Nadine Gordimer's "Once Upon a Time" begins with the telling of two stories. The first is about the author, who awakes in the middle of the night, afraid of a possible intruder. Then, to distract her mind, she creates a second story. The story is a fairytale of an affluent family living in the suburbs, which have a baseless fear of the impoverished because of preconceived beliefs about racial tension. In response, they attempt to create the perfect home security- system. The two stories relate through their theme of unfounded fear based on handed-down beliefs. In addition, the stories reflect the negative effect and consequences of the defenses that people create to protect themselves from their fear.
             Fear is a natural human response and safeguard to threatening situations, yet it does not need a real danger to reveal itself. Often, irrational thinking will lead to exaggerations and generalizations of the improbable, which fosters anxiety. For example, the man and woman within the fairytale story are far removed and protected from any harmful occurrences at the onset of the story. "There were riots, but these were outside the city, where people of another color were quartered...these people were not allowed into the suburbs" (253). At this point, the family has not yet encountered violence, the wife is still terrified, "people might come up the street and tear off the plaque You Have Been Warned and open the gates and stream in...."(253). Similarly, personalizing and focusing only on the emotional aspects of events it creates irrational thinking. For example, the family's maid, disturbed that a fellow housemaid was accosted by thieves and afraid that she would fall victim, "...implored the employers to have burglar bars attached to the doors and windows of the house..." (254). The family maid personalizes the emotional fear that her friend experienced, and reacts to that emotion. In...