In addition, Winston and Julia feel safe in this room.
They often comment that no harm can come to them here. There are no telescreens, no
posters of Big Brother, no hidden mircrophones, no rules to obey. They are in a pocket
of safety, a pocket of emotional stability and physical connection that is forbidden by
the Party. They are meeting in the room above Mr. Charrington's shop in the Proletarian
region which is against the law...their relationship and the risks they are taking are
their own rebellion against the Party. This is why Winston is so enamored by things of
the past--the paperweight, the rhyme about the church bells, the makeup and perfume the
Prole women wear, etc.
Symbolically, Winston and Julia's
relationship is like the paperweight. It is beautiful, forbidden, fragile, and the
coral is protected in the depths of the clear and smooth glass. But, like the
paperweight which is smashed by the Party police when they sweep suddenly into the room
where Winston and Julia meet, their relationship has been visible all along, and smashed
right along with the paperweight itself. In the end, the paperweight is extinct, and so
are Winston and Julia...just like the extinct animals in the
quote.
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