In the following essay, Kolin surveys symbolism in "The Destructors."

In "The Destructors," published in 1954, Graham Greene portrays a world in transition, a society moving away from respect for culture toward a delight in chaos. Greene's story has been variously interpreted as a parable on depravity; a political allegory on Churchill's defeat by the Labour Party in 1945; and an expostulation of a Bakunian anarchy. Set in blitzkrieged London after World War II, the story details the exploits of the Wormsley Common Gang as they destroy a magnificent old house built by Christopher Wren and leave its occupant, an old decorator and builder, Mr. Thomas, nothing to live in but his loo. The gang, alternately led by Blackie and Trevor, has been so accustomed to seeing destruction around them that they easily become destructors themselves. Their bleak and at times amoral pranks take place in a world of...