Once Upon a Time - Themes

Discuss the themes of the poem Once Upon a Time:

LOSS OF DIGNITY AND PRIDE

The poem centers entirely on the loss of dignity and the pride that Africans had before the coming of Europeans. Africans were sincere in what they do. They had true love, cooperation, and showed honesty. Things began to fall apart after the introduction of European culture in which case both dignity and the pride of Africans were lost altogether. The father says to his son;

Once upon a time son,

They used to laugh with their hearts

And laugh with their eyes

But now they only laugh with their teeth

While their ice-block-cold eyes

Search behind my shadow

COMPROMISE/CULTURAL ALIENATION

Furthermore, through the poem, the poet shows that Africans have compromised their culture in favor of the new Western Culture. They have compromised the good values that held Africans together and gave them a sense of identity and togetherness such as kindness and sincerity in what they do or feel. Today they wear many faces depending on the context (occasion) but without feeling in the heart. The father says:

I have learned to wear many faces

Like dresses- home face

Office face, street face, hostface, cocktail face,

With all their comforting smiles

Like a fixed portrait smile.

The poet shows that even their smiles are fake ones because they keep smiling even when they don’t mean it. They look like a smiling picture fixed on the wall that keeps smiling. As he has now come to his senses and discovered the compromise he has made, he wants to unlearn these things and go back to the basics.

HYPOCRISY

Hypocrisy can simply be defined as pretending to be what you are not. Moreover, through the poem the poet shows the highest level of hypocrisy that Africans have inherited from Europeans. The current situation shows that there are people who show you a happy face while deep in their hearts they are filled with hatred towards you. They outwardly say goodbye (wishing you a nice departure) but deep in their hearts they mean Good-riddance (they are happy for getting rid of you). They say they are glad to meet you while in fact there is no gladness in them, and they will say it’s been nice talking to you while they mean that you have actually bored them. This is the hypocrisy of the highest order. The father says to his son

I have also learned to say Goodbye

When I mean Good riddance

To say glad to meet you

Without being glad; and to say “It’s been

Nice talking to you” after being bored.

The speaker tells us that he has learned to deal with this fake, insincere world by changing himself to one of those people. Like others, he too hides his real feelings. He says that he has learned “to wear many faces like dresses” Just like people keep changing dresses to suit different occasions, the poet has learned to behave differently in different situations.

EFFECTS OF EUROPEAN CULTURE

Ever since the coming of Europeans to Africa, Africans have adopted many things from Europe. Initially, Africans were sincere in everything they do; they showed a passion for each other, but now hypocrisy has become the way of life. The persona regrets and longs to go back to his natural African identity and culture. He wants to behave the way he used to behave. The persona says;

But believe me, son

I want to be what I used to be

When I was like you. I want

To unlearn all these muting things.

AWARENESS AND IDENTITY

The persona is aware of his African identity and he is aware of the potential changes that have occurred to him and in fact to his fellow Africans. Africans have adopted the culture that is not in line with their core African values. As he becomes aware of the loss of his African identity he wants to sharply take a u-turn and go back to correct the mistake he has done. He is determined to regain the honesty he had in everything he used to do. He says to his son;

So show me, son

How to laugh; show me how

I used to laugh and smile

Once upon a time when I was like you.

Showing his determination to regain his lost sense of African Identity, he adds; 

But believe me, son

I want to be what I used to be

When I was like you. I want

To unlearn all these muting things

STRUGGLE FOR CHANGE

The persona is struggling for change. He calls upon the Africans to be aware of where they came from, where they are, and where they were supposed to be. The persona shows a sense of regret due to the fact that Africans are gradually losing their good values and identity unawares. This is a wakeup call that will invite all willing Africans to go back to embrace our good values. He says;

. ..I want

To unlearn all these muting things

Most of all I want to relearn

How to laugh....

Here ‘muting’ maybe like the poet has learned to behave in such a way that it ‘mutes’ or ‘silences’ his real feelings. He tells his son that he wants to get rid of this false laugh showing only the teeth. The comparison of his laugh in the mirror to a snake’s bare fangs brings out the fact that the smile is artificial and might be dangerous. The persona regrets his fake behavior and so expresses his desire to unlearn all those bad things and learn how to laugh sincerely.

THE INNOCENCE OF CHILDREN

The innocence of children is also a major theme in this poem as it is this state that the persona wants to go back to. It is his childhood that he remembers throughout the poem, the time when things seemed so much more real and sincere. Or maybe it is only that the persona is remembering his childhood through the eyes of a child when he was too young to understand how people behave. Perhaps there was no such time when life was perfect, perhaps it is only a misconception induced by nostalgia but the persona does not care. He says

I want to be what I used to be

When I was like you.

The poet asks his son to show him how to laugh sincerely. Children do not fake things. They show what they feel inside. Again, the phrase ‘once upon a time’ reiterates the fact that he wants to be what he used to be once in the past.