Screwed Up Children and Their Desire to Destroy

I will admit, I didn't read "The Destructors" until lunchtime the day we were supposed to have it finished. I'm not sure why I even neglected it in the first place, but for some reason I was. Combination of being sleepy the night before and a general laziness during the three day week? Who knows.

That's not my point though. Usually, I'd just read what I can during lunch (pinky promise I don't do this too often), then BS my way through class discussion. But I really was drawn into this entire story. Something about how monstrous these kids are is utterly fascinating. I'm pretty sure we've all done terrible things during our childhood that we look back at now with much contempt and regret. I know I have quite a few (though none are as bad as destroying an entire house just for the sake of destruction). I have a strange love of analyzing really messed up actions. What makes people want to do that? What's the motivation to knock down an old man's house, basically ruin his life and everything he has?

A girl at my table made a comment on how this reminded her of "A Clockwork Orange", and I freaked out a bit; partially because I love that book (and movie) just a little too much, and partially because she's TOTALLY RIGHT. It's violence for the sake of violence. The characters receive pleasure from it, they crave it. They don't necessarily have a reason for it, but they do it nonetheless. On a side note, that book is on our list of what we can read for outside reading; it's soo good, if you can make it through the first chapter. I highly recommend it!

But back to the short story: the entire idea they had, there was no reasoning for it. And I think that's really the scariest part. Sure, they can make an entire building rubble in two days with simple tools. But their numbness to the emotional damage they will be causing is too disturbing. They do not care. Not only about the house, about everything. They see it all as disposable, just to be rebuilt. That's kind of how it went in London after WWII, and since they were all exposed to that at such young ages, they assume that's life.

I really hope that's not life.