What Does Once Upon A Time By Nadine Gordimer Mean

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Once Upon a Time Symbolism To begin with, Nadine Gordimer utilizes the security measures like the walls and alarm system to symbolize apartheid. Gordimer’s story focuses around segregation and is inspired by the South African apartheid. This is made apparent by the symbols she uses to portray apartheid. She tells a story about a family who fears riots caused by people of color (Gordimer, paragraph 9) and in turn, uses security measures such as walls to keep those people out, which is separating the 2 groups of people like apartheid (paragraph 10 and 14). “There were riots, but these were outside the city, where people of color were quartered.” (Paragraph 10). To explain this quote, this means that people of color and white people were not …show more content…

“The trusted housemaid of the man and wife and little boy was so upset by this misfortune befalling a friend… she implored her employers to have burglar bars attached to the doors and windows of the house, and an alarm system installed.” (paragraph 11). To elaborate, more security is being installed and the riots are suppressed furthermore (which is stated in paragraph 11 as well). To tie this in with apartheid, as the security to keep people of color at bay toughens up, this relates to the laws of segregation getting tougher, the leash tightening even more around the throats of the oppressed people of color. “The whitewashed wall was marked with the cat’s comings and goings; and on the street side of the wall there were larger red-earth smudges that could have been made by the kind of broken running shoes, seen on the feet of unemployed loiterers, that had no innocent destination.” (paragraph 15). This quote shows you the physical boundary in place to separate the 2 groups of people. It shows how people of color are in worse conditions than those living within the walls. It shows what apartheid inflicts on the less privileged. The walls separate the family and the people on the other side much like the segregation apparent in those times. In this way, the security measures used to create a boundary between the family and the outside threats from people of

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