Name: Mpho Tiny
Surname: Lebelo
Student Number: 215261216
Course Code: LES212
Assignment: Question 2- Once Upon a Time by Nadine Gordimer Contents
1. Introduction
2. Title
3. Theme : Fear of “the other”
4. Figures of speech
• Irony
• Tone
• Symbolism
5. Conflicts
• Man vs Self
• Man vs society
6. Conclusion
7. Reference List Introduction
Nadine Gordimers Once Upon a Time opens a frame story involving the author herself. It takes place at a point in her career when she has been asked to compose a short story for a children’s book as part of her “duty” as a writer. She discards the idea, however on the grounds of artistic freedom: no artist, Gordimer thinks should ever be obliged to create a piece on demand. After she presents this note …show more content…
The author in the short story uses the suburb in which the family lives in as a symbol to refer to the white hegemony at the period of apartheid. Also, the husbands mother “the witch” in turn symbolizes chauvinists who invaded South Africa. At the beginning she advises the family to be cautious and not let “the people of another colour” get closer to the house as she viewed them as individuals who are different from the ones living in the suburb. In addition, high walls covered with razor wires, alarm systems and plaque on the gate all represent the racial exclusion and the notion which the back people suffered from at the time of apartheid. The symbolism in the boy being trapped in the jagged womb when he is delivered by the black servants. It symbolises the attempt of the black servants to save the future white generations from apartheid and deliver them into a inclusive South African …show more content…
By destabilising the standard fairy tale genre, the story becomes a moral lesson on white fear. It suggests that if we do not take cognisance of what these narratives point out we will be in great trouble. Nadine Gordimer uses her stories to portray what is happening around us and to inform us of the consequences hence the story of Once upon a time of which is not real a fairy tale. Gordimer used the tools in English such as symbolism, tone, play of words, and irony and satire in order to convey the apartheid issues and the segregation that took place during apartheid. Much of Gordimers writing in the late 1980’s to 1990’s south to highlight how white South Africa could work toward a post- apartheid future. Gordimer used literature as an instrument that would help a society that was rooted in hypocrisy, transform into one that would have been fair and
Surname: Lebelo
Student Number: 215261216
Course Code: LES212
Assignment: Question 2- Once Upon a Time by Nadine Gordimer Contents
1. Introduction
2. Title
3. Theme : Fear of “the other”
4. Figures of speech
• Irony
• Tone
• Symbolism
5. Conflicts
• Man vs Self
• Man vs society
6. Conclusion
7. Reference List Introduction
Nadine Gordimers Once Upon a Time opens a frame story involving the author herself. It takes place at a point in her career when she has been asked to compose a short story for a children’s book as part of her “duty” as a writer. She discards the idea, however on the grounds of artistic freedom: no artist, Gordimer thinks should ever be obliged to create a piece on demand. After she presents this note …show more content…
The author in the short story uses the suburb in which the family lives in as a symbol to refer to the white hegemony at the period of apartheid. Also, the husbands mother “the witch” in turn symbolizes chauvinists who invaded South Africa. At the beginning she advises the family to be cautious and not let “the people of another colour” get closer to the house as she viewed them as individuals who are different from the ones living in the suburb. In addition, high walls covered with razor wires, alarm systems and plaque on the gate all represent the racial exclusion and the notion which the back people suffered from at the time of apartheid. The symbolism in the boy being trapped in the jagged womb when he is delivered by the black servants. It symbolises the attempt of the black servants to save the future white generations from apartheid and deliver them into a inclusive South African …show more content…
By destabilising the standard fairy tale genre, the story becomes a moral lesson on white fear. It suggests that if we do not take cognisance of what these narratives point out we will be in great trouble. Nadine Gordimer uses her stories to portray what is happening around us and to inform us of the consequences hence the story of Once upon a time of which is not real a fairy tale. Gordimer used the tools in English such as symbolism, tone, play of words, and irony and satire in order to convey the apartheid issues and the segregation that took place during apartheid. Much of Gordimers writing in the late 1980’s to 1990’s south to highlight how white South Africa could work toward a post- apartheid future. Gordimer used literature as an instrument that would help a society that was rooted in hypocrisy, transform into one that would have been fair and