World War II was a time of great chaos and destruction. Graham Greene's short story, "The Destructors," is a metaphor for this War, and highlights the concepts of war. He uses the image of the gang of boys to show the effects of war. A gang is made up of many members. These members obey their leader, and don't question him. The boys obeyed T's orders to destroy the "beautiful" house, just as the Nazis obeyed Hitler's orders in World War II. T had no motivation for destroying the house, other than the fact that it was "beautiful," adding to the pain caused by its destruction. These boys were destroyers, brainwashed by T into tearing down the house, but not everyone in the gang agreed with it. Blackie's apparent disapproval of T's plan shows forgiveness and redemption.

Graham Greene has once said, "Childhood is life under a dictatorship...