Critical AnalysisStereotypes were prevalent during the years of apartheid in South Africa. In Once Upon a Time, Gordimer shows that stereotypes and preconceived ideas about people are rooted in certain expectations. These labels are then passed down from parents to children, and the animosity continues for generations. South Africa constitutes an extreme case in which people of color are even considered a threat to white people (wikipedia.org). Nadine Gordimer's work maintains racism in the way she puts herself in the shoes of other demographic groups. She objectively embodies the characters of blacks, whites, men, women, heroes and villains respectively. She herself experiences the struggles of those who are typecast and then translates that struggle to the public. Gordimer does this exceptionally well in conveying the deep-rooted evil of apartheid and its participants in Once Upon A Time. Through his continued determination and phenomenal discipline, Gordimer is able to put himself not only in his thoughts, but also in the perspective of a man or a woman, a black or a white. Gordimer works in the ingenious aspect, always on a mission into the mysteries of human understanding. Nadine Gordimer wrote "Once Upon A Time" to warn her readers about the differences between fairy tale life and reality, as well as to draw public attention to the threat of stereotypes. This story highlights the need for mortals to move away from superiority complexes and not focus on insignificant qualities. Society must be committed to who we are and not to showing ourselves better than others. How will South Africans learn to respect each other if their way of life is the way it is? There can be no coincidence of cultures, communication problems, and you...... middle of paper ......o be the prince and try to save the princess by traveling through the terrible thicket thorns. The story ends when "the bleeding mass of the little boy was extracted from the safety reel with saws, wire cutters, cleavers, and they carried it away - the man, the woman, the hysterical maid of confidence and the weeping gardener – in the house” ( Gordimer 236). A small detail in this last statement contains a very important fact. Gordimer refers to the little boy as "the bleeding mass" and "it", he is no longer referred to as "the little boy" or "he" (114). In a way, the ending of "Once Upon a Time" is indeterminate because the story gives no exact evidence of the boy's next events, such as whether he lives or dies. Although left with a kind of suspense, the artistic unity of the plot leads to a complete understanding of the stories and the relationships between them..