The House of England: The Central Symbolism of "The Destructors" Margaret Brice College

Many of Graham Greene’s works of literature include references to the author’s homeland, England. After living through World War II and experiencing the instability following the war, Greene weaves symbolism of England into his fiction. In his short story, “The Destructors,” Mr. Thomas’s house symbolizes England after World War II.

Just like post-war England, Mr. Thomas’s house is externally beautiful. In fact, compared to the other houses on the street, Mr. Thomas’s is fortunate to be standing. The houses “of the shattered Northwood Terrace” (88) contrast sharply with Mr. Thomas’s house which still “[stands] jagged and dark between the bomb-sites,” “saved so narrowly. . . from destruction” (96). In Mr. Thomas’s house “even the fanlight [was] left unbroken by the bomb’s blast,” (96) while other houses are “supported by wooden struts” and “sticking up like a jagged tooth” (88). Ironically, even the “car-park,” the favorite haunt of the Wormsley Common Gang, is a vacant lot, “the site of the last bomb of the first blitz” (88). Against this background of destruction, Mr. Thomas’s house still stands as a monument of external beauty and order. T, a member of the gang, tours the interior of the house and calls it “beautiful” with “a...