1984 by George Orwell

In the book “1984” Orwell criticizes totalitarianism of all types and brings up questions concerning social status of citizens and the role of politics in the society. Orwell depicts events, experience, time, memories through different “frames” and symbols to force the reader to think over deeply the message of the novel. Orwell rests his novel on three “pillars”– themes: the paperweight, the ministry’s pyramids and Goldstein’s book that have ulterior motives unveiled throughout the novel. These symbols seem deferent, but they are closely connected with each other being marks of totalitarianism and personal freedom.

The paperweight symbolizes the past for Winston who tries to remember those days without the Party. “Actually the idea had first floated into his head in the form of a vision, of the glass paperweight mirrored by the surface of the gateleg table”(Orwell, Chapter 4, Part II). The paperweight symbolizes dreams of freedom for Winston and the desire to make a connection with a past ruined by the Party. Orwell incorporates this symbol as an object of the past that reminds events and excites feelings. The choice of an antique shop where Winston bought paperweight is not accidental. It means that the Party cannot control memories of people, and there are some places and things important for people. “It\'s a little chunk of history that they\'ve forgotten to alter. It\'s a message from a hundred years ago, if one knew how to read it” (Orwell, Chapter 4, Part II). Orwell underlines that freedom and memories means much more than the absence of physical coercion. On an even larger scale, the paperweight can be looked upon as a sacrifice for liberty and freedom for all characters of the novel who suffered under the sinful hand of the Party. “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...