"Once Upon A Time" by Nadine Gordimer

Wednesday, November 17, 2010 6:42 PM Posted by Emily Looney
Question 2: What stylistic devices create the atmosphere of children's stories? How is this atmosphere related to the story's theme?

Stylistic devices used to make this story sound like a children's story include many phrases that are common in fairy tales or children's books. The title "Once Upon A Time" starts out many fairy tales and children's stories. This story is a pun on that title because it is more like a scary story than it is a happy go lucky child's story. Happily ever after is also an often repeated phrase. It's almost like this story is the story after the man and his wife meet each other and have a child and live "happily ever after"...but this happily ever after isn't exactly as everyone likes to believe. We are all trained to believe that happily ever after means just that, but in some people's cases it goes terribly awry. The story is told without direct dialogue or quotes to show the dialogue. Instead, it is told as if a narrator is omniscient and speaking for all of the characters, like a typical fairy tale or children's story. This atmosphere relates to the sardonic theme of fairy tales and children's stories that the writer is saying she is terrible at writing.

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