"The Destructors," by Graham Greene, illustrates, above all else, that peoples' actions and behaviors are greatly determined by their surroundings. Not only the characters' actions but their way of thinking is influenced by the state of society and the conditions of the government. This story, in particular, displays the destructive habits of kids living in a town destroyed by war. Destroying a house, the social system, and the system of leadership, the Wormsley Common Gang shows that because of their destroyed setting, it becomes normal for them to be destructive themselves.
             The setting of this story is the town of London that is greatly impacted by war. The first "blitz" of World War II has left London in ruins. Virtually no houses or buildings are left intact because the town is devastated by the bombs from the war; however, one man named Thomas, known by the kids as Old Misery, is lucky enough to be left with his house unscathed by the bombs. Little does Thomas know, his house is soon to be leveled by a group of kids. Trevor, who is initially the leader of the gang's little escapade, comes up with a brilliant idea to sneak into Old Misery's house while he is on a Bank Holiday and completely destroy the house from the inside out. Though the gang encounters many obstacles, they nevertheless level the house successfully.
             Though the most obvious form of destruction in this story is the destruction of the house, it is not the only one that the gang is driven to by the destructive setting. The gang completely disregards the social class system. Trevor, who comes from a higher class than all of the others, has his name reduced to just T. because it is a higher class name, and none of the members of the gang, including him, want him to have more authority over the others.
             "When he said 'Trevor' it was a statement of fact, not as it would have been with the others a...