Analyse af Andrea Levys 'Queenie'

The text Queenie is a prologue to a British novel written by Andrea Levy in 2004. The British Imperium contained colonies and areas from all over the world, which made Britain in position of power and exceptional trading opportunities. From the 1500 century until the phasing out nearly after World Word II, the British Imperium was a reality. In this period of time the British people were proud by the capture of several countries, and they were indeed superior towards other nations and races. This superiority is shown in the text Queenie, where a British family visits the Empire Exhibition and is met by cultural and racial differences.

The prologue is a first person narrative, which is seen by the use the word “I”. The perspective is seen from the main character Queenie’s point of view. Queenie Buxton is a young girl in the age of 8-10 years, which is shown by her naïve philosophy of life. She is adventurous and curious, which is seen by her joyful approach towards the exhibition. Her childish behavior is reflected in the text by the way she experiences the different countries and cultures, which are represented in the exhibition: “A monkey man sweating a smell of mothballs. Blacker them when you smudge your face with a sooty cork (page 3, lines 98-99”. Queenie has obviously never seen a black man before, which proves her innocence and inexperience. She is drawn by the unknown. The way she refers to the black man, does at first sight seem like haughtiness. Her age and her general behavior in the text do yet again prove that her reference is spontaneous and childlike. Queenie is from wealthy butcher family, which is stressed by the fact that they have several workers employed. Her clothing does also indicate the family’s high status: “I was dressed in a white organza frock with blue ribbons that trailed loose down the front and my hair was set in pigtails adorned with big white bows (page 2, lines 22-23).” Queenie is a well-behaved girl, who has not yet learned to be prejudiced as her parents and the most of society.