The Blitz In Graham Greene's 'The Destructors'

The general consensus of humanity is that war is bad, people get killed for no reason, civilians can get maimed, bombed, or even killed just because some leaders of a country could not resolve an issue any other way. The enemy could destroy an entire cities, or multiple cities with bombs and neat little soldiers in their neat little planes. On September seventh, 1940; the start of what was called The Blitz. The Blitz was a devastating event in World War Two, when the Nazis decided to bomb the cities of London, Plymouth, Belfast, and many more British towns. A novella written by Daphne du Maurier “The Birds”, could be interpreted as an allegory for this horrifying event. Through du Maurier’s tale, there are certain similarities with the birds acting like Nazi planes, the government being inefficient, and how

Following the collapse of France during World War II, the conditions the Allied powers faced became bleaker by the day. The United Kingdom was standing alone in the face of Germany, and under Hitler’s reign, the German “blitzkrieg” or “lightning war,” a tactic involving bombardment, tanks, and ground troops in quick offense proved too much for many countries. Winston Churchill would be the one to place hope in the hearts of the British people, delivering his “Their Finest Hour” speech on the 18th of June, 1940. Churchill utilized persuasive rhetoric whilst appealing to the people's logic and emotions, to raise morale and spirit in the United Kingdom to fight.

The main occurrence in the novel was the nonsensical bombing of the culturally enriched and beautiful city in Dresden, Germany. On February 13, 1945 amidst World War II this city was attack

Thus, this article can serve as a foundational text for the American perception of the German military and its tactics. Although the article focuses on a particular commander, the level of respect showed towards Brauchitsch reveals the writer’s understanding of the power of Germany. The modern connotation of the word (quick and hard striking maneuver warfare) as a form of military strategy is used and explained here by the author as if it is the official German military doctrine. Historians argue endlessly over the idea of an “origin” and it remains the same here. When was “Blitzkrieg” introduced to the American public? Was it invented by Western journalists to for sensationalism purposes or rather, German propaganda that was “swallowed up” by the Allied press? The author of the article seemed very educated in the concept of Blitzkrieg (if it indeed is an official military concept) and used appropriate language to emphasize the speed aspect of the tactic. Some phrases depicting Blitzkrieg included “a war of quick penetration and obliteration,” “Swift columns of tanks… plunged through Poland…broken down the Polish defenses before they had time to

In the short story "The Destructors" we are introduced to a group of young men that seem to be surrounded by destruction. The setting of this story takes place after the World War. It depicts an atmosphere of dilapidated buildings destroyed by bombs. As the story unfolds one can see that the boy’s surroundings have caused them, to have a pretty negative outlook.

Many compelling authors and writers use literary devices to draw readers into their stories. The use of literary devices is to express the meaning of a story in a deeper way than just stating the theme. Stories with descriptive writing that includes literary components keeps readers engrossed and keep them wanting to read more. A few examples of literary elements are symbolism, irony, imagery, and foreshadowing. One such story that includes many uses of elements such as these is “The Destructors”, by Graham Greene. Strong Imagery is used in many instances throughout the text of “The Destructors” to draw the readers into the story, imply deeper meanings, and provide a description of different parts of the text.

Invasion of Poland, Blitzkrieg - September, 1939 - Germany used series of "lightning campaigns" to conquer Poland. The invasion caused Great Britain and France to declare war on Germany.

“These things all went together to make the most hateful, most beautiful single scene I have ever known” (Pyle). “ ‘come then, let us go forward together with our United strength’ “( “Blood, Toil, Tears and Sweat”). The people of Britain are still recovering from the attacks in 1940. Many of the civilians were scared for

As Tim’s hard work, he and his mother receive heartbreaking news that his father had died on a British prison ship (Collier, 1974). The news of his father never coming back made Tim’s coming of age even more serious (Collier, 1974). The countries coming of age continued as Tim and Susannah Meeker found out when Sam came home from the war with his clothes were all ripped, and he talked of both of the sides of the war were short of clothing and hungry (Collier, 1974). When they took an innocent boy Jerry Sanford Tim’s best friend to die on a prison ship was another sign of the countries coming of age. After they boy died all they did to bury him was throw him overboard into the ocean (Collier,

The concept of Blitzkrieg warfare had been developed by tactical lessons learned during and most influentially, toward the end of World War One. When combined with technological innovations developed until the advent of World War two, Nazi Germany would possess a devastating brainchild that would eventually grow into the Shock and Awe technique of combat that we see today.2

The two stories “The Destructors” by Graham Greene and “The Rocking Horse Winner” by D.H. Lawrence are being analyzed through literary devices on how they demonstrate the shared theme. Greene and Lawrence both use setting, symbolism, and like-minded characters to demonstrate the theme of the destruction and effects of war are long lasting in the stories “The Destructors” and “The Rocking Horse Winner”.

London- Since the 7 of September, London and other cities of Great Britain have been bomb by Germany's Luftwaffe.

The carnage of world war one was the result of the clash between new technologies, but old strategies. Blitzkrieg warfare would be the first form of modern military tactics for it fully utilizes the technological advancements of that time. The term “Blitzkrieg” was not invented by the Germans, but by an English magazine that described the invasion of Poland (Showalter). While many accredit the invention of Blitzkrieg warfare to Heinz Guderian, Germany's Chief of Mobile Troops during WWII, it was actually invented far before that. In fact, it was developed right after WWI after seeing the devastating effects of trench warfare(Showalter). Ironically, the basis of Blitzkrieg warfare was also laid by German Field Marshall Alfred von Schlieffen of the famous Schlieffen plan of WWI(Showalter). The basic essence of Blitzkrieg warfare was built upon the belief that Germany was always going to be out resourced and out numbered in every war and thus in order to win it, the Germans must strike hard and fast and penetrate deep behind enemy lines(Showalter). Thus, Blitzkrieg warfare was the most effective military tactic of its time because it utilized all of the technology of its time, it not only utilized physical warfare, but also psychological warfare, and because Germany’s opponents were not prepared for this kind of warfare.

Blitzkrieg in a literal sense means “lightning war” meaning that they would use speed and confusion to upset the enemy forces. Rommel is credited as being the one who perfected the art of war known as Blitzkrieg and for good reasons. It’s believed that Rommel and Guderian were told under the command of Hitler to disobey their superiors and to push the front, leaving their flanking forces behind them to create confusion and surprise for the enemy. Rommel used this method of

During the early stages of the war, most of Germany’s victories were because of the success of blitzkrieg, or lightening war. Blitzkrieg tactics