1984
Symbolism
Does anyone know of anything that could be used as a symbol.
If so, what is it and why is it a symbol?
Thanks!!! =)
Does anyone know of anything that could be used as a symbol.
If so, what is it and why is it a symbol?
Thanks!!! =)
The paperweight is the most obvious.
yep that helps a ton! thanks so much!
The diary is arguably the most significant symbol.
It's provided to Winston by way of the antiques-shop run by a member of the Thought-Police:
The artefacts there are meant to arouse curiosity about the past- a concept normally not accessible to mere mortals, since the past is constantly re-created--
by people like Winston himself.
This way, they ensure that always there "...were fresh dupeswaiting to be seduced by him" (Goldstein).
The diary is not a book containing information about the past, but a means to record one's own past...
Winston thus is trying to record his.
But since he has grown up in a world in which the past is an artificial construct, he can not have any objective understanding of what 'Past' really means:
His perception of the past will always be based on what he himself knows- and how he understands the principle itself.
All of that is shaped by Big Brother.
If he would attempt to write anything about his parents or grand-parents, he would inevitably create his ancestors in his own image.
Which is precisely what the rulers are doing all the time- by constantly re-writing history their own way-- and by translating Shakespeare into 'Newspeak'...