Exploration Of Social Issues In Once Upon A Time :: essays research papers fc

once Upon a Social Issue Fairy statements harbor ceaselessly been told to us as children whether to comfort or entertain us, they al courses seem to be a part of most everyones childhood. When Nadine Gordimer was asked to import a childrens bill, she replied with a short story titled Once Upon A Time. Although the title is characteristic of a milksop tale, she leads the tale to an ending that is anything other than blithely ever after. Gordimer distorts the fairy tale by dealing with certain issues rather than giving the reader the usual fairy tale characteristics. Three of the more signifi hobot issues Gordimer likes to deal with in her story are racial discrimination and prejudice, societys insecurities, and the persuasive way fairy tales present with children.Gordimers Once Upon A Time has the ghost of insecurity right away. In the first part of her story, Gordimer reminds us of our own insecurities. She brings up a familiar situation in which one is alter by a bump i n the night and cannot go covering fire to sleep because of fear or their own insecurities. Gordimer writes, I have no burglar bars, no gun under the pillow, but I have the same fears as people who do take these precautions... So, to better verbalise this issue of societys insecurities, she tells herself a bedtime story. In the story, there is a family who is living happily ever after, yet is seems it is all that they can do to keep it that way. Rather than putting their insecurities aside and getting on with their lives, they feel that they must put their trust in security devices to defend their selves. For a short while, the family has a sense of security by bill a plaque stating YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED over the silhouette of a prospective intruder. After a short time the familys psychological ingest for more security calls for a number of new security devices in order to sustain the top level of security. It is in the familys followers of this security that they virtually imp rison themselves. After the installation of burglar bars, Gordimer describes the aspect from every window and door in the house where they were living happily ever after they now saw the trees and sky through bars. iodine of the less obvious issues lining Once Upon A Time is racial discrimination. Gordimer first suggestion that this suburb may be slightly racist is by stating that the plaque on their gate warning possible intruders didnt designate black or white, therefore protesting too much the possessor of the home not to be a racist.