Characterization In The Destructors

Once I read “The Destructors” I knew it was a very well written short story. The detail that it had was very descriptive, and i did not find a lot of missing pieces. One thing that really caught my eye was how he had certain scenarios that would bring out a different feeling in each character. Mr. Greene uses the specific time era, Mr. Thomas’s house, and the destruction of his house to help him develop characterization in the story. The story dates back to a time after a war. A town where half of it was bombed and completely empty. The gang of teenagers would meet up on the damaged part of town to discuss the trouble they were going to cause that day. Mr. Greene places the group of teenage boys on that side of town to indicate that they were up to no good. Having the readers already put a specific label on those particular characters. Nothing that was going on during that time ever phased the “common gang.” For example, one day Blackie(the leader) wants them to sneak free bus rides all day. The time period that they are placed in characterizes the group of boys being capable of making good decisions for their town, but instead they choose not to. …show more content…
Thomas’s house plays a major role in how he sets up his characterization during this part of the story. Basically the group of boys do not want to go along with Blackies plan, so T. decides to talk about why he is late to the meeting. Trevor describes the old house as “beautiful.” Then he begins to describe the unique aspects that are on the inside of the house with great excitement. No one in the group seems to understand why he is telling them all of this information. The author uses Mr. Thomas’s house to characterizes Trevor by wanting him to take a piece of antique work and create something different out of