Winston's paperweight.

[gofish]

I know the paperweight generally represented the past, but what is the meaning of it being destroyed? I was thinking that it could be foreshadowing the next part of the book, where O'Brien tries to make Winston believe that the past is merely all made up in his mind and that certain things he believes happened, never really did. Or maybe it could signify something else; I wasn't sure.

[The Atheist]

I know the paperweight generally represented the past, but what is the meaning of it being destroyed? I was thinking that it could be foreshadowing the next part of the book, where O'Brien tries to make Winston believe that the past is merely all made up in his mind and that certain things he believes happened, never really did. Or maybe it could signify something else; I wasn't sure.

Just that once it's gone, he has no more physical proof and we are back to the subjectivity of history. Once the Party denounces Winston's memory, how can he prove that his past was real?

[Jack Fields]

I think that there was also some paralell with the police bursting into their hiding and the breaking down the paperwaight. You know, Winston and Julia were safe in that room, just like that pink coral in the glass paperweight. And in both cases there was something from the past, that the Party forgot to alter.

[Boostie16]

When the glass was shattered I think that it also represents the security that Julia and Winston had in the apartment that is no longer there after they are arrested.

[Geesta]

The paper weight signified the safe world that Winston and Julia had inside the apartment; mostly Winston. When this was smashed, it was like Winston's world being smashed, showing that there was no hope left for safety. It also signifies the time that Winston had left in his life. Once it was smashed, Winston would never exist anymore, like he never even had.

[Troy Beal]

For me the paperweight was something beautiful and rare and also from the past.
The storm troopers hate anything of beauty so wantonly destroy it, as Winston and Julia will be destroyed.
Charrington, the Thought Police agent does display, if I recall, annoyance at the destruction, which is interesting, as even that could be "thoughtcrime".

[Gladys]

Charrington, the Thought Police agent does display, if I recall, annoyance at the destruction, which is interesting, as even that could be "thoughtcrime".

Charrington is a member of the Inner Party and, in private, has ambivalent view of the past, just as many of O'Brien's words to Winston in The Ministry of Love seem thoughtcrimes as well as doublethink. But does the concept of thoughtcrime have meaning when applied to loyal Inner Party members?