and color landscape to that of concentrated hopelessness and melancholy really sets the the world Greene created for Kolin’s suggestion for the symbolic color: grey.
In continuation, we are reminded of how the newly crowned leader of the gang eventually begins to reveal his darker side.
Kolin creates parallels between the destruction of the house by the hands of the children to the destruction of the world that surrounds the house by the hands of men. Instead of reiterating the theme of grey within the story, he has gone in another direction in describing how the characters actions are fulfilled in dark terms, both literally and figuratively. T.’s actions are not driven by an emotion that spans the two extremely. His actions are driven purely by his desire to plant the seeds of darkness so that the house resembles all that is around them. This idea of darkness is once again mentioned as the children continue destroying the elderly man’s house through the night in a so-called “shroud of darkness”. Kolin does a good idea of illuminating these small details, ones that most readers might miss upon a first
glance. Moreover, the theme of color plays a massive role within the story itself.
Kolin explains that the underlying goal of the children in the story isn’t just pure destruction, the de-colorization and demoralization of society through their actions. The color grey comes up time and time again within the writings of Graham Greene, most than any other color imaginable. When another color is introduced, it is quickly washed away or removed from the world through various means. As symbolic as everything else, the color grey stands out above all else. Grey skies, buildings, dusty walkways, rusted cars, and the muddy faces of the children bring this fact to light. Kolin even describes the grey blanket that Mr. Thomas wears when exited his outhouse prison as an symbolic manifestation of the gang’s overwhelming distortive power that’ve exerted on him. No longer is Mr. Thomas prideful and flushed with color as he now is dark and as drab the world that surrounds him. Through T.’s planning and nature, the gang manages to bring the world of an old man down to their own level of personal
suffering. In conclusion, Kolin has somehow managed to expose more on the story that one might originally picture themselves. Through interpreting the work through his own words, he has managed to give the world an excess of texture and meaning than what was there before. Although the author of the article places far too much emphasis on the color grey within his analysis, he still does a fantastic job of deciphering the motive behind the children and the significance of the symbology that lies between the lines of the story at hand.