The Destructors
Introduction + Context
Plot Summary
Detailed Summary & Analysis
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4
Themes
All Themes Class and a Changing World Codes of Behavior Money and the Value of Things Adolescence, Age, and Rebellion Destruction and Creation
Quotes
Characters
All Characters Trevor, or “T.” Blackie Mr. Thomas, or “Old Misery” The lorry driver Mike Summers
Symbols
All Symbols Top Hat Mr. Thomas’s Lavatory Sounds of Destruction
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The Destructors

by

Graham Greene
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The lorry driver Character Analysis

A driver who keeps his lorry in the lot near Mr. Thomas’s house. He unwittingly pulls down Old Misery’s house, after the boys tie one of the wooden struts propping the house up to the back of his lorry. After Mr. Thomas cries out in dismay at the destruction of his house, the lorry driver can’t stop himself from laughing, despite Old Misery’s obvious distress. The lorry driver’s laughter suggests that the boy’s hostility to the old pre-war world of strict social class, and their affinity for destruction, is shared more broadly by the community of people around them as well.

The lorry driver Quotes in The Destructors

The The Destructors quotes below are all either spoken by The lorry driver or refer to The lorry driver. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Class and a Changing World Theme Icon
).
Part 4 Quotes

'I'm sorry,' the driver said, making heroic efforts, but when he remembered the sudden check of his lorry, the crash of bricks falling, he became convulsed again. One moment the house had stood there with such dignity between the bomb-sites like a man in a top hat, and then, bang, crash, there wasn't anything left - not anything. He said, 'I'm sorry. I can't help it. Mr. Thomas. There's nothing personal, but you got to admit it's funny.'

Related Characters: The lorry driver (speaker), Mr. Thomas, or “Old Misery”
Related Symbols: Top Hat, Sounds of Destruction
Class and a Changing World Theme Icon
Page Number: 22-23
Explanation and Analysis:
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The Destructors PDF

The lorry driver Quotes in The Destructors

The The Destructors quotes below are all either spoken by The lorry driver or refer to The lorry driver. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Class and a Changing World Theme Icon
).
Part 4 Quotes

'I'm sorry,' the driver said, making heroic efforts, but when he remembered the sudden check of his lorry, the crash of bricks falling, he became convulsed again. One moment the house had stood there with such dignity between the bomb-sites like a man in a top hat, and then, bang, crash, there wasn't anything left - not anything. He said, 'I'm sorry. I can't help it. Mr. Thomas. There's nothing personal, but you got to admit it's funny.'

Related Characters: The lorry driver (speaker), Mr. Thomas, or “Old Misery”
Related Symbols: Top Hat, Sounds of Destruction
Class and a Changing World Theme Icon
Page Number: 22-23
Explanation and Analysis:
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