Written By: Madelyn Fitzgerald
Nadine Gordimer, the author of “Once Upon A Time,” opens this short story with a personal experience that is common for many of us- an irrational midnight fear that slight creaking of floorboards might be a malevolent intruder. As the author realizes the mundane nature of the situation, she begins an attempt to return to sleep. In her attempt, she tells herself a bedtime story to ease herself back to sweet slumber. However, as she tells herself and the reader a fairy tale, the story morphs into nightmarish reality.
once upon a time…
The fairytale begins with the picture of a perfect husband and a perfect wife that have a perfect young son in a perfect suburban home. They seem to have all the mechanisms in place to keep themselves safe, all their ducks in a row. They are a part of the neighborhood watch, their belongings are licensed, they have insurance on their home and vehicles. But there is one thing that insurance won’t cover…
riot damage.
As the story progresses, the family gains one new “safety” addition to their home after another. First we see electronic gates, then bars on windows and doors, then an alarm system. Each addition comes with a new development of crime in the suburban neighborhood- burglaries, break-ins, beggars and loiterers. We see the quaint suburb slowly turn from picture-perfect displays of open safety to impenetrable fortresses of fear as the family reflects on their next safety addition. They conclude that coils of razor wire should be their final add-on. But little do they know that this decision would turn into an unexpected display of violence within the walls of their own home.
One day, inspired by bedtime fairytales, the young son decides to brave the wire- just as a prince would brave thorns to save a vulnerable princess. He becomes unavoidably caught in the razor sharp claws of the wire, and Gordimer presents a painful scene of hysteria as the boy is cut out of the coils.
So, as the reader, we might catch ourselves horrified by this fairytale that abruptly turns to nightmare. What is the context of this story? Where does this take place? What could the author possibly be referring to?
Nadine Gordimer, a white woman from Springs, South Africa, wrote and published this story in 1989 amidst the troubled time of apartheid (1948-1994). Born into a privileged white family, Gordimer slowly became aware of the inequality of the apartheid system in South Africa. Over time, her works accumulated into novels, short stories, and essays that addressed the injustice of the South Africa apartheid. Because Gordimer’s work was incredibly influential in drawing attention to the realities of apartheid, many of her novels were banned by the South African government.
While “Once Upon A Time” was not specifically banned, Gordimer’s similar works were deemed inappropriate for the social landscape of South Africa at the time. However, her work still gained much rapport over her efforts of social reform and apartheid resistance world-wide, eventually being awarded the Booker Prize for her novel The Conservationist in 1974 and the Nobel Prize for literature in 1991. Her work was even read by Nelson Mandela, with whom she became close friends following his release from prison in 1990. Gordimer had fought alongside Mandela’s defense lawyers in pursuit of his freedom during his 1963 trial- just one of her many attempts to provide justice within the apartheid.
“Once Upon A Time” is only one example of how Nadine Gordimer fought for reformation of the South African apartheid. In the context of the story, the family exemplifies the fear of black Africans driven into white South Africans during the late 20th century. This story allowed readers to understand the reality of exaggerated fear, privilege, and division pushed by the white Afrikaner party which took power in South Africa in 1948.