Internalized Oppression or Rational Fear: Examining Internal Group Animosity in Nadine Gordimer’s “Once Upon a Time”

Abstract

Nadine Gordimer’s short story “Once Upon a Time” is a chilling depiction of the nearly fivedecade long systematic segregation of races in South Africa, a period known as apartheid. In the story, which Gordimer presents as a “fairytale,” the author paints a picture of a suburban, upperclass family and the wall they construct around their property to protect themselves from “people of another color.” 1 The family obsessively updates the wall until, one day, their most recent security measure backfires: their little boy becomes trapped in the razor wire on top of the wall and bleeds to death. Gordimer focuses largely on the actions of the white family and their direct consequences. However, an examination of one character ‐ the trusted housemaid, who is black ‐ provides critical insight on the complex social and political issues of the time. While Gordimer’s description of the housemaid is minimal, the way she navigates her position is revealing; the housemaid’s relations with her own race are characterized by isolation, fear, and discrimination. In “Once Upon a Time,” Nadine Gordimer’s portrayal of the trusted housemaid reveals a subtle, but salient symptom of institutionalized racism: the harmful divisions that occur within groups. Ultimately, the housemaid’s actions are not reflections of her own inherent racism, but the product of the larger social context of apartheid. Gordimer’s repetition of one simple adjective to describe the housemaid—“trusted”—is particularly effective for the reader’s understanding of the social situation under apartheid. In a story that depicts the forced, physical separation of races, the housemaid is the exception to the rule. “People of another color…were not allowed into the suburb except as reliable housemaids and gardeners, so there was nothing to fear, the husband told the wife.” Evidently, the adjective “reliable” is enough to distinguish the housemaid from the other members of the racial group to which she belongs. Gordimer’s repetition of the phrase “trusted housemaid” throughout the story reassures both the reader and the family that the housemaid will not do any harm. If the housemaid were not described with this label, she would be just another threatening “person of another color”—those perpetrating the violence and riots on the other side of the wall. The