A Literary Analysis of Nadine Gordimer’s “Once Upon a Time”
By Emily Hines
Author’s Note :: If you have not read this short story, you
need to. As the following essay
portrays, it is an extremely shocking bit of literature. Since I did not go into detail of plot line
here, if you have any questions you can ask me and I will certainly find the
answer to give you.
In Nadine Gordimer’s “Once Upon a Time”, the most important element is its theme. The entire story is set about telling its
readers that human beings create their own destruction. The setting of the two parts of the story is
important as well as the ironic structure presented. Suspense and tone also add to the final
effect. All this is brought together to
leave readers shocked, ready to rethink the importance of things in their own
lives.
The story begins with the author presenting a situation in which great
fear exists. She hears a noise and is
afraid of a burglar or murder inside her house.
However, she soon comes to realize that her fear was not something real,
but that the noise causing her fear was really just the shifting of the
earth. The setting is important here in
creating an atmosphere of dread which each human has experienced at one time in
their life. If the terror had ensued at
a time during the day instead of the night, then it might have produced a more
comical affect as opposed to the fright shared with the audience. It pulls the reader into the story so that
when the second part hits, the reader is completely engaged in the author’s
sardonic telling of a fairy tale.
This fairy tale in itself is ironic due to the fact hat the very first
paragraph of the entire story is dedicated to the author’s refusal to write a
story for children. Another situation of
irony is presented in that the only thing relating the author’s tale to that of
a children’s story is the setting. A
happy family in a “perfect” little suburb makes it seem like a story for
children, but by the time the story finds its end, readers are left completely
shocked.
Irony adds to this final affect in that everything the parents do to
protect heir home becomes useless. The
gate speaker is used by the boy for a walkie-talkie. The alarm is set off, but no one cares. The high wall is mocked by the cat jumping
over it. The ultimate destruction is
obvious when the boy is killed by the barbed wire. All these precaution, things the characters
thought they would die without, instead bring on unseen death.
This death, added to by the person vs. self conflict and sarcastic tone
of the author, creates the theme of the entire piece. This theme’s impact is even more great and
shocking upon a second reading of the story.
The repetition of “YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED” stands to tell readers that
this story is in fact warning them that with each move they make they build
their own prison and bring on their own destruction.