Summary

The short story “The Destructors” by Graham Greene tells of a gang of boys after the Second World War in Wormsley Common, in London. The story begins when the newest recruit, Trevor, nicknamed by the boys T., joins the gang. 

The gang’s meeting place is a car park in a neighborhood that was destroyed by the Blitz during the war. The first occupied house on the street, number 3, belongs to Mr. Thomas, an old man nicknamed Old Misery by the gang. The pipes of the house were damaged by the bombs, which is why Mr. Thomas uses a shed in the garden as a toilet instead of an indoor bathroom.

A few boys from the gang meet Mr. Thomas one day when he stops them on the way back from the market and hands them some chocolates. The boys are confused by this and assume Mr. Thomas must have an ulterior motive for giving the chocolates to them. The gang decides to spend their morning bouncing ball...