“Once Upon a Time” and “A Chip of Glass Ruby”

The Struggle of Apartheid

No matter what, there are always two sides to a story. In the short stories “Once Upon a Time” and “A Chip of Glass Ruby” by author Nadine Gordimer it tells how the two different families are impacted by the South African apartheid. One is a wealthy upper class family living in a suburb with dangerous people surrounding their home. The other is a poor family living in a tight space trying their best to fight the apartheid. Both families have their share of struggles and hardships and the author shows them through literary devices. Overall, the two short stories share similarities and differences between setting, tone, and imagery.

In the two short stories by Nadine Gordimer, the stories both share a common and disparate setting. For example, in “Once Upon a Time” it states, However, in “A Chip of a Glass Ruby” it states, The settings of the two homes are contrasting, one home is very spacious and fit for a small family and the other is cramped and has no room. In the story “Once Upon a Time” it shows how the house was built with security and protection which gives it more a perception of a prison. In the same way, the house in “A Chip of a Glass Ruby” is also similar to a prison because of the limited space and unsubstantial privacy. Even more, the two short stories are set in South Africa when the apartheid was still unresolved. Although, in “Once Upon a Time” it is never directly stated by the author what time period and location the story takes place in, but the reader can infer the story is set in South Africa. To point out This implies segregation was happening within the story, and at the beginning of the short story the author provides context clues about living in Africa. On the other hand, in “A Chip of a Glass Ruby” the main character, Zanip Bamjee, was an Indian woman who wasn’t affected by apartheid but felt the need to fight for others rights. As an example, the story states, Overall, the two short stories take place in a diverse setting, but are connected to the same events in South Africa.

In the texts “A Chip of Glass Ruby” and “Once upon a Time” the author conveys a tone of gloominess. The stories never speak about happy settings, it only gets darker with time. Traumatic events can be found in both stories, in “A Chip of Glass Ruby”, it says and in “Once Upon a Time” When reading the stories, the audience can detect this tone as if the victims were telling the story themselves. Both of the stories are set in areas where the characters feel unsafe and unable to find happiness, this is due to the gloomy tone of the author. In “Once Upon a Time”, the family is living in a neighborhood filled with “dangerous” minorities constantly upgrading their security systems. The story states, In “A Chip of Glass Ruby”, it states, the family is set in a poor area set on the verge of revolution. The wife is caught conspiring against the government and is arrested. Overall, Nadine Gordimer uses a tone of gloominess in both short stories.

Nadine Gordimer uses imagery in her two short stories to help convey the meaning of the text in a sensory way. She uses similar concepts of imagery in both short stories, however, she also uses different methods that pertain to the specific story's plot. In the short story, “Once Upon a Time” it states,This is similar to the imagery used in “A Chip of Glass Ruby” because it helps readers visual a tragic event in the story. In the short story, “A Chip of Glass Ruby”, it states, “This shows the imagery in both short stories are similar because it helps the reader visual negligent events in the story and have a dreadful image in mind. Although both short stories have similar imagery, they also have disparate visuals due to the stories overall meaning. One way the imagery is different between the short stories is in “Once Upon a Time” Nadine Gordimer mainly focuses on tragic events because there were not many happy moments in the story. This leads readers to have an underlying image of grungy events in their head. On the contrary, In “A Chip of Glass Ruby” Nadine Gordimer focuses on both happy and sad times within the story. Nadine Gordimer has imagery drawn to light hearted situations, like when the author describes how dedicated she is to her husband and nine children and how the father gets up and goes to work everyday to provide for the family. This leads readers to have peaceful images unlike the imagery in “Once Upon a Time.” Overall, Nadine Gordimer used imagery in the short stories, “A Chip of Glass Ruby” and “Once Upon a Time” to help readers visual the story.

Overall, Nadine Gordimer’s two short stories, “A Chip of glass Ruby” and “Once Upon a Time” share similarities and differences between setting, tone, and imagery. As the author shows the families, similarities in their different lives, such as how they deal with their individual traumatic experiences, how their surroundings affect them, and how they feel about what has happened. The author cleverly created a link on how these stories told their own side of how apartheid impacted them.

Cite this page