Transcript “The Destructors” Graham Greene (1904-1991) By

“The Destructors”
p. 111
By
Graham Greene
(1904-1991)
"The Destructors"
1
Graham Greene
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Parthenon/1608/greene.htm
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English novelist,
short story writer,
playwright, journalist
Roman Catholic wrote of God’s grace
and mercy,
adventure, and
suspense
Worked in WWII
intelligence
Books have been
made into films
"The Destructors"
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Conflict
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Person vs.
person
Person vs.
self
Person vs.
environment
"The Destructors"
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Conflict
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Consider the
way the story
moves:
• Exposition
• Complication
• Climax
• Denouement
"The Destructors"
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Physical Setting
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Man-made
Hostile
London, 9
years after
WW II
Bombed-out
car park
"The Destructors"
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Social Setting
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Blitzed world
Destruction,
aftermath of
war
Gang members
unconsciously
taking revenge
on a society
that has
betrayed them
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Class society
• snob values
• money values
• aesthetic values
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"The Destructors"
Values are
associated with
the 200-year- old
house built by Sir
Christopher Wren
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Characters
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Protagonists=gang members
• appear to have opposite values of the
class society they reject:
• work hard at destruction
• reject personal gain
• forget personal rivalries
• maintain justice within gang framework
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Antagonists=members of the
upper class
• Opposite of all the above from the
gang’s viewpoint
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Title
• What clues does the title give to the
author’s intent and emphasis?
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Omniscient point of view
• Find evidence for this.
• Why is this the most effective choice?
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Major Symbols
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House
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Top Hat
• symbolically
identified with
the old social
order and its
valuing of
 money
 beauty
 courtesy
 love
• Identified in two
references as a
symbol of high
society
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"The Destructors"
in Blackie’s
thoughts
in the Lorry
driver’s final
reaction
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“Destruction after all is
a form of creation.”
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The gang has a flipped value system.
They no longer trust members of the political
structure that brought the war, including
their families
They value friendship, loyalty, acceptance,
courage, hard work, leadership . . . but not
outward vestiges of power, wealth, and rank.
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