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Knives symbolize control and danger in Girl with a Pearl Earring. Griet handles her kitchen knife with precision at the beginning of the book, just as Vermeer uses his palette knife to expertly mix the paints for his light-filled paintings. But when wielded by a wilder personality, like the chaotic and perpetually disheveled Catharina, knives point to danger.
Knives Quotes in Girl with a Pearl Earring
The Girl with a Pearl Earring quotes below all refer to the symbol of Knives. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 3: 1666
Quotes
He sat for a long time, mixing colors on his palette with his palette knife. There was red and ocher there, but the paint he was mixing was mostly white, to which he added daubs of black, working them together slowly and carefully, the silver diamond of the knife flashing in the grey paint.
“Sir?” I began.
He looked up at me, his knife stilled.
“I have seen you paint sometimes without the model being here. Could you not paint the earring without me wearing it?”
The palette knife remained still. “You would like me to imagine you wearing the pearl, and paint what I imagine?”
“Yes, sir.”
He looked down at the paint, the palette knife moving again. I think he smiled a little. “I want to see you wear the earring.”
“But you know what will happen then, sir.”
“I know the painting will be complete.”
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I did not pick up the knife. I turned and walked from the room, down the stairs and through the doorway, pushing past Tanneke. When I reached the street I did not look back at the children I knew must be sitting on the bench, nor at Tanneke, who would be frowning because I had pushed her, nor up at the windows where he might be standing. I got to the street and I began to run. I ran down the Oude Langendijck and across the bridge into Market Square […] I reached the center of the square and stopped in the circle of tiles with the eight-pointed star in the middle. Each point indicated a direction I could take. […] When I made my choice, the choice I knew I had to make, I set my feet carefully along the edge of the point and wen the way it told me, walking steadily.
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Get the entire Girl with a Pearl Earring LitChart as a printable PDF.
Knives Symbol Timeline in Girl with a Pearl Earring
The timeline below shows where the symbol Knives appears in Girl with a Pearl Earring. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1: 1664
...guests. A windswept pregnant woman with curly blond hair (later identified as Catharina) knocks Griet’s knife from the bench in her clumsiness. Her husband, a man who carries himself with calmness...
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...an incomplete painting sit under the middle window; a cupboard with paint brushes and palette knives and a large desk covered with papers sit along the lefthand wall. It's quiet and...
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...which were once imperceptible to her: a cupboard door left ajar, a paintbrush or palette knife out of place. She also becomes sensitive to the often-minute changes Vermeer makes to his...
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Chapter 3: 1666
...nor tries to see her hair again. He just deliberately mixes colors with his palette knife. She suggests that he paint the pearl from his imagination, but he finds this unthinkable....
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Finally, Vermeer wipes his palette knife on a rag and whispers that he’s finished the painting. He dismisses Griet, who begins...
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...crying, rises imperiously from a chair near the cupboard with the paint brushes and palette knife. Maria Thins stands impatiently next to the portrait. Vermeer’s face is blank as he waits...
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...does, grows increasingly frantic. She looks around wildly and her eyes fall on the palette knife. She snatches it up and crosses the room. But Vermeer stops her before she can...
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Catharina drops the knife, which spins across the floor, coming to rest with its blade pointing towards Griet. Griet...
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