Symbolism in 1984: How Something so Small can Represent Something so Big One color, number, or object has the ability to represent a feeling much larger. Shortly after World War II, most countries were in poverty and much of the world was in shambles. With millions of people dead and others injured, many people turned to the government to assist them through the harsh times. At the time, totalitarian governments ruled the world, which persuaded George Orwell to write 1984- a book warning society about the dangers of a totalitarian government. A major symbol Orwell uses to show Winston’s hopes for the future was the paperweight Mr. Charrington sold him. This paperweight, which Winston describes as, “... a heavy lump of glass… there was
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Something this significant caused Winston to ponder the true meaning behind it, and even hope for its impact on his life and the society around him. The paperweight symbolizes Winston’s hopes and desires through a connection to the past, his world with Julia, and hopes for the future of the world. A connection to the past is meaningful to Winston- who has no memories previous to a few years before. The paperweight represents his connection to the past because once he hears about the history of the paperweight, he wants to learn more about the past. Since the history books are forged by the Party, Winston is unclear as to what is true and what is false. Anything from the past could jeopardize the Party’s reliability to society and therefore, any objects from the past are forbidden. Winston thinks, “It was… a compromising thing… anything old, and for that matter anything beautiful, was always vaguely suspect” (Orwell 96). The paperweight illustrates Winston’s hopes and desires because it is from the …show more content…
His eagerness to be with Julia almost corresponds to his growing feeling that they are dead people. Much like the paperweight, which is beautiful but forbidden, his love for Julia is beautiful but forbidden. Winston imagines that Julia and himself are inside the paperweight in their own world. Orwell writes, “The paperweight was the room he was in, and the coral was Julia’s life and his own, fixed in a sort of eternity at the heart of the crystal” (Orwell
Something this significant caused Winston to ponder the true meaning behind it, and even hope for its impact on his life and the society around him. The paperweight symbolizes Winston’s hopes and desires through a connection to the past, his world with Julia, and hopes for the future of the world. A connection to the past is meaningful to Winston- who has no memories previous to a few years before. The paperweight represents his connection to the past because once he hears about the history of the paperweight, he wants to learn more about the past. Since the history books are forged by the Party, Winston is unclear as to what is true and what is false. Anything from the past could jeopardize the Party’s reliability to society and therefore, any objects from the past are forbidden. Winston thinks, “It was… a compromising thing… anything old, and for that matter anything beautiful, was always vaguely suspect” (Orwell 96). The paperweight illustrates Winston’s hopes and desires because it is from the …show more content…
His eagerness to be with Julia almost corresponds to his growing feeling that they are dead people. Much like the paperweight, which is beautiful but forbidden, his love for Julia is beautiful but forbidden. Winston imagines that Julia and himself are inside the paperweight in their own world. Orwell writes, “The paperweight was the room he was in, and the coral was Julia’s life and his own, fixed in a sort of eternity at the heart of the crystal” (Orwell