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Comparing The Vietnam Wall And Once Upon A Time

Decent Essays

The conflict among individuals and society is continuous and sometimes inevitable. Both the short story by Nadine Gordimer, Once Upon A Time, and the poem by Alberto Rios, The Vietnam Wall, express different concepts of society and individuals. Set in South Africa, Once Upon A Time, uses symbolism in some characters to show that fears can cause harm to others. On the other hand, the poem The Vietnam Wall shows symbolism and imagery to convey the authors theme that a simple black marble wall can unite people regardless of race, color or age. The differences among The Vietnam Wall and the short story Once Upon A Time support the idea that individuals and society can have conflicts, but at the same time, unite together as a whole for a common cause. …show more content…

The sort story begins with a happily ever family living in a segregated and violent neighborhood. The little boy in the story was used to symbolize innocence and purity, which also was used to symbolize the society, and the wise old witch was used to symbolize the spirit of distress and evilness. As a result of the increase of fears, it gave rise to the precautions and in lines 170-172 it states: “It was the ugliest but the most honest in its suggestion of the pure connection-camp style, no frills, and all evident efficiency.” According to the text, the family had made an option to buy “aesthetics of prison architecture” and other items as a precaution of what they feared, but in the end, the little boy was victim of his family’s own precautions and fears This all shows how no matter how intense a person’s fears can become, the effects of it will always have a greater scar on

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