Once Upon A Time Gordimer

While reading the short story “Once Upon A Time” by Nadine Gordimer, the reader was able to connect the life lessons that he or she might have learned from the experiences in the text. An important lesson the reader would find is the human fear represents the greatest obstacle to happiness. The mother’s fear in the story was interfering with her happiness and wants her and the family to be isolated from the situation that is going on the outside world. The text says the mother “was afraid that someday such people might come up the street and tear off the plaque YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED and open the gates and stream in”. (Gordimer 2) The reader thought the mother in the story was always thinking about the house, never the safety of the little boy and did not spend …show more content…
(Gordimer 1) Though the sign proved that the family was not racist, the fear of being robbed by a colored man implies that they are: “ There were riots, but these were outside the city, where people of another color were quartered”. (Gordimer 1) At the end of the story, the wife’s fear fall apart when she found out her son has died. The mother was reading a fairy tale story to the little boy to make him sleep from the book, the wise old witch, the husband’s mother had given him as a Christmas present. (Gordimer 3) The next day the little boy “pretended to be a prince who braves the terrible thicket of thorns to enter the palace and kiss Sleeping Beauty back to life”. (Gordimer 3) Later, the boy dragged a ladder against the wall and the razor bladed coil was just big enough for his body to fit and the razor teeth dug into his knees, head, and hands which killed the little boy. The mother and father had excessive fear which was not necessary and they were