The short story “Once upon a Time” by Nadine Gordimer does not have an explicit setting, but given the background of the author and the plot of the main story, we can safely say that the events take place in South Africa, during the time of the apartheid regime. Along with plot, character, setting, and style, theme is considered as one of the fundamental components of fiction (Obstfeld, 2002).Therefore, we attempt to discuss about theme in Nadine Gordimer`s Once Upon A Time. In Once Upon a Time by Nadine Gordimer we have the theme of apartheid, equality, racism, insecurity, freedom, innocence, control and fear. Here are the main features that will help you with the analysis of the short story “Once Upon a Time” by Nadine Gordimer.
In the outer story, the narrator talks about how she was asked to write a children’s story and about her fear when she hears noises around the house at night. The social setting deals with the prejudice against black people during the apartheid system in South Africa. However, several hints indicate that the events take place somewhere in South Africa , during the time when the apartheid system was in place. Outcomes of prejudice and racism. Narrated in the first person by an unnamed narrator (writer) the reader realises after reading the story that Gordimer … "Once Upon a Time" is a short story written by South African Nadine Gordimer and published in her collection titled "Jump and Other Stories." Theme is a broad idea, message, or moral of a story. The message may be about life, society, or human nature. The short story does not have a traditional structure and is instead presented as a story within a story. The time and physical setting of “Once Upon a Time” by Nadine Gordimer is not explicitly specified, which at first glance seems like a typical fairy-tale feature. Nadine Gordimer’s 1989 work “Once Upon a Time” follows many of the devices and elements of a fairy tale (hence the title, which is use of the ubiquitously in fairy tale) begins with a framing element, in which Nadine Gordimer herself is a character that is asked to write a short story for a children’s book. The social setting of “Once Upon a Time” explores the outcomes of prejudice and racism and social differences in South Africa during apartheid. The protagonist, an unnamed female novelist, hears a sound in the night and thinks it's an intruder, possibly a burglar or a thief.