The Destructors

T is a dangerous, unpredictable, often silent 15-year-old boy with a dark gaze. Though he is the newest member of the Wormsley Common Gang, he quickly suggests plans for their activities and takes over leadership. In contrast to his father, a former architect, he devises a cold, calculated plan to destroy the house of Mr. Thomas, an old man the boys call Old Misery. An antihero, T represents a shift in power—both in the Wormsley Common Gang and in society. As the city of London struggles to rebuild after the Blitz, T wants to destroy it further. He is driven to demolish Old Misery’s beautiful house so completely that nothing can be salvaged. When he discovers money in Old Misery’s mattress, he burns it instead of stealing it. He claims to do this not out of hatred. Hatred and love, he believes, do not exist. Only material things are real. His plan and its systematic execution are entirely impersonal but seemingly, for T, necessary. The only time the reader sees him come close to panicking is when Old Misery returns early and the other boys want to run away before the house can be completely destroyed.