Final answer:
In Nadine Gordimer's 'Once Upon a Time,' the family increases their home security as threats escalate, starting with barbed wire and culminating in a comprehensive system that includes razor wire coils.
Step-by-step explanation:
The query posed pertains to the story Once Upon a Time by Nadine Gordimer. In this story, the family's response to increasing crime and insecurity is to continually augment their home security measures. As the threat they perceive grows, they add more and more protectively aggressive features to safeguard their home.
Initially, they erect 'a wall topped with barbed wire,' but as their anxiety escalates, they enhance these defenses with even more extreme measures, such as 'burglar bars for the windows and a burglar alarm' that eventually becomes a comprehensive security system, concluding with 'the ultimate addition' of 'razor wire coils' like those used in military applications.
This physical escalation of security is symbolic of their growing emotional and psychological detachment, reflecting themes such as paranoia and the illusion of control within a society characterized by separation and unease.