In John Updike's "A & P," Queenie and the other
girls's intrusion into the grocery store attired in only bathing suits causes quite a
stir among customers and mangerial staff alike within the 1950s setting. That the girls
have not covered themselves with beach robes or other cover-ups seems unusual, not to
mention intentional. Queenie's entrance, especially, represents an act of rebellion.
Described by Sammy as stepping deliberately in her bare
feet,
putting
down her heels and then letting the weight move along to her toes as if she was testing
the floor with every step, putting a little deliberate extra actioninto it. You never
know for sure how girls' minds work....but you got the idea she had talked the other two
into coming in here with her, and now she was showing them how to do it, walk slow and
hold yourself straight.
In
her attempts to appear seductive, and tease any of the men, Queenie's straps to her suit
are off the shoulder "looped loose over the cool top of her arms." Clearly, Sammy ogles
her with desire as he remarks, "...I mean, it was more than
pretty."
When the manager, Lengel, approaches the girls and
tells them "Girls, this isn't the beach," Queenie blushes, revealing her embarrassment
at her charade. Her voice, too, betrays her, sounding "flat and dumb yet kind of tony,
too" and she makes excuses, saying "We weren't doing any shopping. We just came in for
one thing." Clearly, Queenie small act of bravado has failed, perhaps presaging Sammy's
act of rebellion which finds him outside with the
apprehension,
I felt how hard the world was going
to be to me hereafter.
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