Of rooms and paperweights

In the book 1984, Mr. Charrington's shop as well as the coral paperweight embody Winston and Julia's relationship. Mr. Charrington's shop represents the time before Big Brother, and the room above it is the couple's safe haven. Mr. Charrington gladly allows Winston to use the room, his philosophy being that "Privacy, he said, was a very valuable thing. Everyone wanted a place where they could be alone occasionally"(137). His compliance to let Julia and Winston use the room allows for their relationship to flourish, while without the room their meetings were few and far between. The room above the shop is crucial to their love, as it gives them the freedom to be with each other far more than they had been able to.

The coral paperweight is a small trinket bought at Mr. Charrington's shop that represents the relationship between Julia and Winston. Winston describes how he views the paperweight, saying "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"(147). By this, Winston means that he and Julia are bound together in their longing for freedom. They are part of something old, something before the tyranny, and there is no taking that away from them. Like the coral stuck in the glass, they are trapped within their society, and yet they manage to shine through, just as the coral can be seen by all through the glass. In a way the glass is also their rebellious natures, as it keeps them separated from the party just as the glass separates the coral from the outside world. Both the paperweight and the room are important aspects of the two's relationship.