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The Fear Of Fear In Gordimer's Once Upon A Time

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“Once Upon a Time” is divided into two stories with two different readers, but they contain same problems which is fear and reactions to it. In both cases, the stories include perceived dangers to the protagonists. In the first story, the female narrator hears sounds in her house, and believes that the noises come from an intruder. The second story poses a threat to a wealthy family as riots form outside their city. In each story, the characters act irrationally to these dangers. For example, the family that is afraid of the riots installs excessive precautionary security around their house that makes it a prison. Both of the perceived dangers that the characters face pose no threat to them as these threats are far away. These problems of fear and reacting to it irrationally poses a threat in the story and society because the family’s reactions to the riots ultimately ends with consequences with the death of their son from the security measures, and this reflects that society can face …show more content…

The woman in the first story realizes after she is terrified of a possible intruder that the danger is not an intruder but “shifting rock three thousand feet below” her. (Gordimer 1) The family is the second story is scared of riots and intruders from the riots, but in reality, the riots are outside the city and pose virtually no threat to the family. (Gordimer 2) The fear of these dangers like intruders in the story that the characters face is irrational, and they make decisions based on this irrational fear and cause more damage to themselves than the danger they are afraid of. Gordimer’s point in addressing these fears is not to take precautions from danger, but to not make irrational decisions from fears because that can cause devastating

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