Grace Bechdol
Mrs. Hancock
Introduction to Literary Genre
Essay #3
September 29, 2015
"These Aren't Your Typical Boys"
Christopher Wren was one of England's greatest architects and oversaw the building of more than fifty churches in London following the Great Fire of 1666. Wren's most highly acclaimed design is the famous St. Paul's cathedral, a stately masterpiece that has served as model for many other dome structures around the world, including the U.S. Capitol. Wren is also the architect of No. 3 North Wood Terrace in Wormsley Common in Graham Greene’s short story The Destructors. Unlike Wren’s other architectural feats that stand even today, house No. 3 owned by Old Misery is a victim of World War II's airstrikes. Although the house was still standing, it was surrounded by bombed out buildings and "stuck up like a jagged tooth" (1). By the end of Greene’s story, however, the house is obliterated to a pile of bricks, concrete, torn up steel and splinters, with the assault coming from a gang of selfish and …show more content…
The teenage boys of the Wormsley Common gang show their own disdain for authority through their light-hearted and most vile of actions. "Boys will be boys," is an often used excuse for teenage boy shenanigans. It is easy to look away from the gang's childlike pranks, from "bouncing balls on [Old Misery's] wall" (1) to the organized snatching of "free rides…from unwary conductors" (1). Things get more serious, however, when T. tells Blackie and the gang that he has been inside Old Misery's house. Blackie asks, "What did you do it for then?" (2), not comprehending why T. would enter the house if it wasn't to "pinch" something. The boys' actions move from folly to delinquency when they all take part in T.'s evil plan to destroy Old Misery's house, the embodiment of their disrespect toward other people and
Mrs. Hancock
Introduction to Literary Genre
Essay #3
September 29, 2015
"These Aren't Your Typical Boys"
Christopher Wren was one of England's greatest architects and oversaw the building of more than fifty churches in London following the Great Fire of 1666. Wren's most highly acclaimed design is the famous St. Paul's cathedral, a stately masterpiece that has served as model for many other dome structures around the world, including the U.S. Capitol. Wren is also the architect of No. 3 North Wood Terrace in Wormsley Common in Graham Greene’s short story The Destructors. Unlike Wren’s other architectural feats that stand even today, house No. 3 owned by Old Misery is a victim of World War II's airstrikes. Although the house was still standing, it was surrounded by bombed out buildings and "stuck up like a jagged tooth" (1). By the end of Greene’s story, however, the house is obliterated to a pile of bricks, concrete, torn up steel and splinters, with the assault coming from a gang of selfish and …show more content…
The teenage boys of the Wormsley Common gang show their own disdain for authority through their light-hearted and most vile of actions. "Boys will be boys," is an often used excuse for teenage boy shenanigans. It is easy to look away from the gang's childlike pranks, from "bouncing balls on [Old Misery's] wall" (1) to the organized snatching of "free rides…from unwary conductors" (1). Things get more serious, however, when T. tells Blackie and the gang that he has been inside Old Misery's house. Blackie asks, "What did you do it for then?" (2), not comprehending why T. would enter the house if it wasn't to "pinch" something. The boys' actions move from folly to delinquency when they all take part in T.'s evil plan to destroy Old Misery's house, the embodiment of their disrespect toward other people and