49 The following are the explanations of the causes of Griet’s struggle:
a. Her Family Condition
Life in Griet’s family has changed since the factory accident happening to Griet’s father. One day the kiln at Griet’s father work place explodes, and it takes
his eyes and his trade. Griet’s father is the lucky one- two other men dies Chevalier 7. From the information of his coworker in Guild of St. Luke, he
knows that Johannes Vermeer is looking for a maid. Vermeer wants a maid who can work as an ordinary maid and also can clean his studio without moving
anything. Considering that Vermeer is the headman of The Guild of St. Luke and he knows about the kiln accident, Griet’s father puts forward Griet’s name to be
his maid. He hopes that Vermeer will be likely to try to help. In this situation, Chevalier shows that the role of the father is very important. Griet’s father is the
one who has the main responsibility to maintain the family needs. When his father loses his trade, it can be concluded that they have no money to survive. The
family has no enough food to eat, and they cannot live properly Chevalier 9. Griet’s mother is a housewife. She does the daily tasks in their house and
finishes the household duties. At first she decides to stay at home to take care of her husband who is blind. Griet’s mother cannot work outside the house. Agnes is
too young to take care of her father and to help her father in doing his daily activities. Furthermore, Griet’s mother makes something from spinning the wool
for others Chevalier 128. It is like a homemade wool craft, but she cannot earn much money from that spinning wool. Her unstable income is not enough to feed
the whole family.
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50 Frans as the oldest in the family is only a labor worker in a tile factory.
According to Harold’s History of the Neherland and Dutch Revolt in http:www.historyworld.net, next to aristocrats and patricians were the affluent
middle class, consisting of Protestant minister, lawyers, physicians, small merchants, industrialists and clerks of state institutions. The lower status was
attributed to small shop owners, specialized workers, craftsmen, administrators, and farmers. Below that stood skilled laborers, house attendants and others service
personnel. In line with this theory, Griet’s family belongs to the lower class. Frans’s job, as a tile laborer also belongs to this class. Moreover, Frans is an
apprentice worker. He is leaving home when he turns thirteen and his salary is very low. Frans works hard all day long; he looks exhausted and has burnt up and
down his arms from pulling tiles from the kiln. Frans tells Griet that he works from dawn until so late that at times he is too tired even to eat; ‘Father never told
me it would be this bad.’ He mutters resentfully Chevalier 10. One day Griet goes to Frans’ factory. He shares that he is exhausted with his job.
‘You don’t understand what it’s like’ Frans muttered. ‘Working here, it’s exhausting, it’s boring. It was something to think about,
that’s all. You have no right to judge. Easy for you to say what my life should be when all I can see endless tiles and long days.’ Chevalier 176.
The youngest child in the family, Agnes is 10 years old. She is too young and too weak to work. In 17
th
century, uneducated people might only work as a laborer or a servant. Agnes has no skill in doing the household tasks as a maid and has no
effort in working as a laborer in a factory. She just stays at home and sometimes she helps her mother. As a kid, she needs to be protected and grows normally.
Agnes is as old as Maertge, one of Vermeer’s daughters. They are only children
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51 and they like to play anytime. Based on the family’s condition, it can be
concluded that each of the family members has to survive. To afford the family needs especially the physiological needs, including Griet, they have to work hard.
Griet finally becomes an obedient girl, who obeys her parents to work in Johannes Vermeer’s family as a maid. Although she is small, Griet is strong enough to work
as a maid. She used to help her mother to do all the household duties and to help her father to do his daily activities. She can clean things without moving anything.
Griet is accustomed to helping her father by putting her father’s stuff at the right place so that it is easy for her father to find what he needs. Moreover, Griet has
the sense of art; it will help her work in a painter’s house.
b. Her Dreams
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