How To Read Literature Like A Professor By Nadine Gordimer

Countless children's stories and fairytales begin with the infamous phrase, “Once Upon a Time.” Nadine Gordimer stylistically chose to employ this phrase as her title for her thematic short fiction tale to ironically explore controversial subjects. This strategic choice utilized the “childish elements” of young literature, such as the, “wicked witch,” to convey underlying messages of fear and racism. In Thomas Foster’s, “How to Read Literature like a Professor,” the strategy of “stealing” ideas and elements from four main literary sources, children’s literature included, was discussed. Gordimer pulled from these stories, shown explicitly in the title, to create irony by conveying modern, political ideas and issues in our society through “innocent” plot elements.

This obviously relates to the title in that she satirically chose it to express her defiance to societies pressures. The subject of the pressure society can place on our beliefs and ideologies is also shown through the “wicked witch,” and the husband who pressured the wife into changing her views on the “colored people.” Originally the wife showed compassion toward the, “loafers and tsotsis,” when she, “sent the trusted housemaid out with bread and tea.” However, she was quickly reprimanded by her peers, and told that her compassionate actions were only “encouraging them.” This all relates back to the ironically developed subjects of fear and racism, and these extreme fears are what eventually lead to the unnecessary barbed wire coils on top of the fences that, in the end, were the real threat to their safety. Once again employing the “childish” tactics expressed by her strategic title, she states throughout her story that the mother continually reads from a fairytale book, given to them by the “wicked witch,” to her