Title: Girl with a Pearl Earring
Author: Tracy Chevalier
Page 61-117
Summary
As days when on, Griet had gotten used to the mistreatments of Catherina and Tanneke and her duties as a maid in the Vermeer household, her favorite part of being a maid was to clean the Johannes’ studio. Her talent to clean the studio “without moving anything” was superb. Griet only had to clean the room and then put the objects were they were. There had been some interaction between Griet and Johannes, but barely they saw each other. One day, while Griet was doing some errands for her mistress, Priet the son informed her about the plague near her family’s house. A sudden quarantine was place there. With fear and anguish, Griet runs down to the Vermeers and asked them to let her go. Except, Catherine rejected her request, Griet was not allow to return to her house for many weeks. During those weeks, Johannes had finally finish his portray of van Ruijven’s wife. The patrons were elated to see the final result. Anyhow, as the quarantine had been finally lifted, Griet received the news that her younger sister Agnes had died because of the plague. Grieve and sorrow came to Griet’s family, everyone became distant. On the other hand, Catherine gave labor to her baby. One perished and another life flourished. The Vermeers hosted a celebration party, which led Griet to distract herself from her family’s sorrow. The party was the only event that kept the house festive for the whole year of 1664. In 1665, Johannes had begun to paint another painting, thanks to Griet while she was cleaning the dusty windows in the studio. The streaks of sunlight illuminated Griet’s face while she turn toward him, this event led to her being more involve with this talented painter. From that moment on, Griet had begun to help his master by crushing bones to create paint or other errands behind her mistress’s back. Griet began to assist him while he painted the portrait of the baker’s daughter. Despite the hard time Tanneke gave her, after she found out several weeks after the master began to order Griet, Griet was still satisfied to spend time with him.
Quote
“The shock of his touch made me drop the muller, which rolled off the table and fell on the floor” (Chevalier 103).
Reaction
Chevalier’s transitions from time to time had been excellent. As 1664 ends, 1665 begins; the story takes a dramatic turn as Griet helps her master do another painting of the baker’s wife. In these series of pages, the narrator and Vermeer became more close to each other. Compared to the exposition, both maid and master work together to finish this painting. Despite keeping it a secret with the rest of the world, the interaction between these two develop a strong relationship with each other, maid and master. I assume that Griet might fall for Vermeer, which would be strange since he is already married to a haughty wife. The quote above comes from the passage when Vermeer showed her how to grind bones in order to create black paint. The touch of his master made Griet embarrassed, there are complex feelings Griet developed toward his master. They might be admiration, gratitude, curiosity or maybe love?
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Girl With A Pearl Earring (Page 1- 60)
Title: Girl with a Pearl Earring
Author: Tracy Chevalier
Page 1 to 60
Summary
The exposition of the book began in 1664 at Delft, Netherland. The main character is Griet. Her family was composed of a mother, a father, an older brother, and a little sister. Her older brother’s name is Frans and her little sister’s name is Agnes. The family had strong bonds. She was only sixteen years old when her lifestyle turned upside down after her dear father became blind. Her father was a tile painter but in the tile factory, an accident occurred. The accident’s impact was the loss of his eyesight. Since then, Griet’s family had economic troubles. However, one day her mother introduced her to the Vermeers. The Vermeers were well known at the time because of Johannes Vermeer, a talented painter. He was married with Catharina. They had five children and expecting another one. The Vermeers sought for a maid and specially a maid to clean Vermeer’s studio “without moving anything” (Chevalier 9). After Griet moved to the Vermeer’s household, she faced extreme house tasks to earn few pennies to bring bread to her family. She was in charge of the whole house’s laundry and Catharina’s errands to bring meat and fish to the house. During her errands, Griet had met the butcher’s son, Pieter. He became interested in her but she avoided his intentions. Many weeks passed, Griet felt many kind of feeling people felt about her. Catherina and Tanneke detested her because Griet was allowed to enter Vermeer’s studio, in order to clean it. Tanneke is another maid of the Vermeers. Despise their jealousy, Griet made an excellent job cleaning and had fun. She saw the painting Vermeer had worked on. It was a portrait of Mrs. Van Ruijven. The van Ruijvens were Vermeer’s patrons. As for the relationship between Griet and Johannes, they are distant. Similar to a master and maid relationship, barely Griet talked to him.
Quote
“She moved down the hall way like a ship with its sails full, holding on to her bunch of keys so that they wouldn’t clink, and disappeared into the great hall” (Chevalier 54).
Reaction
Tracy Chevalier’s writing style is so vivid and enchanting. Even though the point of view is in first person, her wise choice of words made the book more enjoyable. One of the best styles of narration I had read in my entire life! The storyline of the book is incredible. Most people who read few pages will be entice to read until the very last page. Believe, I am one of them. So, the narrator of the story is Griet, protagonist. In the quote above, she compared her mistress, Catherine, to a ship. The quote is taken when Griet assisted her mistress to her room since she was pregnant. The keys symbolize the power Catherine had in the house. They signify authority she has in her house. The reason is that Catherine’s mother, Maria Thins was the really one in charge. She was wiser than her daughter but still, Catherine just wanted to be superior. She wanted to be The woman of the house. Similar to Walter Lee Younger's situation from A Raisin in the Sun, he wanted to be the man of the house yet his mother, “Mama,” was in reality in charge of the house.
Author: Tracy Chevalier
Page 1 to 60
Summary
The exposition of the book began in 1664 at Delft, Netherland. The main character is Griet. Her family was composed of a mother, a father, an older brother, and a little sister. Her older brother’s name is Frans and her little sister’s name is Agnes. The family had strong bonds. She was only sixteen years old when her lifestyle turned upside down after her dear father became blind. Her father was a tile painter but in the tile factory, an accident occurred. The accident’s impact was the loss of his eyesight. Since then, Griet’s family had economic troubles. However, one day her mother introduced her to the Vermeers. The Vermeers were well known at the time because of Johannes Vermeer, a talented painter. He was married with Catharina. They had five children and expecting another one. The Vermeers sought for a maid and specially a maid to clean Vermeer’s studio “without moving anything” (Chevalier 9). After Griet moved to the Vermeer’s household, she faced extreme house tasks to earn few pennies to bring bread to her family. She was in charge of the whole house’s laundry and Catharina’s errands to bring meat and fish to the house. During her errands, Griet had met the butcher’s son, Pieter. He became interested in her but she avoided his intentions. Many weeks passed, Griet felt many kind of feeling people felt about her. Catherina and Tanneke detested her because Griet was allowed to enter Vermeer’s studio, in order to clean it. Tanneke is another maid of the Vermeers. Despise their jealousy, Griet made an excellent job cleaning and had fun. She saw the painting Vermeer had worked on. It was a portrait of Mrs. Van Ruijven. The van Ruijvens were Vermeer’s patrons. As for the relationship between Griet and Johannes, they are distant. Similar to a master and maid relationship, barely Griet talked to him.
Quote
“She moved down the hall way like a ship with its sails full, holding on to her bunch of keys so that they wouldn’t clink, and disappeared into the great hall” (Chevalier 54).
Reaction
Tracy Chevalier’s writing style is so vivid and enchanting. Even though the point of view is in first person, her wise choice of words made the book more enjoyable. One of the best styles of narration I had read in my entire life! The storyline of the book is incredible. Most people who read few pages will be entice to read until the very last page. Believe, I am one of them. So, the narrator of the story is Griet, protagonist. In the quote above, she compared her mistress, Catherine, to a ship. The quote is taken when Griet assisted her mistress to her room since she was pregnant. The keys symbolize the power Catherine had in the house. They signify authority she has in her house. The reason is that Catherine’s mother, Maria Thins was the really one in charge. She was wiser than her daughter but still, Catherine just wanted to be superior. She wanted to be The woman of the house. Similar to Walter Lee Younger's situation from A Raisin in the Sun, he wanted to be the man of the house yet his mother, “Mama,” was in reality in charge of the house.
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