What is the significance of rats in 1984

Clement's Dane, aside from sparking another round of nursery rhymes, becomes the couple's downfall. While Julia comforts Winston about the rat, he muses about a recurring nightmare in which he is in front of a wall of darkness and, although he knows what horrible thing is behind the wall, he does not have the courage to face it before waking.

What is behind the wall is both symbolic and real: Behind the metaphoric wall is Winston's fate; behind the real wall in the room where he and Julia meet is the telescreen that reveals them. Winston describes Julia knowing a piece of the nursery rhyme as a countersign , a secret signal that is still a mystery to him. He does know, however, that the rhyme ends with " a chopper to chop off your head! Why everyone seems to know this rhyme except himself boggles Winston.

Not knowing the rhyme sets him apart from others yet again — he is the perpetual outsider. Finally, the image of the paperweight returns, this time as a symbol for the relationship between Winston and Julia. Winston sees it as a symbol of himself, feeling that he is actually inside the paperweight with Julia and that they are the coral "fixed in a sort of eternity at the heart of the crystal.

There is no such thing as "eternity" in Oceania, except where Big Brother is concerned. Previous Chapters Next Chapters Removing book from your Reading List will also remove any bookmarked pages associated with this title. For those born before Feb. Wood rats are enterprising and they have strong ability to understand, so they often go straight to the core of the matter.

Also, they are smart and always have bright ideas, thus suitable for the jobs related to computer. Wood rats are moral and they advocate peace and hate war.

With creative thinking, wood rats always like to think more and they are intelligent and often come out with many new ideas but seldom act out, thus losing a lot of opportunities. Wood rats have many hobbies and they can do things in order with their correct attitude in work. However, due to the lack of patience and perseverance, they are erudite but not proficient.

If they can be a little more modest and persevering, they will make great achievements by combining with their advantages. The point is, The rat represents the scary stuff that happens when he starts acting like a party member, looking out for number one, leaving his sister to die, and ultimitly losing his entire family.

This, of course, contradicts Winston's main goal in To be as different and defiant to the party as he possably can be. This is part of why he hates the rats so. Remember me. Forgot your password?