The Dehumanization Of Children In The Destructors By Graham Greene

Humanity has had several instances falling upon hard times, whether it is war, plague, or natural disasters, and undoubtedly, WWII was one of these instances. It was an ugly 6-year war, where there were an estimated 40 million casualties at minimum. WWII left victims of the Holocaust, veterans, and countries physically and mentally shattered. For a while, Great Britain was one of them. Although they had been part of the Allied force, fighting against Italy, Germany, and Japan, the war left them in an unfavorable economic state. In “The Destructors,” by Graham Green, Greene shows the reader the effects of the war nine years after it ended. He uses a gang of children and an elderly man to convey that children raised within a poor and violent time, become violent and desensitized, but kids will be kids, no matter what. The reader does not have to be a historian to piece together the picture that “The Destructors” takes place in a time of poverty for Great Britain. Graham Greene gives subtle hints that the society is just a shell of its former self. One of the most glaring examples is Trevor’s father, who was “a former architect and present clerk,” according to Greene, “had ‘come …show more content…
When reading farther than just the simple premise, and looking past the destruction of a house, and possibly an elderly man’s life, the theme of ‘boys will be boys’ prevails. Greene writes the story in an ironic way, to show the silly thought process during youth, and that not all horrendous actions are being done with harmful intention. Even during poverty, misery, and destruction, Greene is telling the reader that sometimes, there is humor in the most inappropriate times, and ends with the notion, “There’s nothing personal, but you’ve got to admit it’s funny”