38 I smoothed my cap, checking with my fingers for stray hairs. ‘All I mean to
say this is no painting.’ I declared, ignoring what he had just said Chevalier 170.
Through her appearance and clothing, other character’s opinion about Griet,
her actions and her thought in dealing with some situations, we can say that she is a quiet girl. Griet shows it through her clothing, especially the way she wears a
cap. She is also quiet in keeping her opinion and thought. She also becomes a quiet girl because she is a new maid in a strange house; she has to adapt with the
new situation in her life.
4. Careful
Since her father gets an accident which causes him to lose his eye sight, Griet tries to be careful in placing anything. Her carefulness to place something in
the right place helps her father so much in finding things easily. She gets used to clean her house without moving anything. Her mother knows that her daughter
will be able to work in Vermeer’s house, especially in his studio of painting. Her main duty in Vermeer’s studio is to clean the studio without replacing anything
and put them back in the right place. No one is allowed to clean this place, except Griet.
Then your father heard that your new master was looking for a maid who could clean his studio without moving anything, and he put forward your
name, thinking that as headman, and knowing your circumstances, Vermeer would be likely to try to help.
I sifted through what she had said. ‘How do you clean a room without moving anything?
‘Of course you must move things, but you must find a way to put them back exactly so it looks as if nothing has been disturbed. As you do for your
father now that he cannot see’ Chevalier 8-9.
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39 Griet is careful in doing and completing the duties given to her. She prefers
asking Chatarina, her mistress first, to making her unpleasant with Griet’s works. She wants to do her job well and does not want to make mistakes.
I took up my broom, bucket of water and dust cloth and began to clean. I started in the corner where the scene of the painting had been set up, where I
knew I must not move a thing. I kneeled on the chair to dust the window I had struggled to open, and the yellow curtain that hung to one side of it in
the corner, touching it lightly so that I would not disturb its fold. The panes of glass were dirty and needed scrubbing with warm water, but I was not
sure if he wanted them clean. I would have to ask Chatarina Chevalier 35. Her carefulness can be seen through her actions when she is cleaning her
master’s studio. Even she has to spend more time to clean and some effort to put them back. Griet does not want to make her master disappointed with her works.
She tries to make Vermeer satisfied and impressed with a good work. She works very carefully, and finally she finds the way to clean the studio as her master
wishes without moving any single thing in the studio. She can finish her task in this studio well.
I had best get it done. From the letter I measured with my hand to the powder brush, then placed my fingers at various points around one side on
the brush. I removed it, dusted, replaced it, and measured the space between it and the letter. I did the same with the bowl.
This was how I cleaned without seeming to move anything. I measured each thing in relation to the objects around it and the space between them
Chevalier 36. Because of her carefulness, she also considers the lighting in the studio. She
knows that cleaning the window might change the lighting and the changes of lighting might change the colors of the painting. She decides to ask this task to
Chatarina. One day Chatarina is unlocking the studio door, and then Griet asks her if she should clean the window. First, Chatarina agrees if Griet cleans it but when
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40 Griet explains the light’s changes, she goes downstairs to ask Vermeer. She does
not recognize the lighting and it seems that she never enters the studio. Chatarina finally asks Griet not to clean the window Chevalier 44.
Through Griet’s way of thinking and her conversation with Chatarina, it can be seen that she is a careful person. She even recognizes something which
someone does not think before. In this case, she is careful in capturing the lighting. Because of this, she is trusted by his master to assist him, and becomes
the only one in the household who is allowed to enter Vermeer’s studio. She has a sole responsibility for cleaning the studio. The other day she is cleaning the
studio, she tries not to displace everything in the studio by measuring one thing to another thing. She is able to clean the area almost quickly and confidently. Griet
begins to clean the dark blue cloth and yellow curtain with a damp rag, pressing it carefully so that it picks up dust without disturbing the folds Chevalier 55.
Griet also shows her carefulness when she goes to the Meat Hall and buys meat there. She chooses carefully the meat she wants to buy. When she knows
that it is not fresh, she asks the butcher to substitute it with the fresher and better one. She smells the meat and check it one more time to make sure whether it is
fresh or not; and then she decides to take it home. I repeated my request of mutton, keeping my eyes on his father. Pieter
rummaged through his meat and pulled out a joint for me, laying it in the counter. Two sets eyes watched me.
The joint was grey at the edges. I sniffed the meat. ‘This is not fresh,’ I said bluntly. ‘Mistress will be none too pleased that you expect her family to eat
meat such this.’ My tone was haughtier than I had intended. Perhaps it needed to be Chevalier 42.
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41 Beside her manners, Griet carefulness is also proved by others’ reactions to
her works. Maria Thins, Chatarina’s mother, feels satisfied with her works. She often gives her praises. Vermeer’s daughter, Maertge, also gives her compliments
to her satisfying works. However, Griet likes to be humble in receiving it. She does not want Tanneke to feel jealous with her and to make their relationship get
worse. I was careful to deflect any praise for better housekeeping from myself. I
did not want to make enemies. If Maria Thins likes the meat, I suggested it was Tanneke’s cooking that made so. If Maertge said her apron whiter than
before, I said it was because the summer sun was particularly strong now Chevalier 51-52.
Through Griet’s speeches, conversations with other characters, her reactions towards various situations, her ways of thinking and others reactions towards her
actions, it can be said that Griet is a maid who works carefully to satisfy her master and mistress. Her carefulness in doing her job is shown especially when
she cleans the studio and does the household duties.
5. Tough
