Questions: Is this taking place during a war? What war? World War II? “the site of the last bomb of the first blitz” What do you think is the significance of this quote, “destruction after all is a form of creation. ” The quote is saying destruction is a form of creation because when you destroy one thing, you create something else. One example of this in the story was when Blackie’s gang was destroyed. When this occurred, T’s gang was able to be created. The destruction of Blackie’s gang was the creation of T’s gang, as without it, T. would not have been able to form his gang.
Destruction is a form of creation because it allows for something new, whether it’s improved or better in some way than it was before it was destroyed and recreated. The boys tear down the old house which allows for the creation of something new, a recreation. Destruction brings down and destroys the past, but by doing so, it allows the future to come. Quotes & Analysis & Themes loss of innocence – growing up The boys are in their teen years, which is the age where innocence is left behind and lost and maturity and sophistication replace it.
But for the main boys in the story, they have already lost their innocence, and this component of their personality is replaced with selfishness and rebellion. “He protested with the fury of the child he had never been. ” The boys growing up in a war-torn environment took their childhood away from them. They grew up with the war and having this present in their every-day lives. The boys meet in a parking lot that was slightly hit from bombs during the war, however, this does not seem to faze or affect them, since this has become a norm for them to see.
The war environment took their childhood and innocence away from them. “They worked with the seriousness of creators – and destruction after all is a form of creation. A kind of imagination had seen this house as it had now become. ” Children, with their innocence, usually use their imagination to think of a “better” world for them to live and surround themselves in. However, the boys, especially T. use their imagination in the opposite way. T. is the one with the “least amount” of innocence, which is why he is able to devise the plan to destroy Mr.
Thomas’ house using his imagination. He uses his imagination to think of something horrible. A child with innocence would not have used his imagination to think of how to destroy something, but rather make it better in their eyes, but the boys have lost their innocence, and they use their imagination to make the world worse instead of better, the opposite of how imagination is usually used. influence of war The boys have been living under difficult circumstances, as they have been growing up in a war-torn country.
They have witnessed destruction from the war, and the influence of seeing this is incredibly powerful in influencing the boys, as evident through their actions in the story, since now the boys are causing destruction themselves. They plan to destroy Mr. Thomas’ house. “I got some chocolates’ Mr. Thomas said. ‘Don’t like ’em myself. Here you are. Not enough to go round, I don’t suppose. There never is,’ he added with somber conviction. He handed over three packets of Smarties. The gang were puzzled and perturbed by this action and tried to explain it away. Bet someone dropped them and he picked ’em up,” somebody suggested. “Pinched ’em and then got in a bleeding funk,” another thought aloud. “It’s a bribe,” Summers said. “He wants us to stop bouncing balls on his wall. ” “We’ll show him we don’t take bribes,” Blackie said… ” influenced by the brutality they grew up in and have witnessed all their lives (from the war), the boys do not comprehend acts of kindness, and instead, think there must be an ulterior motive for Mr. Thomas to give them chocolates.
They seem to not understand what kindness is and entails, showing the powerful influence growing up during the war had on them and their thinking. “Don’t worry Mr. Thomas, we won’t hurt you, not if you stay quiet. ‘ (… ) ‘Here’s a blanket,’ the voice said (.. ) ‘There’s nothing personal,’ the voice said. “We want you to be comfortable tonight. ” This is very ironic because the boys are preparing to destroy Mr. Thomas’ house, but when they lock him into the shed, they give him food and a blanket and want him to be “comfortable” while they’re outside destroying his house.
They worry more about him being comfortable and not starving during the night than being homeless and penniless (since T. burns his life savings) when he gets out of the shed in the morning and for the rest of his life. Their priorities are a little out of whack. Connections Themes Destruction vs Creation Destruction is present in both LOF and The Destructors. Following T. ‘s plan, the boys work together to destroy Mr. Thomas’ house. Similarly, the hunters following Jack’s leadership and plans band together to form a destructive and powerful force in order to hunt pigs.
Challenging Power and Authority LOF and The Destructors both share the theme of power and authority and describe the chaos that results when the authority and power is challenged. In The Destructors, the boys challenge the authority of adults through their desire to destroy Mr. Thomas’ house. The boys also, evidently, challenge T. ‘s authority and power over the group throughout the entire process of getting ready to destroy Mr. Thomas’ house. In LOF, at the very beginning, the boys are almost happy to not have any adult authority on the island, as everyone on the island is boys, there are no adults.
Ralph is the decided leader of the group, but as they boys spend more time on the island and begin to bend to savagery, they rebel against Ralph, especially Jack, and, eventually, they all join Jack’s side. Blackie could symbolize Ralph, and T. could symbolize Jack Lack of Adult Role There is a lack of adult supervision and authority in both LOF and The Destructors. Even though there were adults present in The Destructors, they do not play an important part in influencing the boys and their decisions whatsoever.
He is simply an obstacle that sprouted during their plan, but the both quickly get rid of the problem. There is a complete absence of adults in LOF, as literally, there are no adults until the end of the book when the boys are found. Setting Both LOF and The Destructors seem to take place during World War II, and the boys are British in both stories. Both The Destructors and LOF was written in 1954, however the time period of both stories are just slightly different. The Destructors takes place near a bombed neighborhood in London, however the war has already ended.
In LOF, the war seems to be still occurring, as the boys were evacuated from England, and planes and parachutists are seen during the book, signifying the war is still occurring. Savagery In LOF, the boys eventually succumb to savagery and lose their morals and humanity as they spend longer time on the island. They end up killing two boys during their stay on the island. While the boys in The Destructors do not compare to the savagery that occurred on the island in LOF, their idea and desire to destroy Mr. Thomas’ house could be described as savagery. “We are going to destroy this house. There won’t be anything left when we’ve finished. “