Belonging In 'Girl With A Pearl Earring'

Belonging is a fundamental need for emotional and physical wellbeing. It shapes our identity and influences our worldview. Belonging emerges from connections made with people, places, groups and communities.
Belonging has been said to shape our identity. Our identity gives individual form and meaning to who we are. We have the ability to be one separate unit and also to belong to a larger network. Our sense of belonging shapes who we are as individuals by connecting to other like minded people with common beliefs, values and morals. These morals not only make us belong and connect with others but impacts on our daily response to life’s demands and expectations. Talents, interests, passions and hobbies allow individuals a personal rewarding experience on one level and benefit the entire group on a higher level. It allows us to attach through the expression of our passions we gravitate to and bond with each other.
‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’ by Tracy Chevalier is a modern classic novel. We are told her story through the wide eyes of this young maid’s
This becomes evident to almost every character n the novel. Pieter tells her ‘you’re getting caught in a world where you should not be Griet.’ ‘There’s is not your world’. She faces barriers to belong in the Vermeer household as her loyalties change and a dangerous in balance in power occurs. ‘When I served him, he searched my face as if looking for answer to how a simple maid could cause so much trouble’. As Catharina’s influence over her husband and her home is undermined by Griet’s arrival, a forbidden intimacy between Master and maid develops. Chevalier cleverly conveys Griet’s struggle to belong using language features. Contrast and symbolism are utilised to contribute to the overall effectiveness of the