The Destructors Graham Greene Online Information For the online version of BookRags' The Destructors Premium Study Guide, including complete copyright information, please visit: http://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-destructors/ Copyright Information ©2000-2007 BookRags, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. The following sections of this BookRags Premium Study Guide is offprint from Gale's For Students Series: Presenting Analysis, Context, and Criticism on Commonly Studied Works: Introduction, Author Biography, Plot Summary, Characters, Themes, Style, Historical Context, Critical Overview, Criticism and Critical Essays, Media Adaptations, Topics for Further Study, Compare & Contrast, What Do I Read Next?, For Further Study, and Sources. ©1998-2002; ©2002 by Gale. Gale is an imprint of The Gale Group, Inc., a division of Thomson Learning, Inc. Gale and Design® and Thomson Learning are trademarks used herein under license. The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Encyclopedia of Popular Fiction: "Social Concerns", "Thematic Overview", "Techniques", "Literary Precedents", "Key Questions", "Related Titles", "Adaptations", "Related Web Sites". © 1994-2005, by Walton Beacham. The following sections, if they exist, are offprint from Beacham's Guide to Literature for Young Adults: "About the Author", "Overview", "Setting", "Literary Qualities", "Social Sensitivity", "Topics for Discussion", "Ideas for Reports and Papers". © 1994-2005, by Walton Beacham. All other sections in this Literature Study Guide are owned and copywritten by BookRags, Inc. No part of this work covered by the copyright hereon may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, Web distribution or information storage retrieval systems without the written permission of the publisher. Table of Contents Introduction...................................................................................................................1 Author Biography.........................................................................................................2 Plot Summary................................................................................................................4 Detailed Summary & Analysis.....................................................................................6 Characters....................................................................................................................14 Blackie................................................................................................................14 Driver..................................................................................................................14 Joe.......................................................................................................................15 Mike....................................................................................................................15 Summers.............................................................................................................15 T..........................................................................................................................15 Mr. Thomas.........................................................................................................16 Trevor.................................................................................................................16 Themes.........................................................................................................................17 Innocence............................................................................................................17 Power..................................................................................................................17 Style..............................................................................................................................19 Paradox...............................................................................................................19 Allegory..............................................................................................................20 Historical Context.......................................................................................................21 Modernist Period in English Literature..............................................................21 Teddy Boys.........................................................................................................22 i Table of Contents Critical Overview........................................................................................................23 Criticism.......................................................................................................................26 Critical Essay #1..........................................................................................................27 Critical Essay #2..........................................................................................................30 Critical Essay #3..........................................................................................................34 Critical Essay #4..........................................................................................................38 Critical Essay #5..........................................................................................................45 Critical Essay #6..........................................................................................................59 Critical Essay #7..........................................................................................................61 Critical Essay #8..........................................................................................................65 Critical Essay #9..........................................................................................................68 Topics for Further Study............................................................................................70 Compare & Contrast..................................................................................................71 What Do I Read Next?................................................................................................72 ii Table of Contents Further Reading..........................................................................................................73 Sources.........................................................................................................................74 Copyright Information...............................................................................................75 iii Introduction Graham Greene's "The Destructors" was first published in two parts in Picture Post on July 24 and 31, 1954. Later that year, the story appeared in a collection entitled Twenty-One Stories. Because Greene arranged the stories in reverse chronological order, "The Destructors" was the first story in the collection. "The Destructors" disturbed its readers, yet it remains one of Greene's most anthologized short stories. Despite its setting in post-World War II England, the story is universal in its reflection of human nature. The story contains many of Greene's hallmarks, most importantly that of placing people who have the capacity for good and evil in situations where they must make a choice between the two. The boys in "The Destructors" are still young enough to be innocent, yet they make cruel and selfish choices. This story is also a link to Greene's earliest fiction in which he often portrayed young people being initiated into the adult world. Commenting on this story and three others ("A Chance for Mr. Lever," "Under the Garden," and "Cheap in August"), Greene declared that he was completely satisfied and had never written anything better. Introduction 1 Author Biography Graham Greene was born in Hertfordshire, England, on October 2, 1904, to Marion (first cousin of the writer Robert Louis Stevenson) and Charles Henry Greene, a school headmaster. An introverted and sensitive child, his early years were difficult because of his strict father and boarding school bullies. At sixteen, he suffered a psychological breakdown and went to London for treatment by a student of Sigmund Freud. While in London, Greene became an avid reader and writer. He met Ezra Pound and Gertrude Stein, who became lifelong literary mentors to him. His other influences were Henry James, Joseph Conrad, and Ford Madox Ford. After graduating from high school in 1922, Greene attended Oxford University's Balliol College where he received a degree in history in 1925. While at college, Greene became interested in politics, especially Marxist socialism (but not communism). This sometimes created tension in Greene's friendship with the conservative writer Evelyn Waugh, although the two remained steady friends for many years. In 1926, Greene converted to Catholicism for his fiancée, Vivien Dayrell Browning, whom he married the following year. The couple eventually had two children. Greene is generally considered a Catholic writer despite his insistence that the conversion was not his greatest literary influence. During World War II, Greene did intelligence work for the British government in West Africa. His experiences at home and abroad inspired works like "The Destructors" and The Heart of the Matter. In addition to his novels of intrigue, peopled with spies, criminals, and other colorful characters, Greene wrote short stories,