'Once Upon a Time Essay\r'

'‘Once Upon a Time’, was written by Gabriel Okara, who is a Nigerian poet. He often re hypocrisyves what happens when a traditional Afri stooge culture meets the forces of the Western delegacy of life. I think the meter was written to enlist the pretender personalities of many people and to try and lodge them to return to a natural and innocent state. The rime tells of the conversation between what attends to be a pay back up and son, where the father wants to learn from his son how to go back to normality and no longer be faker.\r\nThe poem starts by the father telling his son how, ‘ at a time upon a time’, people, or ‘they’, ‘used to laughter with their patrol wagon’. I think that the word ‘they’ refers to westerly people who are white. Also this description gives the ruling of genuine emotion given off by the people. He whence moves on to say that straightaway they only, ‘laugh with their teeth, while their ice-block cold eyes wait behind his shadow’. This gives off very prohibit, fake and false feelings and it is a very cold description. This affects the bankers bill of the poem that now be amounts sinister and bitter.\r\nStanza two thus reveals more of the erstwhile(prenominal) when it is utter that, ‘they used to fluff up hand with their hearts’, again this image reveals unbent and genuine emotion. But just as in the first Stanza the present reality is then(prenominal) discussed when it is said that, ‘that has gone, now they only shake hands without hearts while their left hands search his avoid pockets’. This shows that, again the people are fake and seem to be using the man to see what they can get. Poem Stanza Four Presents the Adaptations and Solutions. Stanza three then goes to explain more about the changes he has noticed in these false people.\r\nAgain the Stanza starts positive with the phrases, ‘feel at homeâ₠¬â„¢, ‘come again’, but then goes on to say that he will come again, ‘once, twice’ but there will ‘be no more thrice’ for then ‘I find doors shut on me’. This shows that the people lie when they say the positive phrases and after a some(prenominal) visits they squander all that they want from the man; their faithlessness is reflected in the language they use. The first three Stanzas have the same structure. They start by telling the past and explaining how things used to be, but then they tell the negative reality.\r\nI think this is used to compare the measure and introduce the reader to the situation. Stanza four presents the adaptations and solutions that the man has run aground to counter the problems. It starts by saying that the man has, ‘ wise to(p) many things’, already suggesting that he has changed to fit in. He then explains the things he has learnt. He tells of the false personalities or of his Ã¢â‚¬Ë œmany faces’. He tells that he has learnt to ‘wear’ these faces, suggesting that he wears faces for different situations.\r\nFor example, he says he has an, ‘office-face, street-face, and host-face, proving that he acts differently under different circumstances. He then adds that they have, ‘ conforming smiles, like a fixed portrait’. This suggests plain more falseness and changes. Poem Stanza Five: wise to(p) to Laugh With Only His Teeth. Stanza five of the poem tells of the fake attributes to go along with the fake looks. It also repeats some of the acts that were mentioned earlier in the poem. Repetition seems to be a key technique in this poem. He says that he has also, ‘ versed to laugh with only his teeth’ and ‘shakes hands without his heart’.\r\nThis suggests that he has copied the western ways as this is what they did earlier in the poem. He then goes evening further by saying he has learned to say, ‘ Goodbye’ when he means, ‘Good-riddance’ and ‘Glad to meet you, without creation glad’. I think that the man is humiliated of himself and is confessing to his son how far the fake attitudes have developed, he seems to hate what he has done. Stanza six and seven then show the man viewing his regret as he says, â€Å"I want to be what I used to be when I was like you”, showing that he wants to be honest and truthful again.\r\n'