Once Upon a Time

"Once Upon a Time"
Nadine Gordimer

"Once Upon a Time" by Nadine Gordimer  is a frame story in which Gordimer decides to tell herself a child's story to calm her own fears as she attempts to fall asleep one night. The story that she tells is not so much a children's story as it is a satirical play on the insecurities of the American family. The story's setting, a well-off suburban neighborhood, is representative of the commonly sought "American dream." However, the action of the story shows how this utopian dream can be diluted by the manner that society manipulates the insecurities of its puppets.

Although the family's increasing of security measures encompassing their property makes them feel safer, it actually increases their fear. This is driven by the knowledge that there is always something bigger and better, reflective of the American dream, but this also makes fears bigger and greater as well. It also satirizes the ignorance that backs these fears. "Don't worry, my dear, cats always look before they jump," says the husband in the story (Gordimer, 237). This ironic phrase seems to put the cat on a higher pedestal of the understanding of the outcomes of its actions than the one on which society stands. The author furthers this point by telling of how the cat remained away from the Dragon's Teeth entrapment, but their son becomes mangled by the very thing that was installed to protect him.

The "child's story" told by the author rationalizes her own fears by realizing the irrationality behind the fears of others.