Reading Response Journal: The Destructors By Graham Greene
Reading Response Journal- "The Destructors"
In my opinion, the main idea of the story, "The Destructors" by Graham Greene is that when humans let their own personal feelings get in the way of doing what is right, it leads to a feeling of detriment and dissatisfaction. Also the Wormsley Common Gang chose poor decisions that affected their innocence throughout the entire story. These poorly made decisions took away their youth innocence and replaced it with selfishness and destruction. In the story, Trevor, or as his gang called him, "T." desperately wants to destroy Mr. Thomas's house by completely destructing it from the inside, out in an organized fashion. T. and the rest of his loyal gang members are young and immature, with no regard
to anyone else's feelings but their own. The gang had decided that by ruining the only house that was left after the bombings post World War II, would bring them to think that they themselves were rebellious. They're just little boys who want to destruct something, possibly so that it can be reconstructed into something new purely for their own entertainment and satisfaction. The other members in the gang besides from T. are younger, and therefore seem oblivious to the fact that what they're doing is morally, and utterly wrong. They're completely unaware of the damage they are causing by partaking in this cruel act of vandalism. T. is the only one in the group who assertively wants to go through with this, maybe in hopes to fight his insecurities and rebel against society and old tradition. Mr. Thomas's house lies in a war zone, and "stuck up like a jagged tooth". It's the only house left on the block, and it stands with pride and dignity as a reminder of the town's strength. With no concern of his actions, T. wants to " pull it down [they'll] destroy it" (pg. 368). When the house is entirely destroyed from the inside out, Mr. Thomas has nowhere to live, for his house is demolished. The gang became so accustomed to seeing destruction as it held such a strong place in their lives, that they too, became a part of the destruction.
In my opinion, the main idea of the story, "The Destructors" by Graham Greene is that when humans let their own personal feelings get in the way of doing what is right, it leads to a feeling of detriment and dissatisfaction. Also the Wormsley Common Gang chose poor decisions that affected their innocence throughout the entire story. These poorly made decisions took away their youth innocence and replaced it with selfishness and destruction. In the story, Trevor, or as his gang called him, "T." desperately wants to destroy Mr. Thomas's house by completely destructing it from the inside, out in an organized fashion. T. and the rest of his loyal gang members are young and immature, with no regard
to anyone else's feelings but their own. The gang had decided that by ruining the only house that was left after the bombings post World War II, would bring them to think that they themselves were rebellious. They're just little boys who want to destruct something, possibly so that it can be reconstructed into something new purely for their own entertainment and satisfaction. The other members in the gang besides from T. are younger, and therefore seem oblivious to the fact that what they're doing is morally, and utterly wrong. They're completely unaware of the damage they are causing by partaking in this cruel act of vandalism. T. is the only one in the group who assertively wants to go through with this, maybe in hopes to fight his insecurities and rebel against society and old tradition. Mr. Thomas's house lies in a war zone, and "stuck up like a jagged tooth". It's the only house left on the block, and it stands with pride and dignity as a reminder of the town's strength. With no concern of his actions, T. wants to " pull it down [they'll] destroy it" (pg. 368). When the house is entirely destroyed from the inside out, Mr. Thomas has nowhere to live, for his house is demolished. The gang became so accustomed to seeing destruction as it held such a strong place in their lives, that they too, became a part of the destruction.