Analysis Of Imponce Upon A Time By Nadine Gordimer

Sometimes what is thought to be a use of protection actually causes destruction.¨Once Upon A Time,¨ by Nadine Gordimer is a short story about a highly overprotective family who do everything in their power to keep the dangers of the outside world away from themselves, and their son especially. In hindsight, all the contraptions used in the form of protection were supposed to guarantee replete safety; however, for this family it ended up costing their son´s life and their security was seized indefinitely. In ¨Once Upon a Time,¨ Gordimer uses fairy tale allusions, personification, and irony in order to criticize the laws of Apartheid and show how even though these laws were designed to protect specific groups in civilization, it in reverse ends up destroying society To begin, Gordimer applies fairy tale allusions to show the negative effects of Apartheid in society. Specifically she utilizes the childhood story phenomenon, Sleeping Beauty as an allusion. In the passage, Gordimer

In the passage, irony is shown by what the family perceives to be their security is actually what causes their son death. Throughout the story they keep adding more and more contraptions: including, security cameras and wires. With every added protection it helps aid reassurance to the readers that nothing will happen to the family, but really it is just a misleading twist. For example, in the passage Gordimer writes, ¨He pretended to be the Prince who braves the terrible thicket of thorns to enter the palace and kiss the Sleeping Beauty back to life.¨ This is relatable to Apartheid because the group thinks that limiting the actions of different races will in return protect them but really all it does is separate and ruin society. Just alike how the family believes that all the isolation and protection from the outside world will keep them safe, but it just ends up killing the