Through Nadine Gordimer's short stories published in 1989, entitled Jump and Other Stories, the South African author constantly combats the status quo with her controversial and poignant content. In one of the short stories, Once Upon a Time, the narrator tells the story of an anonymous family in a wealthy neighborhood during apartheid who experiences tragedy through the manifestation of their own fears of protection from external threats . Throughout the novella, Gordimer conforms to typical fairy tale conventions through the simplicity of his writing and the inclusion of some stereotypical phrases. However, it also deviates from typical fairy tale conventions by beginning with a parallel story outside of the fairy tale as well as a reverse order of formal events. Ultimately, these conventions combined enhance the reader's perspective while experiencing the narrative as well as the literary value of the story exponentially. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay First, Gordimer refrains from more extensive writing during the "bedtime story" in order to apply the simplistic writing usually seen in the typical fairy tale genre . For example, Gordimer begins his bedtime story with “in a house, in a suburb, in a city, there stood a man and his wife who loved each other dearly” (25). Indeed, Gordimer's first line describes the simple setting through its parallelist syntax and deliberately childish diction. In turn, his repetitive writing style creates a light mood for the reader, while also giving it a more sarcastic tone. In another example, several neighborhood watch signs display "YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED" (25) throughout the main family's neighborhood. Setting up the extremely basic plot conflict point in the story, the constant reminder to repel the invaders torments the characters and repeats throughout the story, changing the once light-hearted mood to one more darker and more sinister for the reader. Essentially, Gordimer's simplistic technique aligns with typical conventions of the fairy tale genre and helps establish what readers are meant to initially feel at the beginning of Gordimer's bedtime story. Likewise, Gordimer also conforms to some of the fairy tale genre. when she also includes stereotypical fairy tale phrases during her bedtime story. For example, whenever the characters refer to the husband's mother within the main family, they refer to her as the "wise old hag" (28). By choosing to nickname the grandmother this way, the character then reminds readers of the similar fairy tale lingo and the basic method of giving archetypes to all possible characters, although the "witch" is only 'a grandmother. Additionally, Gordimer also refers to the "Prince who braves the thickets...and kisses Sleeping Beauty" (30) when describing the little boy of the family as he ventures outside the house by reconstructing the story he reads. The reference to the story alludes to the story of Sleeping Beauty, where the barbed wire fence in dragon's teeth directly symbolizes and parallels the thorny thicket that the prince crosses as well as the real dragon to which he faces in the allusion. Overall, Gordimer's inclusion of fairy tale stereotypes, which generally diminish the literary value of a story's originality and significance, adds a deeper level to the..