A Fairies Twisted Tale

A Fairies Twisted Tale
Many fairy tales have a happy ending, once upon a time is not one of those. Incidentally, Nadine Gordimer wrote a modern fairy tale called Once Upon A Time about a family's fear of outsiders, around the era of apartheid when riots were common. In Gordimer's story, she uses imagery and irony to promote the idea that the irrational fear of outsiders leads to dire consequences.
The author uses imagery specifically sight to convey the idea of dire consequences caused by fear. Gordimer thinks that no amount of security can protect you. She writes about a neighbor who had a lot of protection but was still attacked “in broad daylight in a house two blocks away, last year, and the fierce dogs who guarded an old widower and
his collection of antique clocks were strangled before he was knifed by a casual laborer.” Furthermore, Gordimer elaborates on the manner in which the neighbor was murdered to illustrate or help you imagine how the widower even with protection was murdered. The author stresses the plaque sign to signify that the homeowners fear of outsiders subsided by the posting of the sign. Likewise In Once Upon a Time it states “ [the family] subscribed to the local Neighborhood Watch, which supplied them with a plaque for their gates lettered YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED over the silhouette of a would-be intruder” which they think will protect them from dangers far away. The house has a YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED sign to show others that the neighborhood watch is on alert, the family thought the “almighty sign” as an item can protect them. Moreover, Gordimer stresses or describes in detail the homeowner’s dangerous precautions to keep away the outsiders to show how irrational the decisions were. Similarly, The author paints an image of a fence that “ Placed the length of walls, it consisted of a continuous coil of stiff and shining metal serrated into jagged blades, so that there would be no way of climbing over it and no way through its tunnel without getting entangled in its fangs”. The homeowners' get the fence that they believe will protect them from outsiders, though this action is unnecessary considering that the riots took place outside of the city as she says “There were riots, but these were outside the city”. Gordimer stresses or describe in detail the imagery of the homeowner’s precautions to keep away the outsiders, but also describes the family's irrational decisions such as building the wall or getting a sign.
In addition, Gordimer used irony to convey the idea of dire consequences caused by fear.
The author thinks that extraordinary protection does not benefit the homeowner. She wrote, “I have no burglar bars, no gun under the pillow, but I have the same fears as people who do take these precautions” which is ironic because she has “ the same fears” as the other people but her fear is not irrational. Gordimer did not have protection even though she was worried. So she may not think that all of the fancy protection will bring security. This is situational irony because she is afraid of a burglar, but does not purchase burglar bars. The homeowners had those same fears but the homeowner's fears manifested from the very thing they thought would protect them. Gordimer wrote “he dragged a ladder to the wall, the shining coiled tunnel was just wide enough for his little body to creep in, and with the first fixing of its razor- teeth in his knees and hands and head he screamed and struggled deeper into its tangle”, the boys safety clearly was not accounted for and is a consequence of their actions and fears which ultimately lead to the child's death. The boy getting trapped in the fence is situational irony because they (the homeowners) thought the fence would protect them, but it ended up hurting their family. The homeowners focus on the boy's tragedy distracts them from finding what tripped the alarm. The author told us what happened when she wrote: “for some reason (the cat, probably) the alarm setup wailing against the screams.” The audience knows why the alarm was set off. This is dramatic ironic because we know something the characters do not.The character experience the consequences of fear as the are obvious from what tripped the alarm. Gordimer goes in depth into the homeowner ironic ways of keeping their family safe to dramatize the
consequences. In essence, the family is fearful because of the riots where the colored people live. The families' perspectives on the dangers of the neighborhood clouded their decisions and made them irrational. In Gordimer's story, she uses imagery and irony to promote the idea that the irrational fear of outsiders leads to dire consequences. This is shown through throughout the story the, for instance, the imagery of the plaque sign and the irony of the child's horrific death