She has "wide eyes-(page 3)! In my interpretation, this points to a small naivity, but also to a open minded personality. And in fact, one could find proofs for both.
Griet finally gets the job at Vermeers house because of her cleaning abilities, at least that is what he makes his wife believe. He has more in mind. He knows about the complexity of cleaning his studio. Griet is at least far more talented to do the job than Vermeer's clumsy wife. Time passes by and Griet gets more and more used to her new job at the Vermeers. A very hard and exhausting one, but she keeps up with the work and develops a faÃble for the studio. She is very anxious in cleaning the painting room. "Aready from dusting- she knows "all the objects on the table, and their relation to one another-(page 38), due to her ability to see and visually realise things in place. Her mistress is not too pleased about the fact that Griet is excepted cleaning the room while she is not. One time the difference in terms of looking between the two becomes very obvious. When Griet is asking Catharina for permission to clean the windows of the studio, her mistress does not disagree and tells her to, but Griet explains to her that it might be difficult for the painting "because of the light . might change the painting- (page 43). But Catharina "did not see-(page 43). Very obviously a main difference between the two his here displayed, one that will also be a mayor fact in the relationship to Vermeer. But Griet is not minimized to cleaning the house, she has additional exercises to do. Part of her job is to take care of the children. Cornelia, for example, is one of the children that she describes and characterises through her eyes. "Her light brown eyes were wide and innocent. I found myself warming to her sweetness.""(page 46). Griet has sympathy for Cornelia, not at least due to her wide eyes, like her own. Another proof for her visual awareness is the crusifix painting in her sleeping room.
