Lecture Notes: Book 2, Chapter 4 of 1984

Setting

• Location: Room above Mr. Charrington's shop, rented by Winston.
• Key Features:
  • Oil stove, saucepan, two cups.
  • Items brought by Julia: real coffee, real sugar, makeup, perfume.

Character Development

Winston

• Emotions:
  • Initial physical desire for Julia evolves into deeper affection.
  • Panic and dread about rats, linking to past fears or dreams.
• Actions:
  • Rents room long-term.
  • Recites a rhyme about St. Clements Church, completed by Julia.

Julia

• Actions:
  • Arrives with luxury items not typically available.
  • Not phased by a rat, tosses a shoe to scare it.
  • Completes rhyme about St. Clements Church.

Symbolism

• The Paperweight:
  • Represents Winston and Julia's isolated life from Big Brother.
  • Described as a useless object, hinting at the futility of memory under the Party.

Themes

• Romance and Privacy:
  • Desire to make the room romantic, attempt to create a private space away from Big Brother.
• Memory and History:
  • Paperweight symbolizes a chunk of history.
  • Verse about St. Clements Church suggests beauty in remembering the past.
• Fear and Foreshadowing:
  • Winston's fear of rats foreshadows future events related to his dread.
  • Rats' description by Julia ties into darker themes about survival and fear.

Conclusion

• Orwell uses this chapter to illustrate the tension between personal affection and the oppressive reality of Big Brother's world.
• The interplay of personal items, memories, and fears sets the stage for later developments in the story.