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.