Laura Riazzi

30 September 2009
A.P. English Literature and Composition 12
Mr. Lane
Once Upon a Time Literary Analysis
Once Upon a Time is a reverse fantasy story written by Nadine Gordimer. The
concept of a reverse fantasy is a tale that one expects to end happily ever after but has a
plot twist where the ending is cruel or injust. The structure of this story begins as the
narrator writes that they are asked to contribute to an anthology of childrens literature.
The next moment, while lying in bed, they are abruptly awakened by an unfamiliar noise
in his house which rests upon a hollow foundation. In order to calm himself, he begins to
create a bed time story in his mind (Gordimer 220). Although the first part of the short story

does not yet seem to fit into the artistic unity of the plot, it is essential for understanding
the theme of the entire work.
The second half of the story begins with the explanation of a family living
happily ever after in a suburb. The second story quickly establishes the protagonists,
who are the husband, wife, and their little boy. Although having a large sign that reads,
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED, the wife, especially, is very paranoid about keeping
their house safe and secure from the looming drunkards and riots, which are frequent in
their area (Gordimer 222). The trusted house maid continues to give her advice about
how to keep their belongings and lives robber-free. The plot moves on to explain that the
husbands mother, or the wise old witch, buys a metallic coil with shards encircling it
to top their fence, which lines the entire perimeter of the familys property (Gordimer
223). Left to wonder what will happen to the cat, which often comes as goes as he

Mosaic Ko

pleases, the story explains that even the cat rests just within the walls and does not try to
challenge the wall. Quickly the ending of this plot becomes an unhappy, surprise ending
when the little boy wants to play make believe after listening to Sleeping and attempts to
brave the jagged coils. He falls into the mess of metal and heavily bleeds while the
gardener and housemaid attempt to rescue him while his parents are frantic (225). In
some ways, the ending of Once Upon a Time is indeterminate because the story gives
no exact evidence of the following events of the boy, like if he lives or dies. Although left
with a sort of cliff hanger, the artistic unity of the plot leads to a full comprehension of
the stories and the relationship between them.
The characterization of Once Upon a Time is not very deep. Indirectly
presented, each of the characters is relatively flat and static. The parents stay on the edge
through the entire story, and the child does not change either. Also, the housemaid
remains loyal and trustworthy. These characters are not complex, seeing as all that is
known is their paranoia of the outside world. Even their names are not evident in the plot.
The abstractness of the story is used so that it is not related to any other type of
stereotypical childrens bed time story. Not being able to relate characters to others that
are popular in childrens literature allows our minds to accept whatever happens in the
tale. The mind does not have any expectation other than it thinks there will be some type
of happy ending, which is a disappointment.
The most important aspect of Once Upon a Time is its interpreted plot. The
theme of the story is fear caused by our own paranoia can lead to bigger problem
because paranoia has the ability to consume our mind. The husband and wife were so
consumed by protecting their house that they failed to enjoy what was inside it. They

Mosaic Ko

were so preoccupied with its effect from the outside-in that they completely neglected to
recognize the potential problem of what is going out. Only briefly did their mind lie on
the fate of their cat. The parents never warned their child of the potential dangers of the
fence because they were so worried about the possible threats from the outside world.
The paranoia of being robbed consumed the minds of the husband and wife to the point
where, in a way, neglected their son.
Symbols lurk in various places in Once Upon a Time. These symbols lead to the
allegorical element of fantasy; however, this story is considered a reverse fantasy. The
husbands mother is named the wise old witch, which is present in a lot of fantasy
works. For example, the three fairies of Sleeping Beauty are wise old witches as well as
Glinda from The Wizard of Oz. The appearance of the house and its security features are
related to common castles which were protected by different obstacles like moats or
curtain walls. The company from which the family buys the metal coil is named
DRAGONS TEETH (Gordimer 224). Dragons are very common in literary fantasies.
The dragon symbol is important to this story because the teeth allude to the danger of the
fence coil. These dragons symbolize the dangers within this familys society. In some
fanciful tales one or more of the characters has a royal right hand man, like Rasputin
has the bat in Anastasia. In relations to Once Upon a Time, the housekeeper is the loyal
sidekick to the family in the way that she always gives them suggestions of how to better
protect their house. The most obvious symbol of the story is an attempted heroic quest in
which the child grabs a ladder to fare the jagged coil. In almost any fantasy or fairy tale
there is a heroine that must put themselves in danger in order to succeed at their set
mission. A little twist occurs in this symbol when the little boy does not succeed like

Mosaic Ko

normal protagonists. This symbol of the story is often where it is believed to be a reverse
fantasy.
Another important element of literature in once Upon a Time is humor and
irony. In the story, happily ever after is constantly repeated which is rather humorous
because they live in a criminal society. This family is forced to primarily keep to their
own house and be scared for their lives, yet they are living happily ever after. This
situation would be ironic because of a separation of appearance and reality. The fact that
the housemaid is the loyal one in the story is also ironic because stereotypically house
workers are deceitful and try to steal their employers belongings. The biggest irony of
Once Upon a Time is the child getting hurt by what was to protect him, especially since
bed time stories are supposed to end happily. Irony, in large, carries the interest of the
plot.
Once Upon a Time is an enjoyable literary fictional work that incorporates all
of the important parts of a successful and interesting story. The structure of the plot
makes the theme easy to understand while other aspects of characterization, symbolism,
and irony spice up the story. Once Upon a Time by Nadine Gordimer is a fantastic
literary work.

Summary
Once Upon a Time starts whereby in the city suburb, there is a house that lives in there,
husband, wife and their little son. The son only make friend with his own pet, a dog. They

Mosaic Ko

also have their housemaid that is trustworthy and itinerant gardener which also lives with
them. In the story, we could see that they are almost had a perfect life whereby they were
inscribed in a medical society, their pet was licensed, they were insured against fire, flood
damage and theft, and subscribed to the local Neighbourhood Watch. It is showed that
they had no problems at all and they likely had everything they want. But, the wise old
witch, the husbands mother gives them a warning. She said that they must not take
anyone off the street. In this short story, there has been a riot aroused. So, the family is
not having a total safety. Therefore, they formulate new ways of preventing their house
from being broken by the theft and the riot.

(Not done yet)