Nadine Gordimer Research Paper

Nadine Gordimer Research Paper
Being bon in a small gold minding town of Springs, South Africa, Nadine Gordimer was exposed to
the immigrant and racial status that flowed through the early 1930's. It was very common for an
African American to be born in a Caucasian environment, but Nadine was a Caucasian born in an
African environment. Gordimer was born to parents that contradicted their geographical existence.
Her father was Jewish–born and often occupied a stratum underneath the earlier settlers. Gordimer's
mother, Nan, had opposing opinions on blacks. Instead of complying with the discrimination blacks
were bound to receive, Nan felt repugnant towards the discrimination and therefore found a daycare
for the children of black workers. In solitary existence, with very
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The Conservationist By Nadine Gordimer Essay
The novelist employs some methods of representation, but he/she does so in the form of a
narrative.The novelistdescribes life or experience of life which is content of the novel. Therefore,
the content of life which is presented in the novel is important.
Nadine Gordimer is one of the foremost fiction writers in South Africa and winner of the Nobel
Prize for literature in 1991. Nadine Gordimer was recognized as a potentially major artist, a talented,
serious and careful writer who treated important contemporary issues. She has anusual interest in the
symbolic, the psychological and also the art of fiction. Her novel The Conservationist (1974) is in a
sort of the stream of consciousness technique describing the life of Mehring the Afrikaner, whose
farm is as barren as his life.
As pointed out by Macauley and Lanning (1964:163), it is usually through dialogue that the
character is revealed. In the novel, The Conservationist, ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Gordimer makes creative use of imagery. The hero works in images. The images "Pale freckled
eggs" of the guinea fowls, with which the novel opens, recur and keep the action of the novel based
on the farm together. There is the macabre image – the corpse of an unknown black murdered on
Mehring's farm and rudely buried by the heartless Boer police. The body's inadequate burial has
been haunting him for about ten years, through he has endeavoured hard to forget it. The murdered
man is the image of the black's claim to their land. Christopher Heywood (1983:32) states:"The
Conservationist explores its theme of sterility and renewal through the imagery of landscape and
physiology..." Mehring is allowed to live in a world of dream and also reflection. The narrative
which takes us through his dreams is fascinating. Mehring is unable to communicate with both the
living and the dead. His fantasy takes all sorts of shapes – he is

Once Upon A Time By Nadine Gordimer
Nadine Gordimer's short story "Once Upon a Time" is about a fairy tale that goes terribly wrong.
The narrator is initially roused by something that sounds like an intruder. To help herself go back to
sleep, she tells herself a "bedtime story." Here, a South African family lives in a gated community
away from rioters and burglars; to keep themselves safe, all of the neighbors build immense walls
and genius security systems. The family's young, curious boy is always fascinated by the security,
and he eventually makes the mistake of climbing into the DRAGON'S TEETH, mangling him to
death or near–death. Gordimer incorporates ignorance, fear, and suspense to make this story
incredibly compelling and astounding. Ignorance creates the fairy tale's problems. For example, the
author states there are many rioters and wrongdoers, but the family lives in a subdivision away from
them. "People of color" (Gordimer 1) are also contained in another area. These minorities are "not
allowed in the subdivision, except as reliable housemaids and gardeners, so there was nothing to
fear" (2). This clearly shows the family's intention is to hide away from the despair of others and
live "happily ever after" (1). The entire neighborhood also fails to realize it is burying itself alive.
Their alarm systems constantly go off; whether they are caused by cats or burglars does not matter
because people become accustomed to the alarms and "the din roused the inhabitants of the suburb
no more than the

Once Upon A Time Research Paper
Once Upon a Review Fairy tales, princes, princesses, witches, dwarves, ogres and a savior all in the
same story. These words describe a few of the characters in the show Once Upon a Time. Once
Upon a Time is on ABC and it is my favorite TV show! I am currently watching the fifth season of
it. There are many ways that make this show my favorite. If you are a person who likes fairy tales,
especially when you were little, you will enjoy it because it is the same stories but with a twist and
with more drama that teenagers will enjoy. This is why I like Once Upon a Time because I loved
watching and reading about these fairy tales when I was younger and now, with Once Upon a Time,
I find these stories even more exciting and with a lot more drama. It is also filled with action,
romance and humor. I love Once Upon a Time because of its characters, setting and plot. The first
reason I enjoy this show is because of the characters. There are a lot of characters in this show.
These characters can also get hard to keep track of because many of them will be brought back in a
later season. Almost all of the characters have two names because there are two worlds that they can
be in and keeping track of it is hard at times. If people pay attention to the show really well, then
they will ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Once Upon a Time has great scenes and they have a lot of scenes, too. The main place where the
action takes place is in this town called Storybrooke. It is located in Main. The title of the town is
just a coincidence because it is like storybook and with fairy tales, and I love how they connected
that. It is really clever. Storybrooke is where all of the main characters were trapped because of a
curse. The place where they filmed was in Steveston BC, Canada. All of those characters used to be
in the Enchanted Forest. The Enchanted forest is where all of the characters are from. It is basically
the storybook where all of the stories are

Discrimination and Racism in Country Lovers and The...
Discrimination and Racism in "Country Lovers" by Nadine Gordimer and "The Welcome Table" by
Alice Walker
Discrimination and racism is always an issue, but the hardship these women had to face and suffer is
something that is still being discussed. Understanding the fear, struggle and hardship that women of
color went through during this time period is very important. Both "Country Lovers" by Nadine
Gordimer and "The Welcome Table" by Alice Walker discuss race and the struggle with trying to be
accepted in society.
The short story "Country Lovers" written by Nadine Gordimer, who in 1991 received the Nobel
Prize for Literature, writes about forbidden love and racial politics between a black girl and a white
boy on a South Africa ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
"But he never felt the way he had with any other girl than the way he felt when Thebedi came up
from the bank and sat beside him and the water beading off her dark legs the only points of light in
the earth–smelling deep shade" (Clugston, 2010).
Paulus returns to school and Thebedi becomes pregnant (at the age of eighteen) with Paulus baby.
Since it was during the apartheid it was against the law for the two different races to be together.
Therefore, Thebedi married a man named Njabulo and after only two months of being married, she
had a baby. Never mentioning to Njabulo that she was pregnant, this causes speculation that it could
be his. "During this time it was customary for the young man to make sure, that before marriage that
the chosen girl is not barren. Which Njabulo made love to her then." (Chopin, 1894). When Paulus
returned home from veterinary school, he finds out that Thebedi had a baby (which was two weeks
old). He was so angry he goes went straight over Thebedi's hut and demands to see the baby. She
brings the baby into the light and shows Paulus the fine straight hair and the grey and yellowish eyes
that resembled his hazel eyes. He did not say a word.
"He struggled for a moment with a grimace of tears, anger, and self–pity," (Chopin, 1894). Then
asked, "You haven't been near the house with it?" (Chopin, 1894) They both were aware of the
consequences if anyone saw the baby or found

Villains Persuasive Speech
Hi Ladies,
A friend introduced me to your fabulous podcast a couple years ago and I'm so glad she did. I learn
so much and I feel I'm a much more interesting conversationalist due to listening to you.
I'm writing in response to your villainesses episode. I waited for you to mention the TV show Once
Upon a Time. While it is based on the animated Disney canon, the narratives are constantly changed.
One of the main storylines revolves around The Evil Queen of Snow White as she vacillates
between being a villain and a hero. In season 4, a good part of the season was dedicated to female
villains. While their motivations are often centered around men, nevertheless this show is full of
female villains.
Speaking of villains and heroes, I

Once Upon A Time Gordimer
Scary Tales Fairy tales are what generations have grown up with, beginning with the Disney
princesses such as Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, The Princess And The Pea and Hansel And Gretel.
Nadine Gordimer's short story "Once Upon a Time" started out with a happy beginning and
nevertheless ended abrupt and depressing. Gordimer grew up in South Africa and had some of the
experiences that are described in the story. She lived through the time period and understood the
conflict. The majority of fairy tales have a happy ending and they over all teach a lesson. Irony
begins in " Once Upon A Time" when it starts out with joy, and then it switches to the problem at the
end leaving the readers thinking. The story is set in South Africa during the time ... Show more
content on Helpwriting.net ...
In "Once Upon A Time" the wall is an important symbol. Not only do the main characters move into
a house with a wall built up around it, but it's also in a highly protected neighborhood. The wall
represents the separation between the races, but specifically whites and other groups. Arguably the
family thinks the wall is a great idea and agree that it should be even higher, "You are right, said the
wife, then the wall should be higher. And the wise old witch, the husband's mother, paid for the extra
bricks as her Christmas present to her son and his wife." The increase in the wall height represents
the increase in the government's attempt to create more separation. Gordimer's point is proven after
the family adds wire coils to the fence to protect them from Apartheid. What the characters don't
seem to understand is the danger that is actually inside the fence. "...Screams while the bleeding
mass of the little boy was hacking out of the security coil, with saws, wire cutters, choppers..." This
is the Apartheid in action causing separation and tearing the community apart. The mass of issues
also connects with the mass amount of separation and

Nadine Gordimer on South Africa
In the twentieth century alone, the world has witnessed oppression in many places, like the South
African apartheid, which literally means "apartness" (Omond 11). Nadine Gordimer, an esteemed
author and South African native, has lived to see the injustice and conflict her country has
experienced during apartheid rule, which lasted just under a half–century. Most of her literary work
throughout the decades of apartheid oppression united under the banner of freedom for the victims
of apartheid. Her books speaking on the dangers and horrors of apartheid, as well as a call for its
dismantling earned her a Nobel Peace Prize for literature in 1991. One of her short stories, "Once
upon a Time," published in 1989, creatively depicted many issues ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
The family is living in luxury, ignorant to the chaos erupting outside of their suburb. They continue
to believe that all was well in the world, when the reality was just outside their trimmed hedges and
green lawns. They believe they are safe with their local neighborhood watch plaque with the words
"YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED" (Gordimer 190) on it, but when the wife exhibits fear of the
colored people, the husband's reply is equally as toxic: "there are police and soldiers and tear–gas
and guns to keep them away" (Gordimer 190–191). A sentence later shows the true nature of the
faulty comfort the husband gives, "buses were being burned, cars stoned, and schoolchildren shot by
the police in those quarters out of sight and hearing of the suburb" (Gordimer 191). This only proves
to be a foreshadowing of what is to come, and the actions of the family have direct consequences, in
which their former "happily ever after" turns to chaos because of their submission to apartheid
ignorance. The third irony is presented with the family's hired hands: "they had a housemaid who
was absolutely trustworthy and an itinerant gardener who was highly recommended by the
neighbors" (Gordimer 190). During apartheid, white South Africans generally accepted some of the
native African peoples as their "housemaids" and "gardeners," only accepting them if they were
responsible and submissive to

Nadine Gordimer 's Country Lovers
It has been known throughout the years the class conflicts between people around the world and
how it affects many, but during today 's times it is not as bad as the times when racial segregation
took place between South Africa's white minority and non–white majority. Nadine Gordimer, is a
born and raised South African novelist whose writings focused on exile and alienation. She wrote
many novels and short stories that related to South Africa 's unjust political situation between the
whites and non–whites in the 1900's. One of the short stories that she wrote is "Country Lovers"
which portrays the life in South Africa during those times and how apartheid, a policy that
controlled any type of relation between white and black South ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
Nadine conveys the way that the non–whites were not able to, or were not given the opportunity to
become someone in life. Instead, they stayed as the working class. Class seemed to have played a
big part in the reading because it draws attention to the way that the whites, which were the higher
class, were treated and how they had better chances of success in life than blacks, which were the
lower or working class. Growing up the white children were sent off to the best schools setting them
in the path of prosperity while the black children had little to no school and had not many
opportunities. "Although most of the black children get some schooling, they drop every years
farther behind the grades passed by the white children..." (p. 332) Black South Africans did not have
the money to send their children to good schools which did not allow them to become educated like
the children of the rich white families. They, unfortunately, had to grow up to be illiterate farm
workers and servants just like their families; following their traditions and ways of living.
Moreover, Paulus and Thebedi, the two main characters in the story, were not able to share or grow
their love for each

Once Upon A Time By Nadine Gordimer
We are all equal, but yet so different in many ways. People should not own slaves, should not get
into others business because then they face consequences. Whites should not build their fence higher
because they're afraid. It might just cost a family member there life. We need to unite and not be
ignorant nor shall we be racist.
In the short story "Once upon a time" by Nadine Gordimer, is about a family who is afraid. The
family is afraid of the people that live outside of her house. The humans who live outside of their
house are different race, color than the family inside the house. A break in happened one night and
the family was scared so they decide to build their fence outside high because they couldn't figure
out how else to keep them from coming in. As they built the fence they put barbed wire so nobody
could come in. The family then noticed that they trapped themselves in their own house. Toward the
end the little boy their son got stuck in the barb wire and was cut everywhere, nobody knows if he
died. "You have been warned is a quote that they use in this short story and that means that dont
come in the house house simple as that "You have been warned. The family might have ... Show
more content on Helpwriting.net ...
That speech was one of the most famous ever written because he honored the soldiers that were
killed in the Gettysburg battle. His famous quote from that speech was "That this nation under god,
shall have a new birth of freedom and that the government of the people, by the people, for the
people, shall not perish from the Earth.Which means we should not own slaves but we shall unite to
become one. Lincoln also delivered this speech because he thought that America was a nation that
was not united. So, at the end of 1863 with the speech that Lincoln delivered not only did it make
the United States of America a new united nation but it freed all the

Nadine Gordimer
Nadine Gordimer's short story "Town and Country Lovers" (1980) follows the developing
relationship between an Austrian geologist, Dr. Franz–Josef von Leinsdorf, and a young "coloured"
(mixed–race) cashier who remains nameless throughout the story. Dr. von Leinsdorf and the young
girl begin an affair that ends abruptly when the relationship is discovered by police (interracial
sexual relationships were illegal during apartheid).
Apathy and Prejudice
From the opening paragraphs of "Town and Country Lovers," Gordimer criticizes the apathy of Dr.
von Leinsdorf who travels the world as a geologist but "has no interest in the politics of the
countries he works in." Like other well–educated Europeans in Africa, he finds no appeal in either
"the ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
von Leinsdorf openly voices his prejudice when he is quoted by a newspaper as saying that "he
accepted social distinctions between people but didn't think they should be legally imposed."
The Gulf Between White and Non–White
While Gordimer focuses primarily on Dr. von Leinsdorf's perspective as a way to critique his apathy
and prejudice, she does provide glimpses into the mind of the young coloured girl to both highlight
the prejudice she must endure and to criticize her misguided adoration of white culture. When the
girl first enters Dr. von Leinsdorf's apartment building, she is in awe of the "pool with ferns, not
plastic" and the waterfall that pumps electrically over the rocks. She makes an implicit comparison
of the Atlantis building with her own home in "a township for people her tint," noting that the
corridors "were nicely glassed–in, not draughty." The name of the building recalls the white myth of
the city of Atlantis, and the mini–paradise created in the lobby of the building flaunts both the white
wealth used to create the pool and

Setting In The Bridegroom, By Nadine Gordimer
The settings within short stories often function to define characters and their relationships with
others. The setting in Nadine Gordimer's "The Bridegroom" is used to define and tell the reader
about the characters and the relationships in the short story. This essay will serve to prove how this
is achieved by first examining how the setting is used to define the character of the bridegroom.
Thereafter, the way in which the setting tells the reader about the bridegroom's relationship with his
bride will be discussed. The relationship between the bridegroom and the bride's family and the
conveyance of this relationship through the setting will then be explored. The way in which physical
space conveys the relationship between the bridegroom ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Throughout the short story, Piet crosses over the distance between the two camps numerous times,
moving "back and forth between" (Gordimer 73) them. The fact that Piet moves from one camp to
the other with ease suggests that the relationship between him and the bridegroom is more relaxed
and amiable than that between the bridegroom and the other workers. It also indicates the fact that
Piet has relationships with both the bridegroom and the black workers. Piet is therefore not as
strictly confined to one camp as the other workers are. In this way, setting is used to tell the reader
about the personal relationship between Piet and the bridegroom and Piet's ability to have
relationships with the road workers simultaneously.
The author makes effective use of setting to tell the reader about the characters and relationships
found in "The Bridegroom". Setting is used to convey the bridegroom's precise and orderly
character, as well as his isolated existence. His relationships with both his bride and her family are
also expressed through the use of setting. Finally, the setting of the bridegroom's camp and that of
the road workers also serves to tell us about the relationships in the camp. Setting is a highly useful
tool in conveying characterisation and interaction between

How is it that a single person can change the perception of many lives through ones action or
thought? The short story, "Once Upon a Time" by Nadine Gordimer implies that a single person can
change society; this is proved when the little boy changed the way the mother thought about his
safety by keeping him away from the outside world. In the "Oklahoma Memorial Address," the
speech by Bill Clinton displayed that they, the people can overcome this bombing by staying
together and work together to make sure that it won't happen again. Clinton gives the people
sympathy by showing pathos in his speech. He executed this type of speech because he wanted the
people to know that he understands what they are going through. An individual can innovate their
society by changing their view on the way it is ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Gordimer demonstrates this in lines 84 to 92. This summarizes that one action can develop ideas
people have and make them take precautions to be safer. The mother in this case was scared that her
happy family especially her son would be harmed due to the increase in burglaries and riots. This is
also proved in lines 114 to 118. This justifies that the little boy made his parents take precaution for
his safety by adding walls and more security to make their home safer for the son. However, in lines
197 to 200 it demonstrates that the little boy was a significant person. The actions he took affected
his surroundings and showed his parents that the adjustments in their home to make him safer, was
actually the opposite for him. The child establishes this by proving that when changing something, it
would only take a person's. The motivation the mother had to make her son safe had a negative
reaction since it didn't make him safe. An individual in a community no matter on its size can help,
but also remake

Gordimer 's What Were You Dreaming?
Nadine Gordimer's "What were you dreaming?" is known to be a very sensitive, open account of her
private and social relationship in South Africa. Gordimer witnessed the difference between the white
minority, and their continuous efforts to weaken the rights of the black population. Gordimer made it
her duty to promote the consequences of the apartheid, the problems that oppression inflicts on both
the colonized (settled) and the colonizers (immigrants), its effect on daily life, and the division it
caused between the black and white races. As a result, she wrote the short story, "What were you
dreaming?" to show the readers her view, not explain it. In the opening, the narrator is hitchhiking,
in search of a ride that'll get her, if not exactly, close enough to her destination. Naturally, the
narrator, a black woman, is used to drivers passing by, picking up speed, or deliberately speeding by
as if she weren't there. Being a hiker, on the road for the past six days, she was used to that behavior
towards her. She knew that the only chance of possibly getting a ride would be to keep calm, and put
on a reserved expression. For instance, "Don't smile because they think you being too friendly, you
think you as good as them." (Gordimer 2655). Given the setting, and the time period, she knew she
had to condition herself to seem less than, not as friendly, or else she'd risk the possibility of getting
a ride. Fortunately, she managed to get a ride from an Englishman and a white

The Theme Of Fear In Nadine Gordimer's Once Upon A Time
In literature, the theme of a story is very important because it allows the reader to be able to connect
all parts of the story together and even apply what was learned from it to their real life. Theme is the
unifying generalization about life stated or implied in the story by either the author or by one of the
characters. In Nadine Gordimer's short story, "Once Upon a Time" we read about a woman who is
frightened by a sound in her house which causes her imagination to spiral into fear. This immense
amount of fear leads to her thinking about the worst possible things than can happen to her at that
moment. Not only does it cause this, but it also makes her start telling herself a bedtime story. The
theme of this short story is that fear can cause overreaction and makes things seem a lot more worse
than they actually are. It shows us how sometimes fear can be our own self destruction. To begin
with, the theme of the story can first be seen when the woman is still in deep conflict with the sound
she hears in the shadows that surround her in her room. For example, the author states, "I couldn't
find a position in which my mind would let go of my body–release me to my sleep" (Gordimer 232).
This clearly demonstrates that fear can have a strong hold over an individual, which can be both
mental and physical. Here we learn that the woman was unable to drift back to sleep because her
fear was too great that it prevented her from being able to rest. This tells us that sometimes

Apartheid Essay
Apartheid Rusty Keller ENG 125 David Makhanlall October 15, 2013 Apartheid Children are often
different from adults because they are often unaware of the rules that adults abide by. Nadine
Gordimer held strong feelings of opposition to apartheid, which was a socioeconomic system in
South Africa after 1948 that focused on the oppression and segregation of the non–white citizens
who formed the majority of South Africa's population, and her feelings are usually a dominate
theme in most of her writing (Clugston, 2010). In her short story "Country Lovers," Gordimer tells
not only how this socioeconomic system has determinately affected the interracial relationship
between the main charters, who were childhood playmates who ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
There are a number of internal and external conflicts in Gordimer's short story "Country lovers that
she uses to illustrate the control apartheid has over not only the main characters, but society as well.
We all are aware of the heightened racial tension between African Americans and the Caucasians in
the south within our own history which helps us to understand the oppression, segregation, and
control that this form of legislation can have on personal relationships and society (Custodio, 2012).
So, it is not hard to understand how powerless Thebedi must have felt to prevent the death of her
child, if only she had some form of self–esteem or dignity, maybe she could have stood her ground
enough to save her child's life. Paulus when he returned from Veterinary College was totally
oblivious about the birth of Thebedi's nearly white child's birth until he overheard the servants
speaking about getting someone to do her chores until she could return to them. Even though,
Thebedi's husband Njabelo had claimed the child as his own, Paulus still struggles with his fear of
the child being discovered, and his anger and self–pity with his failure to protect himself from
allowing such things from happening in the first place. This is

Nadine Gordimer Research Paper
Biological Criticism Nadine Gordimer, the author of The House Gun and Nobel Prize winner in
Literature, was born in Springs, South Africa, in the year of 1923. Her mother was born in England,
and father was born in Latvia at the time, apart of the Russian Empire. As a girl, she was naive and
she had an innocent mind when it came to segregation in her community. For example, according to
Gordimer, after a long day at school the girls would go to the theatre, where due to segregation
"blacks" were not allowed. Automatically Nadine thought people of color just didn't like the theatre.
For logical reasons, Nadine was probably not the only little child with that mentality. In an interview
on Academy of Achievement with Gordimer, she said

Maya Angelou Literary Analysis
Literary works represent an important part of culture. Literary has many elements that serve as
levers that every literary work stands on. Settings compose the nucleus for literary works and
depend on time and place, which help to establish the background of the work. Plot, character,
theme, and style also compose fundamental components of settings. I'll discuss characters roles and
presentation in three different works, which are "Jump and Other Stories" by Nadine Gordminer,
"My Beautiful Laundrette" by Hanif Kureishi and "I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings" by Maya
Angelou.
Nadine Gordimer is a famous novelist and writer. She was born in 1923 in South Africa, to
immigrant Jewish parents. She is known for her position against the racial ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
She is one of the most Influential voices of our time. Angelou is a celebrated poet, memoirist,
novelist, educator, dramatist, producer, actress, historian, filmmaker, and civil rights activist. She
was born in April 4th, 1982, in Missouri; Angelou was raised in Louis and Stamps, Arkansas. The
work, which is considered as Maya's autobiography was published on 1969. On her book, she values
and focus on some issues like: traditional African American family, being independence, personal
dignity, self definition, Identity, rape, racism and segregation which are the most important issues
for her, community, and culture. As a teenager, Angelou's love for the arts won her a scholarship to
study dance and drama at San Francisco's Labor School. Maya and her brother Baileyr were sent to
live with their grandmother Henderson who owned a general store, In Stamps, Arkansas after their
parents divorce, she had very hard time since childhood until adulthood. She experienced the bad
treatment racial discrimination. She was raped at the age of eight by her mother's boyfriend while on
a visit to St. Louis, but she refused to speak for approximately five years, she became a mother at
age of sixteen. Maya speaks in the first person as she recounts her childhood. She writes both from a
child's point of view and from her perspective as an adult. The book thus explores a wide range of
timeless topics: child abuse, race relations and a lot of important general issues of adolescence such
as awakening sexuality, tension between the children and their parents and friendship. Angelou
basically tells us the story of her search for her place in the world. The book inspires me and
provides a roll model for self–confidence, ambition and overcoming life's

The Shattering of Idealism in Nadine Gerfimer´s The Moment...
Literature changed drastically between the nineteenth–century and twentieth and twenty–first
century. Idealistic views that British writers once held, turned into skepticism as Great Britain enter
war and inequalities grew greater. The writers of the twentieth and twenty–first centuries wrote
realistically what was happening in the world. The Moment before the Gun Went Off by Nadine
Gordimer and "The Day They Burned the Books" by Jean Rhys are both stories that show the
shattering of Idealism in twentieth and twenty–first centuries.
Britain's colonialism caused many problems for natives and natural born British who lived in the
colonies. The illusion of patriotism shattered as conflicts of race, class, and gender equality took
light. ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
One of the many reasons why patriotism was shattered is because coloialism was creating harsh
tensions. In The Moment before the Gun Went Off they discuss how the killing of the son is going to
turn into an ugly racial debate "Bad enough to have killed a man, without helping the Party's, the
government's, the country's enemies" (p.1442) The reader can conclude from this quote that because
great Britain colonized in South Africa it caused rifts between many people. People's patriotism
tends to dwell when all they see is conflict around them. The once idealistic views turn critical when
war and inequalities is all there is. The twentieth and twenty–first century writers were common
people going through horrific times such as extreme racism.
In The Moment before the Gun Went Off and "The Day They Burned the Books" both stories leave
the reader thinking. Unlike, the 19th century; modern writers often left the end of the story open
ended because they didn't see an end to the conflict. Modern writers often wrote their own personal
experiences and feelings on a particular issue leaving much room for the reader to analyze.
"The Day They Burned the Books" tells a story of young boy trying to find where he fits in. His
father is from Great Britain and his mother is from the West Indies. Eddie hates England because he
associates with his father; a man who is often mean to his mother and says things "Look at

Analysis Of Once Upon A Time
"Once Upon a Time" by Nadine Gordimer Imagine witnessing a family's surroundings turning
before their eyes as their neighborhood becomes dangerous by the days, also Having constant fears
of homeless people barging into their home and stealing their beloved items and food to survive.
With the family having to secure their home, the family's only son died from the things that were
suppose to protect them. As you well know the child ends up dead at the end because of over
security. In the short story "Once Upon a Time" Nadine Gordimer has a weird transition with point
of view at the end of the first page. This transition helped out develope the mood. The point of view
of this story is unique because of the transition. If the story had a different perspective it would
change most of the story. The story begins with the narrator (Nadine Gordimer) in her bed
explaining an offer she had been given. The offer was to write a children's book, but she didn't write
children's stories. The same novelist that had offered her the opportunity wrote in a book of his
"every writer ought to write at least one story for children." Her job was to write an analogy of
stories for children, In the first three paragraphs she woke up from the stress and anxiety that she
had. The stress had made her hear certain things. Nadine Gordimer thought there was a person in her
home. "A creaking of the kind made by the weight carried by one foot after another along a wooden
floor." Soon she realized that

Jackson Vs Gordimer
Although both stories "The Possibility of Evil" by Shirley Jackson and "A Chip of Glass Ruby" by
Nadine Gordimer are about two completely different stories, the authors added their own touch
which ended up having a few similarities and differences in their writing, which makes the stories
just a tad bit more interesting. Not only does this make reading the stories interesting it also helps
the reader understand the imagery and tone of both the character and the authors. Jackson and
Gordimer share a likeness in their descriptions of the settings yet a huge difference on their tones.
A similarity between Jackson and Gordimer is their style of presenting a new subject using imagery.
Both authors establish a scene using descriptive imagery, using ... Show more content on
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While Jacksons was more upbeat, Gordimer was more emotional. Jacksons presented an obvious
tone through her character, Miss.Strangeworth, by her mood throughout the story. For instance,
Jackson used words like fond and admire while talking about Strangeworth's flowers, "She knew
everyone in town, of course she was fond of telling strangers– tourists who sometimes passed
through the town and stopped to admire" (188) By using those two words in the quote the reader can
tell the Jacksons feelings towards the flowers, which is represented through Miss. Strangeworth who
takes pride and values her flowers. Another example, of Jackson's cheerful attitude is when Miss.
Strangeworth completed her shopping trip: "Miss.Strangeworth came out of the store into the bright
sunlight and stopped to smile down on the Crane baby" (191) The actions emphasized in this quote
to help recognize Jacksons bright attitude is the description of the sunlight alongside the character's
reaction to the Crane baby. In contrast, Gordimer differs with her tone against Jackson, Gordimer
presents to be heartbroken. Specifically, when the family found out about the arrest of their doctor
the night they found out "Mrs.Bamjee sat up making a new dress for her daughter; the sight
disarmed Bamjee all day faded into a morose and accusing silence." (633) Gordimer clearly chose
the words "disarmed" and "morose" to indicate her sadness towards the arrests, Gordimer also had
the character sit in silence which shows the sympathetic emotions the character is feeling about the
events taking place around the character. In addition, when Gordimer's main character, Bamjee, was
arrested her husband said, "There you are!' ... standing away from her. 'That's what you've got for it.
Didn't I tell you? Didn't I? That's the end of it now." (634) Gordimer's tone remains emotional in a
sad heartfelt way, Bamjee's husband chose to be angry with

Self And Place In Waiting For The Barbarians
In this thesis, the goal is to examine how the sense of Self and Place is portrayed and influenced by
colonialism, in two postcolonial fictional South African novels; J.M. Coetzee's Waiting for the
Barbarians and Nadine Gordimer's Burger's Daughter. Both authors have won the Nobel Prize for
Literature, in 1991 Gordimer was the first South African author to receive this Prize, and Coetzee
joined her in 2003. First of all, Coetzee's novel Waiting for the Barbarians offers the story of the
Magistrate going through a crisis of conscience in a complicated place, however the Magistrate
serves as a parallel for all human beings living under regimes that disregard lawfulness and
respectable behaviour. Secondly, Gordimer's novel Burger's Daughter materialized ... Show more
content on Helpwriting.net ...
It was Nelson Mandela himself who said on the 3rd of July 1999: "The experience of others has
taught us that nations that do not deal with the past are haunted by it for generations – we should
forgive but not forget" (O'Reilly 46). Furthermore, it will be quite interesting and stimulating to
explore these issues from respectively Nadine Gordimer's female point of view, and J.M. Coetzee's
male point of view through their novels. Not to mention, that both the authors are critically of each
other's work. Actually, in 1988 Coetzee and Gordimer got caught in a disturbing public
disagreement regarding Salman Rushdie's invitation to speak about his controversial novel Satanic
Verses, for which the British Indian author received numerous threats to his life. Retrospectively,
Coetzee admitted that he was wrong and Gordimer, in her prudence, was right to argue that
Rushdie's invitation to speak in South Africa should be withdrawn. Therefore, it is my assumption
that examining as well as identifying the sense of Self and Place in the Nobel Laureates novels,
Waiting for the Barbarians and Burger's Daughter, will be an interesting and rewarding

The Theme Of Paranoia In Nadine Gordimer's Once Upon A Time
Beyond the elements of any story, there is always a reevaluation about life or central characters.
Theme always includes a statement upon the notation of abstract qualities through the embodiment
of the writer. As presented in "Once Upon a Time," the central insight to the plot suffices to the
crude development of the character who overcompensates the emotion of paranoia, executed by the
natural dangers of the "outside world." Author Nadine Gordimer generalizes the concept of the
psychosis based on the parallelism between the fear of the character to the fear of the mother in her
dream. Notably, she illustrates the gruesome reality of human nature, that she echoes the
subconscious mind to her "bedtime story."
Granted under the idea of theme, the escapades of "Once Upon a Time" adds on to the primary
purpose of distressed emotion. Gordimer unifies the human nature of fear to her story based on the
personal experience of herself at home. For instance, "..I was reading every faintest sound,
identifying and classifying its possible threat" (Gordimer 231). With this in mind, we can correlate
to the theme of society countervailing the excessive obsession of pessimism. As a result, she
attentively entices the audience through her vision of a practical "utopian" civilization. Exclaiming,
"There were riots, but these were outside the city where people of another color were quartered.
These people were not allowed in the suburb...." (Gordimer 232). For this reason, we can infer all
her

Loss Of Innocence In Laurie Halse Anderson's 'The Joy Luck...
"In all our lives, there is a fall from innocence. A time after which, we are never the same." – Stand
By Me. Innocence can be found at any age or any point in one's life. It means chastity, freedom from
wrong, lack of knowledge, SIMPLICITY. When one has innocence the world seems easy without
any worries, however that can all change when one loses their innocence. The loss of innocence can
feel as though one has fallen into a black hole and can never escape, darkness, voicelessness,
LONELINESS. In Amy Tan's "The Joy Luck Club", Nadine Gordimer's "Once Upon a Time", and
Laurie Halse Anderson's "Speak", the authors use main and supporting characters to show a loss of
innocence at a young age. In "The Joy Luck Club" loss of innocence is expressed through the old
woman from the fourth parable, "Queen Mother of the Western Skies". In "Once Upon a Time" loss
of innocence is expressed through the young boy. In "Speak" loss of innocence is expressed though
Melinda. Although all three of these characters go through the same struggle of loss of innocence,
Anderson's character Melinda is able to come to terms with her loss and regain her strength. In these
three stories, Tan, Gordimer, and Anderson use the theme of loss of innocence to portray loneliness,
fear, and barriers to show how one can learn from past experiences.
In the fourth parable "Queen Mother of the Western Skies", Tan uses the old woman to show her
loss of innocence through flashbacks to her youth. As she plays with her granddaughter, the old
woman wonders what she will teach the child. She sees the baby laughing and the old woman recalls
that she too was "once free and innocent", laughing for pure enjoyment (213). However, as time
went on she "threw away" her "foolish innocence" to protect herself (213). As a result, when she had
a daughter, she taught her daughter to do the same and "shed her innocence" (213). The old woman
wonders if telling her daughter to do so was wrong, for now she can recognize the evil in the world.
She calls the baby as if she is a high and mighty spirit named "Syi Wang Mu", Queen Mother of the
Western Skies and asks her to answer her question. Continuing to call her granddaughter the Queen,

Essay On A Quilt Of A Country By Nadine Gordimer
A quilt of a country is an essay about the idea that every man in the united states is created equal.
Anna Quindlen says that the united states is like a huge quilt. That means that it is full of many
different crazy people who come together as one when it matters. Also this means if our country is
in danger like on 9/11 the people of the united states no matter what race help each other. Also in the
text she compares America to a mongrel what she means by this is that
America is full of all different people from all different races and people who are of two races. I
believe that the United States is better as a mixed nation with all different races.
In once upon a time Nadine Gordimer talks about how a long time ago there was slavery in south ...
Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Before the heron her father didn't show affection to her or his job. I do believe that symbols are an
important part of a person's life and can be seen everywhere.
What all these stories have in common is they all talk about something that is seen in our everyday
lives. The first story talks about how America is a nation full of all different people from all different
races. She refers to our nation as a mongrel of a nation meaning it is full of mixed people. The
second story talks about slavery in africa and how it affected her. You can still see forms of slavery
in today's society like in china were the kids work in horrible conditions for little pay. Lastly the
third story talks about symbolism and how a dad needed to pay more attention to his daughter. You
can see symbols all over the world in many different shapes,sizes, and forms.
In conclusion i believe that all of these stories are important in their own way. Also i believe that
these points need to be solved before we can move on. Child slavery in china is a huge problem that
needs to be resolved. Also neglective parents need to be talked to about what they are doing to their
child. Lastly people need to learn to accept the fact that the united states is a mongrel country full of
many different

Analysis Of Once Upon A Time By Nadine Gordimer
"You can't protect yourself from sadness without protecting yourself from happiness." This quote by
Jonathan Safran Foer shows us that no person can protect himself from everything bad without
blocking out the good too. In "Once Upon a Time" by Nadine Gordimer, one of the main themes is
that it is impossible for people to protect themselves from everything bad in life. In this short story, a
wife who lives in a nice suburban neighborhood is terrified of being robbed. Her fear drives her to
become extremely anxious. This anxiety makes her buy all sorts of security devices which
eventually lead to the death of her son. The wife's goal is to protect her house and family from
everything bad in their neighborhood. As a consequence of this, she gets super paranoid and ends up
killing her son after he gets stuck in her barbed wire fence. After her son gets stuck in the barbed
wire, she realizes that there is no way that any person can protect themself from all the terrible
things in life. Therefore, because the wife's motivation to protect her family causes her to
accidentally kill her own son, Gordimer shows that people cannot protect themselves from the
terrible things in life.
Primarily, the wife is motivated to protect her family and house, no matter the cost. Towards the
beginning of the story, the wife is becoming uneasy about someone breaking into her house. She
shows us how anxious and paranoid she is when the story says, "Yet she was afraid that someday
such people might

Analysis Of The Poem ' Desiree 's Baby ' And ' Country...
Phylicia Graham
Professor Karen Rhodes
English 103
May 11th, 2015
Everything Is Left Unsaid, But Done The "Land of the Free, Home of the Brave" currently has a lot
of issues concerning economics, education, etc. However, it is not to forget how much pain and hurt
some people have to go through living in the United States because they are either black, natives or
even women. In both short stories "Desiree's Baby" by Kate Chopin and "Country Lovers" by
Nadine Gordimer, the authors show us the awful consequences of institutional racism and sexism
through the use of setting, characterization and simile. In the short story "Desiree's Baby" and
"Country Lovers", Chopin and Gordimer communicate how racial issues are so common and
accepted in their respective societies. Louisiana, one of the oldest state in the United States, is
influenced by many important people throughout the generations and these people happen to be
white. Armand himself is very proud of his family's history and his ancestors. The attachment he has
toward his family name is astonishing. Armand even feels like giving his family name to Desiree
would be one of the greatest blessings: "What did it matter about a name when he could give her one
of the oldest and proudest in Louisiana?" (Chopin 44). That is in fact one the causes why
institutional racism is so common and accepted. The admiration people have towards a prestigious
family name only has advantages. It comes with respect, status,

Nadine Gordimer Essay on Irony
Burhan Malik
Miss Gera
ENG 1DA–01
26 November 2012
Once Upon An Unimaginable Fairy Tale:
Irony in Nadine Gordimer's "Once upon a time"
Once Upon a Social Issue Fairy tales have always been told to us as children; whether to comfort or
entertain us, they always seem to be a part of everyone's childhood. "Once Upon A Time", the title is
a characteristic of a fairy tale, but she leads the story to an ending that is anything other than
"happily ever after" (Gordimer 12). Although Nadine Gordimer's title is typical in a fairy tale in the
story "One upon a time", the story she writes is anything but typical. Instead of dealing with
characteristics and synonymous with fairy tales, the author uses irony to reflect the idea of humans
... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
When it says "DRAGON'S TEETH" it reminds me of a fairy tale. Usually in fairy tales The story
involves an upper class woman, generally a princess or similar high–ranking nobility, saved from a
dragon, either a literal dragon or a similar danger, by the hero (in this case the little boy pretending
to be a prince). After the mom reads the boy a story of saving the princess through thorns, which in
this case is the barb wire from the company "DRAGON'S TEETH" (Gordimer 14) the boy kisses the
girl and brings her back to life. This fairy tale is ironic because usually fairy tales end happily while
this fairy tale is a more realistic fairy tale.
The story's first paragraph starts with family existing by a man, his wife, their grandmother, and
their son. They live in the suburb, in a city, in South Africa under the apartheid system. The
separation between blacks and whites are huge, and every family in the suburb is secured in any
possible way. No one from the outside is allowed in. Even though the husband keeps telling his wife
that "these people were not allowed into the suburb except as reliable housemaids and gardeners, so
there was nothing to fear" (Gordimer 12), the family keeps developing their safety equipment, in
case something could happened. The irony is that the family has no idea what is happening outside
the fence. They call them "these people" (Gordimer 12) as if they don't even know that they look
like. Gradually

Summary Of Racism In 'Once Upon A Time'
Pierre Berton once said "Racism is a refuge for the ignorant." This relates to the story "Once upon a
time" by showing how the couple in the short story portray uneasiness while giving into fear letting
it create their limitations and blinding them from seeing that they were building their own cage still
constantly trying to upgrade security leading themselves to loss of their son. In "Once upon a time",
Nadine Gordimer utilities characterization and diction to reveal the complexity of fear and racial
discrimination and illustrates that one can't have a happy ending if he/she is too busy worrying about
what could possibly destroy it.
In "Once Upon a Time", Gordimer utilities characterization by limning "the fence" around them as a
cage they created to illustrate how fear can undermine one's ability to take control of their thoughts
and actions and realize the true ignorance behind them. For instance, during the story the wife chose
to upgrade the security again but the husband told her that he believed the amount of security they
had was already enough. In the story, it states "These people were not allowed into the suburb
except as reliable housemaids and gardeners, so there was nothing to fear, the husband told the wife.
Yet she was afraid that some day such people might come up the street and tear off the plaque YOU
HAVE BEEN WARNED and open the gates and stream in..." This evidence relates to fear because
of how the couple chose to handle their illusions through callous actions. The author chose to
include this because the couple is characterized as melodramatic at this point because they're
constantly upgrading their security for the wife's growing obsession with security. The threats that
motivated the wife's fixation were the riots that were happening outside of the suburb but the
robbery that happened within their home. "The wife said, She is right, let us take heed of her advice.
So from every window and door in the house where they were living happily ever after they now
saw the trees and sky through bars..." This evidence illustrates how the couple delineates ignorance
and commits callous actions and now tries to place what just happened as a reason why they've been
continuously upgrading their

What Is The Theme Of The Ultimate Safari
The experiences of a young girl and her family as they are relocated the height of war are chronicled
in Nadine Gordimer's "The Ultimate Safari". Set during the incredibly turbulent time of the
Apartheid in South Africa, this short story addresses the issue of racial divide within a single area.
Throughout the text, the author makes use of parallels between black people and animals, and white
people and hunters, as well as variations on use of the word "ultimate" in the text to illustrate the
schism between the rich Caucasians and the poor black people, making apparent through this the
inferiority of the latter.
The story begins with a travel advertisement that encourages the citizens of London, a country
primarily made up of caucasian people, ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
The narrator and her companions are still treated similarly to animals, though undoubtedly in a more
humane manner than they were previously. Tended to by the area's existing citizens, a population of
Caucasian people, they are medically treated, housed in a tent, and are slowly integrated into their
new home, in the same way that a domesticated animal usually is. They have not forgotten the
country that they had originally come from, though. Similarly, it is in the nature of animals to want
to return to their territory, their original habitat. Though the family and the rest of their companions
are accepted by the existing villagers in the area and have integrated fairly well into society, some
kind of an air of fascination seems to continue hanging about them. Still a somewhat of a curiosity
to white people, they are photographed and questioned through the use of an interpreter for a film.
This scene in particular, in the way the white people interact with the narrator's family, evokes
thoughts of a zoo, if not of a lab experiment, situations wherein animals are observed as oddities, a
species almost alien to us and our understanding. In a similar way to the scene in the text, it is not
uncommon for people nowadays to hire professionals to enable them to understand their

Differences Of Fear In Once Upon A Time By Nadine Gordimer
Omphalophobia is the fear of belly buttons. Strange thing is, we are all connected through those
bizarre digs in the middle of our stomachs. Everyone grew and came from the same place, cut from
the same cord. A lot of times no one remembers this, and they strike out against each other, or hide
from each other in fear, because of skin color or religion. Fear is something that inhabits all of us.
Writhing underneath our skin just waiting to find a reason to be unleashed. This feeling can be used
in different ways, bringing everyone together, or tearing people from civilization. In the same way,
the written works "Once Upon a Time", "A Quilt of a Country" and "The Vietnam Wall" show the
contrast between these two types of fear.
In the story "Once Upon a Time" written by Nadine Gordimer, fear is a concept that dictates the
leading characters thoughts and actions. The husband and wife that are supposedly living happily
ever after, have built a wall around their house to keep out the raids and the burglars that had roamed
the suburbian streets they lived on at night. Fear is what led this family to destruction, killing their
son and handing them misery and the knowledge that the wall they put up, didn't save them from
anything. If the husband and wife hadn't listened to the "wise old witch" and her warning and left
their house uncaged, and accessible to everyone else, their son might still be alive and unburdened
by the rest of the world and the fear that controlled

Theme Of Once Upon A Time By Nadine Gordimer
Ever since the beginning of time, fear has been haunting the lives of human beings. The passage
"Once upon a time", by Nadine Gordimer, the characters within this text shows how fear is seen and
what actions are done to stop "threats". In this text, there was a family in a quartered area , mom,
dad, and a little boy. only trusted maids and etc. were allowed into the area. In front of the family
house is a warning sign that says one could be an invader even though the homeowners are covered
by security systems. Towards the end of the passage the homeowners house was broken into. In
"once upon a time" Gordimer uses imagery and symbolism to justify that apartheid was a fearful
time to live in.
Gordimer divulges symbolism to how the couple is attentive caused by the possibilities of going
outside the lines, from beyond the fence of society. The couple identifies the "outsiders" as riots
other than individuals within the gated community. "It was not possible to insure the house, the
swimming pool or the car against riot damage." { Gordimer, 2}
The fence that holds the homeowners inside defeats the chance of them ever getting to understand
the purpose of the riots that took place. The sign of warning in front of the characters home and their
location shows how apartheid has intense among years of discrimination between people of any
color. The mother in this passage is claimed to be a witch , although she warns the son about the
"people on the street", the rioters, which means

Many people think racism only happens in one group but it happens everywhere because people
discriminate against others.this was given throughout history and how people handle it was in their
way. This story by nadine gordimer was shining on the racial equality between two groups and they
find way to get through it.In "Once Upon A Time,"Nadine Gordimer connects imagery and
symbolism in order to show that racial discrimination leads to tension caused by contradictions in
the treatment of various racial groups.
In "Once Upon A Time,"Nadine Gordimer connects imagery and symbolism in order to show that
racial discrimination leads to tension caused by contradictions in the treatment of various racial
groups. Gordimer utilizes symbolism of ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
This goes with the device because they both symbolizing how scared the man was and how worried
he was for his family. The evidence of the passage creates a mood because the text gives you a
whole platform to understand. This connect with the theme because it gives all the information on
what's going on in southern african.
In "Once Upon A Time,"Nadine Gordimer connects imagery and symbolism in order to show that
racial discrimination leads to tension caused by contradictions in the treatment of various racial
groups.Gordimer utilizes images of the riots and the security systems to show how citizens in
different parts of the african communities acted. This is saying that the citizens in the communities
were different because their in those places. In paragraph 7 it says "The alarm was often answered –
it seemed – by other burglar alarms, in other houses, that had been triggered by pet cats or nibbling
mice. The alarms called to one another across the gardens in shrills and bleats and wails that
everyone soon became accustomed to, so that the din roused the inhabitants of the suburb no more
than the croak of frogs and musical grating of cicadas' legs. Under cover of the electronic harpies'
discourse intruders sawed the iron bars and

Literary Analysis Of Nadine Gordimer's 'Once Upon A Time'
Not all "Once Upon a Time" stories end in a happily ever after. In society, some men and women
overprotect their children so intensely that occasionally this puts them in more danger which leads
many to say that they are metaphorically in a prison. This leads to an unhealthy lifestyle for children
all around the world that has protective parents. Adding multiple layers of body armor just weighs
you down. In the short story "Once Upon a Time," author Nadine Gordimer, uses point of view to
show the problem in the story, the problem is about excessive protection and how it ends up failing
dramatically but not in the way you think, maybe if the family would have moved things would not
have ended up the way it did. "Once Upon a Time" is a short story with fairy tale characteristics,
like all short stories it can be read in one sitting. This work also ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
The purpose of the short story is to show how the act of overprotecting could be a problem while it
also shows the issues of apartheid in south Africa around the late 1960s. The short story she writes
about is third person omniscient this means the where the author knows a lot about the characters of
the story as well as the setting. In the beginning though it can be seen she uses first person and talks
about her experience. The family that Nadine Gordimer writes about in this short story builds
multiple protective measurements to ensure the safety of their family and their child, due to the riots
happening all around the city. However, the family's way of protecting themselves made it feel like a
prison rather than their own house. The author displayed this when writing, "So from every window
and door in the house where they were living happily ever after they now saw the trees and sky
through bars." (Gordimer 2) The security measurements the family laid out were meant to keep the
family safe and unharmed. However, their preventative

Apartheid, a legislation enacted in South Africa in 1948, emboldened the affluent whites to
dominate over the blacks through racial segregation and discrimination (Britannica). Before long,
the blacks were further oppressed as they were required to carry legal documents to prove their
racial identity. In order to end the racial injustice, Nelson Mandela fought vehemently to dismantle
this flawed legislation that alienated the black population. In view of facing almost a half century of
racial clashes, many South African writers like Nadine Gordiner, a political activist, have written
short stories and articles to accentuate the unrest that stemmed from apartheid. In Gordimer's, "Once
upon a Time", she recounts how a happy white family living in South Africa becomes paranoid after
the husband's mother warns that stronger fences and walls must be built to keep the family safe due
to the increasing burglaries and riots. Ironically and sadly, their fear of other races and obsession
with security contribute to the tragic death of their son. Through examining the irony and
symbolism, Gordimer criticizes how unfound fear leads to racial segregation. Ultimately, it is
evident that preoccupation with segregation results in chaos.
By employing irony, Gordimer emphasizes how unfound fear of other races escalates racial tension.
Consequently, not only other races are alienated, but also the whites are beset by misgivings. The
first irony arises when the incessant burglar alarms

Nadine Gordimer's Once Upon A Time
Stories hold numerous aspects within their words to withdraw many emotions from us. Stories,
although known for their use of entertainment, teach humans about themselves. From birth, fear
becomes one of the primal emotions in the minds of people everywhere. Throughout the entire
world, people fear much of the environment around them, but there are truly five main fears that are
the epitome of all that people fear. These five consist of mutilation, separation, loss of autonomy,
ego death, and extinction. The fear of extinction is one that most humans can relate to, and all will
eventually face for themselves, making it an anxiety for more than half of earth's population. From
the beginning of time, authors have used stories to teach people about themselves, especially aspects
of their emotions. In the short story Once Upon a Time, the author, Nadine Gordimer, uses metaphor
to explicate the terror of extinction in humans and communicate to the audience that death is
inevitable.
At the story's unconventional beginning, a seemingly picture–perfect family is living in what seems
to be a beautiful house in a rich suburb ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Nadine Gordimer's short story Once Upon a Time metaphorically explains to its audience how death
is inevitable and must not be avoided, lest an undesirable chain of events take place. With
Gordimer's gruesome use of the young son dying at the end of her tale, the audience is to understand
the horrid effects that come about when they hide from death. Throughout history, authors have
written to educate people about themselves. Gordimer's teaching about the resistance to death
clearly captures the worldly mindset of humans and their feeling of entitlement to life. No matter
how strongly a person feels that he or she deserve to live, the decision is not theirs and they must
succumb to their unfortunate fate

In the short story "Once Upon a Time", author Nadine Gordimer approaches the idea of how fear of
the unknown can have detrimental effects on a person's being and state of mind. The introduction of
"Once Upon a Time" consisted of a narrative concerning Gordimer herself. Like many other
renowned authors, Gordimer received a suggestion to write a children's story, something she
considered to be out of the question. During a night soon after, Gordimer was awaken from her
slumber by an unknown sound. Naturally she laid still in bed, fear stricken and pondering what the
origin of the noise could possibly be. Due to the escalating crime rates in the surrounding areas, her
first assumption was that an intruder had made their way into her home.With ... Show more content
on Helpwriting.net ...
Gordimer's bedtime/children's story depicts a picture–perfect suburban family of three, the husband,
wife, and son. The family was financially stable, had hired servants, and lived a peaceful life.
Tension starts to brew around the suburbs in the city as riots grew and crime started to trickle into
the peaceful suburbia. Gordimer begins to develop the sense of fear into the characters of the
husband and wife. The husband and wife took advice from the husband's mother the "wise old witch
(paragraph 16)" and decided to go to the extreme to protect their home and family. With haste, they
transformed their home into a fortress and even installed an alarm system with the suggestion from
the housemaid. Instead of maintaining what they have the husband and wife decided to add another
addition to the security system, a razor wire fence. One fateful evening the young son of the couple
decided to reenact a fairytale where the Prince "braves the terrible thicket of thorns to enter the
palace and kiss the Princess (paragraph 18)". But in this case there was no thicket of thorns and
chaos ensued as the couple and the servants rushed to save the screaming boy. The events in this
story was tragically ironic, the husband and wife kept obsessively fearing and fending for the
unknown and that eventually lead to further

Analysis Of ' Country Lovers ' By Nadine Gordiminer
Themes & Corresponding Works (Draft)
Ja'Anna Godine
ENG 125 Introduction to Literature
Instructor Kurt Mueller
2 October 2014
Comparing Racism and Ethnicity in two literature works, "Country Lovers" and "What it's like to be
a Black Girl" we can trace racism from the very first stanza of the poem "What it's like to be a Black
Girl" and the first paragraph of "Country Lovers." In both cases the protagonists are black females
who seem to be facing racial discrimination.
Most societies have small elements of racial discrimination that can be condoned. In fact some
societies are used to racial discrimination. Racial discrimination is more pronounced in minority
communities where it is a recurrent experience. Many countries and states have enacted laws that
prohibit racism in its entirety, but the success of such laws depends on individuals who can either
heed from practicing it or just decide to be hard on others. The short story, "Country Lovers" written
by Nadine Gordiminer in 1975 best represents racial discrimination during colonial period. The
story revolves around two main characters Thebedi and Paulus. Paulus Eysendyck was a son to a
white settler while Thebedi was a daughter to a Laborer that used to work in Paulus father's farm.
Paulus, being the son of the rich white father had the freedom to play and interact with all other kids
that lived in the farm. But amongst many kids that he encountered, he developed keen interest in
Thebedi. A bond developed

What Is The Literary Elements Of Once Upon A Time
Sable Dyer
Mr. Jordan
3rd hour
Nov 9, 2017
Literary Elements: Once Upon a time
Ever perused a "bedtime story" and after that it gave you nightmares, if not, then do read "Once
Upon a Time" by Nadine Gordimer. This story is about a lady who awakens to some boisterous
commotions, that she supposes may be a thief or killer and she tries to fall back snoozing yet can't in
any case creped out by the uproarious clamors she begins to let herself know a "bedtime story". The
story starts out with a flawless family; the mother, the father, their little boy, a feline, and a pooch
and they were all in this impeccable little neighborhood and the family has a housekeeper and a
gardener but they are separated from their neighborhood. In any case, that is because of the
Politically–sanctioned racial segregation they are managing, which makes them significantly more
separated, because of this they begin to flame their workers and just keeping just some of them,
however permitting them just certain days of the week. One day the family goes out to walk their
dog and takes a gander at the diverse fences that their neighbors have up. One fence they stroll by
they believe that it would be too simple to jump over and still break into their house. At that point
they get to a house that has razor wire up and they surmise that will go flawlessly, so they get the
number off of the fence and call them and get their fence put up the following day, yet that night the
mother tells the little boy a bedtime story. The story is about a prince who climbs over a fence to
spare a princess. Along these lines, the following morning after the razor wire is set up the little boy
chooses to like the cost and afterward the hirelings and his folks convey "it" into the house. The
story "Once Upon a Time" by, by Nadine Gordimer, demonstrates the crowd a negative viewpoint of
Marxism through her utilization of politically–sanctioned racial segregation inside the story line.
Nadine Gordimer was South African author who in 1991 became the first South African and the
seventh woman to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, additionally she was an active part in,
hostile to Politically–sanctioned racial segregation.(Wästberg)(South African History

Nadine Gordimer Research Paper

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