Graham greene the destructors biography book

During this relatively short period, many writers, artists, and intellectuals—Greene included—tried to make sense of this global catastrophe that resulted in the Holocaust and approximately 60 million soldiers and civilians dead. Houses were reduced to rubble, and many children became war orphans. While Great Britain was a leader among the Allied powers who won the war, the peace proved to be costly.

The transition from a wartime to a peacetime economy involved shortages, deprivation, and unemployment. When Blackie asks if T. Old Misery returns early the next day, and T. Blackie supports him, and the gang traps Old Misery in the outdoor lavatory. They toss him food and blanket as a sign that they do not want to hurt him, but they refuse to release him.

Inside, they find a mattress filled with money—which they burn. The final destruction of the house occurs when a lorry pulls away a support pole from the side of the house. Thomas is released from the outhouse by the lorry driver to see the rubble of what once was his home. He intrigues the gang with his plan to pull down Mr. The unprecedented plan, coupled with the air of intrigue surrounding T.

Thomas Mr. Thomas, who is called Old Misery by the boys in the gang, is an old man who lives in one of the last standing houses in its neighborhood. He was once a builder and decorator but now lives alone, emerging once every week to buy groceries. While he expects his property to be respected by the boys, he is not so disagreeable that he refuses to allow the boys on his land or to use his outdoor bathroom.

He never expects that they will regard his offer of chocolates with suspicion, and he certainly never imagines that when he agrees to show T. Thomas believes that the old ways, in which youth respected their elders, are still alive. By the end of the story, however, he realizes that he was terribly misguided. For the boys in the story, however, their innocence is already gone, replaced by cynicism, selfishness, and rebelliousness.

When Mr. Thomas arrives home early, T. They meet in a parking lot near an area that was destroyed by bombs during the war, and they are seemingly unaffected by it because it is such a normal part of their life. In reality, the war years have claimed their youthful innocence, leaving them disillusioned and determined to create their own world order, but all they really know is destruction.

Part of innocence is surrender to the imagination. A kind of imagination had seen this house as it had now become. They can only imagine a worse world. Blackie initially holds the power of leadership in the gang, and he is a basically good leader. Although he encourages mischief, it is the kind that does not hurt anyone. In his hands, power is the ability to lead others.

When T. His brand of leadership is different; when Blackie arrives on the first morning of the destruction the day after T. He succeeds in pressuring the boy to stay and help finish the destruction. In the changing social structure of this small community, the balance of power is shifting. The boys forcibly take power in the community, and it is executable power.

Thomas, on the other hand, thinks he has power that he no longer possesses. He believes that he has authority based on the social order of the past, in Topics for Further Study Compare the Wormsley Common gang with modern American gangs. Consider factors like membership, recruitment, enemies, activities, and motivations. What similarities did you find?

Present your findings in a collage made up of drawings, photos, maps, headlines, text, and anything else that is appropriate. Prepare a lecture to deliver to a group of high school freshmen in which you present your findings and encourage the students to imagine how they would react in similar circumstances. Explore art paintings, sculptures, photography, etc.

Do you find that the art celebrates the Allied victory or that it reflects the devastation of war? Compile reproductions of the works you find most compelling and make an exhibit demonstrating how art reflects the experiences of nations. Social dynamics are undergoing change, and the youth no longer feel connected to the past, as previous generations did.

On the one hand, he sets about destroying his house, treating him disrespectfully, and regarding him with suspicion. At the same time, however, T. His intention to destroy Mr. Although his destructive behavior is not personal, the consequences are deeply personal for the old man, but T. A related paradox in the story is when T. Instead, he takes them only to burn them.

In other words, T. He knows the house is beautiful, but his feelings about beauty, especially as they relate to social classes the house is an emblem of the upper class makes it easy for him to destroy it anyway. Another example of paradox is in the truck driver who ultimately brings the house to its final destruction. While the reader expects this man to react with feelings of guilt or horror, he laughs.

He has no part in planning the destruction, nor does he have any feelings toward the old man or what he represents; yet, his reaction is not what is expected.

Graham greene the destructors biography book

The various characters in the story represent the older generation and the traditions of the past and the younger generation and its rejection of the empty promises and values of the past. Thomas stands for the old ways and the past belief in the authority of elders. He initially expects to be able to tell the boys what to do and what not to do simply because he is older than they are.

In the determination to destroy Mr. The lower class, represented by the gang, is not satisfied to watch the upper class enjoy valuable property; instead, they succeed in destroying it and somehow achieve a closer balance between the haves and the have-nots. The story is also an allegory about power. Once he has secured the power in the group, he immediately initiates changes by raising the stakes of what kind of mischief they will seek.

In the wake of World War II, these are disturbing images of a new generation of power-hungry young people emerging from the wartime experience. Readers may interpret this as a message about the price of war or as a warning of what may come if something is not done to reverse current trends. During the early years of the modernist period, the foremost fiction writers were E.

In the s and s, the novels of D. Lawrence and Evelyn Waugh were harshly critical of modern society, expressing an attitude shared by many English men and women of the day. In the s and s, novelists such as Greene wrote traditional fiction that was well-crafted enough both to stand up to innovative fiction of the day and to gain a wide and loyal audience.

Many writers of this period Greene included were born at the turn of the century, near the end of the Victorian Age. These writers were reared in an environment of romanticism, which often meant leading a relatively sheltered childhood that left them ill-prepared for the realities of adult life. This background, combined with events of the first half of the twentieth century, led writers such as Greene to question the values of their past and to reevaluate the world in which they lived as adults.

Teddy Boys During the s in England, the reality of organized groups of teenagers set on being disruptive and disrespectful caused public concern. Known as teddy boys, these groups of boys banded together in the name of delinquency and destruction. In many ways, they were the precursors to the modern-day gangs. These groups of boys are regarded as products of the postwar society in which they lived, having been exposed to violence and instability as children.

The teddy boys got their name from their choice of attire; although they were generally working-class boys, they chose to wear Edwardian-style suits traditionally worn by young upper-class men. English voters seem to vote in cycles, much as American voters tend to alternate over time between Democratic and Republican leadership. Teenagers are drawn to its energy and spirit of rebellion.

Having endured the war, many teenagers in England are uncertain and cynical, and rock and roll music appeals to their spirit of defiance and to their drive to create a new identity. Today: Rock and roll music has evolved into a variety of types, including pop, alternative rock, punk rock, heavy metal, and funk. Besides the many contemporary English bands enjoying worldwide success including Radiohead, Oasis, Dead Can Dance, and Stereophonies , formative bands such as the Beatles and the Rolling Stones continue to influence musicians today.

These two British groups consistently top every poll, list, or survey of the best bands and albums of all time. The teddy boys were not just creative in their delinquent behavior; they also made irreverent changes to their suits, such as adding bolo ties, that they had seen in movie westerns. Critical Overview Greene is considered one of the most important writers of his generation although most of the criticism of his work focuses on his novels.

Still, there are similarities between his novels and his short stories, such as his sympathetic portrayal of flawed characters, the degradation of the individual in the modern world, the need for moral compromise in certain situations, and the harsh realities of violence and cruelty. The words are functional, devoid of sensuous attraction, of ancestry, and of independent life.

As a result, there is no direct connection made between the storyteller and the reader. In Understanding Graham Greene, R. It has all the qualities that have come to be expected in the short story : focus, compression, pace, and that element of surprise, that epiphany that brings one to recognizing a powerful truth. Critics often comment on the story within the historical context of the postwar era in England.

Miller observes that the story reflects conditions in England in the postwar years when the gradual recovery ushered in unexpected shifts in social and political dynamics. Many communities like the one in the story lay in ruins, and once Mr. McCartney of Southern Humanities Review sees the gang as symbolizing democratic socialism struggling against privilege and conservative politics.

She is an independent writer specializing in literature. In the following essay, Bussey considers whether or not Graham Greene leaves open the possibility of redemption in his short story. In his novels and short stories, Graham Greene portrays ordinary people who have the capacity for both good and evil. They find themselves in situations in which these opposing impulses conflict, and they must make decisions about the path they will take.

The book explores themes of innocence, human nature, and the human capacity for cruelty. It includes two complete novels, excerpts from ten others, short stories, essays, travel writing selections, and memoir excerpts, in addition to a thorough introduction and bibliography. Greene often offers the possibility of redemption somewhere within the work.

Perhaps this is the result of his conversion to Catholicism in his twenties. In the Catholic Church, there is always grace by which a sinner can receive redemption. By repenting, saying confession, and carrying out the instructions of the priest, a Catholic can receive forgiveness. In the story, redemption is at stake for two entities: the characters and England.

First, there is the main character Trevor, or T. He is described as never having really been a child, which suggests that his innocence was sacrificed long ago. He knows the house is beautiful, valuable, and the only home to an old man, but he is not the least bit swayed by any of this. He is on a path that will only lead to more cruelty against other people, and his lack of remorse suggests that he is unaware that he should even be thinking about redemption.