ENG 200: Critical Reading & Writing Literature
Nadine Gordimer depicts a story of a narrator, tasked with an anonymous letter to create a children’s story. Inferring that the narrator is a writer, they hold themselves above writing children’s stories. Believed to be a low form of writing. In Once Upon a Time, the narrator is woken up in the night by, what they believe to be, the person responsible for the murder of the woman inside the house roughly two blocks away. Foretelling other deaths race through the narrator’s mind in this sense of urgency. Taken place in apartheid-era South Africa, we can infer through the text that racism and severe violence were on the rise, the acts of violence being described were the oppressive system in place at the time. Once realizing the creaks in the night were merely false alarms, the narrator reconsiders his position. Taking this as an omen, the narrator agrees to the letter and writes a children’s story.
We assume that children’s stories are targeted towards a younger demographic, commonly with gleeful and oblivious plotlines. The narrator, and author for that matter, challenge the notion of what we could classify as a children’s story. Many of the older fairy tales we were told when were younger had ended with a happily ever after, but not in the original stories. For instance, in Sleeping Beauty we all know the basic plot line of the princess falling asleep at the prick of her finger from the jealous Maleficent. Although in the end the princess warms her heart and live happily ever after with her new love. While in the original telling of the story is more of a tragic note. The princess is cursed to sleep endlessly until the kiss of her true love, but instead of Prince Phillip kissing her to wake up he rapes her. Plenty of other fairy tales had tragic ending such as this but were generally retold with a happier ending to be more suitable for children. The author appeases the anonymous writer’s wishes for a children’s story, but with an authentic ending shying away from false endings.
When the narrator reassures themselves of the creaks in the house, as the house was built atop mines, is nothing to worry about. This stems from the theme of the piece, essentially, yelling fire when there is no smoke. The overreaction from the narrator, neighbors, and eventually the characters in the story is whipped in a hysteria whirlwind so strong they can not see the truth. The narrator was able to see past the wind when taking a step back and realizing they were not in any danger, nothing more than the house settling. Compared to the characters in the story, both the mother and father, added a new security feature for every creak they heard. This whirlwind hysteria the characters immerse themselves in sunk themselves to see they did not see the harm they were infringing on themselves, others, and eventually their son.
Gordimer tackles the idea of prejudice and racism. Before beginning the story, the narrator recounts Chopi and Tsonga. They were migrant workers who worked in the mines, the very mines below the house, imagining that they are no longer in use. Rather that they are a gravesite for the lost souls who were working while the rocks fell. In creating the story, the narrator wanted to honor the lives lost to injustice and prejudice. Developing a plot in which the victims were the ones making wild assumptions and in the end paid the price.
In accepting the task of the writing challenge, the narrative shifts from a short story to an anthology. [name of author] uses repetition when describing the “loving” family in the beginning. “Loved [him] very much,” (Gordimer 1989) when admiring how much the parents loved the boy and their cat. Shows up how happy and healthy the whole family is, but too happy. When originally reading, couldn’t help but notice the overcompensation with the happiness. Even going as far as to tell how trustworthy each of their staff members was as well. The author internally did this to dig into our skulls that the family is superficially happy. Superficial happy meaning they are happy on the outside, and when one domino falls, the whole board collapses.
We follow the family as their prejudiced hysteria takes over them as they are warned of masked individuals robbing houses on the street. The author makes it clear that the individual is masked, indistinguishable of race, showing that the culprit can be anyone yet the people believe it’s the people on the street who were asking for help and jobs. Convinced that the treat is lurking around the corner, the neighborhood adds a new security feature to their house, making their pretty lawns and gorgeous houses no longer recognizable. This motif of security protection symbolizes many nations when they upgrade their forces. As the author draws on what we do with fear, it remains true with the modern-day war in the world. Everyone is fearful of each other, and the need for constant innovation in weapon manufacturing rather than discussions leads to more destruction than peace.
As the family continuously sets their new system, there are many errors they try and settle first. The trouble with the alarming blaring at random hours, causing a new update, and the cat constantly getting out. Once the family has exhausted their resources and got every update imaginable, their son climbs the fence and is cut by the razors. The author alludes to the original notion of what a children’s story, is and its effect when children take it to heart. The little boy was, as we would call it playing fantasy when he played with something he should not have. The author symbolizes this with the harm of innocent people caught in the center of war caused by fear and the dangers of adjusting stories for children. Seemingly dissimilar, they both tackle the concept of the consequences of their actions. Since the child was not warned of the harm of the razors by the parents, he thought it was fine and continued to play. When nations at war neglect to acknowledge the facing threat of war, many civilians get harmed in the process. They no longer recognize the beautiful house they reside in, as it turned into a military building, but they no longer recognize themselves for what they did.
Maya Young 