Once Upon a Time

"Once Upon a Time" by Nadine Gordimen was a dark short story. The fact that this wasn't a cheerful story, made the irony in the story even that more evident. I found four points of irony in this story.

1. The narrator tells that some want her to write children's stories. She even admits, "I don't write children's stories" (Gordimer, 231). Then, while she is laying in bed and cannot sleep, she tells herself a bedtime story. However, the story is anything but soothing.

2. The father's mother gave the family the advice to build a bigger, strong, and more industrial looking wall. She then gave the little boy the book Sleeping Beauty. From this book, the little boy got the idea of courage; using this newly found courage, he got a ladder and climbed the wall which led to his death. "Next day he pretended to be the Prince who braves the terrible thicket of thorns to enter the palace" (Gordimer, 236).

3. The wall had a sign which read "YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED." This was ironic becausethe family thought the sign was to warn outsiders; however, it should have really been warning them of the dangers of the wall.

4. The family built all of these walls and installed all of these security systems in order to protect their family and especially their son. Little did they know that the barbed wire fence that they installed would be the demise of their little boy. "