Instant downloads of all 1360 LitChart PDFs (including Once Upon a Time). In Once Upon a Time, the sign YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED has two meanings.Firstly, it is an implied threat to the people who may consider illegally entering the premises. In acting out a fantasy, which has obviously become real to him, he enters the barbed wire, believing himself to be a brave prince, resulting in a most profoundly tragic outcome. “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). They're like having in-class notes for every discussion!”, “This is absolutely THE best teacher resource I have ever purchased. From the creators of SparkNotes, something better. "Once Upon a Time" is a story about irony. Instant downloads of all 1373 LitChart PDFs Our. Next day he pretended to be the Prince who braves the terrible thicket of thorns to enter the palace and kiss the Sleeping Beauty back to life: 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. He ironically and tragically becomes in the most horrific manner the victim of their worst nightmare. So, in Gordimer’s story, the family is the evil fairy, conjuring the thorns to create a malicious barrier that—in order to have a happy ending—has to come down. When the suburban husband and wife install the razor wire, they’ve explicitly chosen it for its violence: “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. Who are the experts?Our certified Educators are real professors, teachers, and scholars who use their academic expertise to tackle your toughest questions. ©2020 eNotes.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Struggling with distance learning? They're like having in-class notes for every discussion!”, “This is absolutely THE best teacher resource I have ever purchased. He is completely unaware of the dangers from which his paranoid, or could we say pragmatic, parents and grandmother wish to protect him. Detailed explanations, analysis, and citation info for every important quote on LitCharts. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is … from University of the Western Cape, South Africa, Top subjects are Literature, History, and Social Sciences. Teachers and parents! In another sense, the boy also becomes a symbol for the victims who are the products of society's fears. From the creators of SparkNotes, something better. Apartheid is an Afrikaans word that literally means “aparthood” or “separateness,” so the razor wire—which is meant to…, Instant downloads of all 1373 LitChart PDFs The boy symbolizes innocence. The Once Upon a Time quotes below are all either spoken by The Narrator or refer to The Narrator. My students love how organized the handouts are and enjoy tracking the themes as a class.”, LitCharts uses cookies to personalize our services. What details in the introductory section and in the children's story imply the nature of the social order in which both occur. There would be no way out, only a struggle getting bloodier and bloodier, a deeper and sharper hooking and tearing of flesh.” This quote explicitly shows the violence that the couple envisions will keep poorer, black South Africans off their property—but it also foreshadows the ironic ending of the story, in which the couple’s own young son dies horrifically in this exact way. Sign up now, Latest answer posted October 12, 2020 at 10:52:30 AM, Latest answer posted October 05, 2020 at 12:06:56 PM, Latest answer posted October 27, 2016 at 7:02:15 PM, Latest answer posted September 19, 2016 at 5:39:03 PM. In Once Upon a Time by Nadine Gordimer we have the theme of apartheid, equality, racism, insecurity, freedom, innocence, control and fear. Our summaries and analyses are written by experts, and your questions are answered by real teachers. The protagonist, an unnamed female novelist, hears a sound in the night and thinks it's an intruder, possibly a burglar or a thief. Deciding that the new, ...the cat. Next day he pretended to be the Prince who braves the terrible thicket of thorns to enter the palace and kiss the Sleeping Beauty back to life: 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. Teachers and parents! LitCharts Teacher Editions. The razor wire is symbolic of apartheid, which destroyed South African society by keeping different races apart.