Once Upon A Time

Nadine Gordimer's Once Upon A Time, despite being two stories in one, has one major theme, the dangers of being overly cautious. The frame story works perfectly in this context, each story contributing the tell the over-arching theme. The first tale is of an author, who is awakened by a noise and remains paralyzed by fear. Paranoid of every little sound, she is unable to sleep. She admits she "was reading every faintest sound, identifying and classifying its possible threat. To calm herself, she begins to tell herself a children's story. In the tale, a family becomes so overly worried of potiential crime that they take extreme security measures, even a spiked fence. However, the gate that was bought for their protection turned dangerous when the son attempted to crawl through it, and was severly injuried.

I think the theme sent a very powerful message. In today's world, many people are obsessed with their own security. While it is important to keep safe, overprotection or paranoia can have dangerous consequences.

The use of a frame story also had a powerful affect on the tale. In the first, the writer feels her fears are unwonted, that she is merely being paranoid. The story she tells then, is about the dangers of paranoia, restoring equilibrium in her mind.