The Destructors

In the spectrum of fiction novels lay two different categories. In the first end the commercial fiction side which the story is more entertaining, action-oriented, and a satisfying ending, while on the last end lies literary fiction where the story is more character-driven, complex characters and unresolved conclusion. “The Destructors” by Graham Greene is a short story about completely destroy an unwanted past in order to start a new beginning. A new recruit joins the Wormsley Common Gang named T (Trevor). The gang hangs out in their impromptu meeting site near a parking lot, site where the last bomb of the first blitz hit, also where Old Misery house stood, T took leadership of the gang and decides to topple down Old Misery’s house when Old
Thomas’s house, “We’ll pull it down” added “We’ll destroy it” (page, 54). This begins the destruction of Old Misery’s house, asking the Question of Trevor’s decision, reason, and motivation for wanting to destroy Old Misery’s house. Instead of Trevor just wants to destroy the house for delinquency purposes, Trevor does have a deeper reason behind his actions. The house serves as a reminder of the upper class standing above the lower class, and how the house seems to Mock the surrounding area. The passage also added that the lorry driver was the final person to carry out the destruction. The reason why this a character driven suspense is the implication of the lorry- driver that topples the house signifies his position as a low- class citizen toppling down the upper
Second the readers’ ability to discern characters flaws and complexity, in the literary fiction while staying with the stereotypical boundaries of the commercial fiction. Third is the ability of readers’ to recognize that the overall theme of the literary fiction challenges the norm of our society in the literary fiction whilst the overall theme of the commercial fiction revolves around escapism. Lastly, the conclusion of literary fiction gives the readers an unsettling and unsatisfactory ending. Conversely is true for the rewarding, satisfying, and a happy ending for the commercial fiction. Thus it is important for the readers to be educated to be able to differentiate between the literary and commercial