Nadine Gordimer's "Once Upon a Time" Summary (1989) PDF

# Summary "Once Upon a Time" Nadine Gordimer's 1989 work, "Once Upon a Time", follows many devices and elements of a fairy tale. The story begins with a framing element, where Nadine Gordimer herself is a character asked to write a short story for children's book. She rejects the idea because she...

# Summary "Once Upon a Time" Nadine Gordimer's 1989 work, "Once Upon a Time", follows many devices and elements of a fairy tale. The story begins with a framing element, where Nadine Gordimer herself is a character asked to write a short story for children's book. She rejects the idea because she does not see it as her duty, and she doesn't think an artist should be forced to create work on demand. This, Gordimer believes, goes against artistic freedom. That night, Gordimer is awaken by a noise that she can't identify. She realizes it is just the floorboards, and decides to tell herself a story to fall back asleep. The heart of the story "Once Upon a Time" is told from the third person point-of-view and follows a husband, wife, and their son. Gordimer explains that the family truly loves each other, which can be seen by their possessions, financial security, and even hired help. The family's mother, who many consider a wise witch, suggests that the family take steps to protect themselves since they wouldn't want to lose what they have. The family takes her advice, enrolling in numerous plans and options to protect themselves. Despite this preparation, the family becomes increasingly paranoid about events occurring outside their house. There are riots and burglaries in the non-white parts of town. The husband installs more security around their house. He erects a wall and electronic gates. The burglaries get closer to their home, even assaulting their maid. The family decides to up their security measures, using metal bars on their windows and a burglar alarm. The burglar alarm is overly sensitive, though, so it sets off alarms in the neighborhood. The burglaries don't stop, however, and thieves take advantage of the noise caused by the alarms. Other families choose to fire their help, a move the main family does not do. Instead, they restrict interactions with their maid as paranoia grows. The newly fired employees loiter, unnerving the family. They build their wall higher, further ensconcing themselves against the threat of the outside world. When the family cat manages to get over their wall, they realize that anyone can. Instead of raising the wall, they install metal barb-like implements at the top to counter the new threat of wall-climbing burglars. Feeling safe within their fortress, the mother reads to her son from a book of fairy tales. She chooses *Sleeping Beauty*, the story of the princess trapped in a thorny thicket who must be rescued by the valiant prince. The boy, taking the story to heart, uses the spikes on top of their outer wall as thorns to "rescue" the princess. He gets trapped, cut and scraped by the sharp metal. The desperate parents call for help while watching the gardener try to free their son. When the gardener finally frees the boy, he is dead and brought back into the house. One of the major themes is understanding and having a fear of the "Other." The family fears the outside world and everything that isn't related to them. The story speaks to the issue of race and the tensions that occurred in apartheid South Africa. The more a group of people attempts to insulate themselves against the outside world and any perceived threats, the worse off they are going to be in the long run.