The Blitz Motift
The Blitz is a motif that is present in many of the stories in this collection. The Blitz was a harrowing time for Londoners during World War II; German bomber planes carried out night-time air raids in an attempt to wipe out the industrial parts of London. Two such areas of the capital are seen in "Alas, Poor Maling" and "The Destructors". Although the stories are not all set in the Blitz this is the common reference point for the characters and the plots that unfold. "Alas, Poor Maling" shows us London at the height of the war, right in the middle of the Blitz and its reign of fear. "The Destructors" shows us post-war London, and emphasizes the destruction caused by the Blitz, in that although the war has been over almost a decade by the time we meet the Wormsley Common Gang, the destruction that it caused is still evident; Mr Thomas' house is still the only one left standing, and the other homes that were wiped out in the German bombing raids have still not been rebuilt.
Wormsley Common Symbol
The Wormsley Common Gang took their name from the area in which they lived. Wormsley Common is a fictional area but it is rough and tough. It is a poor urban area. There is not much parental involvement in the lives of the kids who live there. The gang's name is not only a symbol of their location but also a symbol of the type of boy that they are; rough, tough and more or less left to run around doing what they like without any visible framework set by the adults in their lives.
Trevor Burning Money Symbol
Trevor finds Mr Thomas' savings stuffed into a mattress in the house. He sets fire to it. This is a symbol of his contempt for material things and what he sees as the middle and upper class pursuit of it. He despises the middle and upper classes for valuing possessions and putting emphasis on the importance of money. By setting fire to it, rather than stealing it, he is showing that he has no respect for money and no respect for the people who have it.
Trevor's Name Symbol
The boys in the gang sometimes tease Trevor about his name when he first joins the gang, and when they want to rebel against his leadership they begin to do this again. The name Trevor to the poorer boys represents everything "posh". It is a name that symbolizes growing up in affluence, and it is a symbol of Trevor's family's upper middle class roots. This is also a symbol to Trevor of everything he hates about where he comes from and this is why he abbreviates his full name to "T".
Upper Class Motif
Each of the stories in this collection have some element of the plot spun around the upper classes, and the way in which the British class system works.
For example, in "The Destructors", Trevor is upper middle class, and grew up with affluent parents. His name is also one that would be given to "posh" kids. He hates everything about the class system and this is why he destroys the house, which has stood for two hundred years. This destruction symbolizes to him the destruction of social tradition and class. The fact that the truck driver at the site of an apoplectic Mr Thomas whose entire life has just been destroys hints that adults also feel the same rebellion towards the class system that the teens do.
"The End of the Party" is set in an upper class environment and details the lives of those growing up within the upper classes. We are introduced to a children's birthday party that includes elements such as an egg and spoon race, a three-legged race and an extravagant birthday cake. The house that the children celebrating the birthday live in is large enough for a complicated game of hide and go seek to take place within it.
"The Basement Room" is told through the eyes of a diplomat and his young son, who leads a privileged lifestyle and has a wonderful friendship with the family butler who tells him stories about his travels in colonial Africa.
Each of these stories is woven around very different characters who are all embedded in the upper class society of London at the time of the writing of the story.
