The Glass Paperweight in the Symbolic Framework of 1984: Historical Falsification, Cognitive Control, and Dehumanization

Sun Syuein ORCID: 0000-0003-0131-3802 Postgraduate Student; School of Art; Peking University 5, Summer Palace St., Beijing, 100871, China, Peking University, Red Building 6 ZSSL101@outlook.com

Chan Yuikai ORCID: 0009-0007-1086-918X PhD in Philology Postdoctoral fellow; Faculty of Russian Language; Peking University 5 Iheyuanlu St., Beijing University, Building of the Faculty of Foreign Languages, Beijing, 100871, China, Haidian District, Beijing chang.yukai2015@yandex.ru

The British writer George Orwell, called the "cold conscience of the generation" for his caustic satire and philosophical depth of political allegories, created one of the key dystopian texts of the 20th century, the novel 1984. This work reveals the mechanisms of totalitarian suppression, and the reflection on the role of technology in strengthening authoritarianism remains particularly relevant for our time. In the narrative of the novel, Orwell uses a system of symbols to convey themes of resistance and hope, among which the coral paperweight occupies a central place - at first glance a marginal object, but bearing deep meanings that determine the relevance of this research.

Recently, the analysis of "1984" has mainly focused on macro-problems: studies of language as an instrument of ideology for the formation of emotional identity and state narratives ^{[1, pp. 1-10]}; analysis of totalitarian discourse systematically deforming the concept of freedom through linguistic violence ^{[2, pp. 786-791]}; intertextual comparisons with the works of F. Kafka to identify common themes, formed by the military context [3. pp. 237-241], etc. At the same time, the analysis of specific symbolic objects remains a gap. The present study offers an innovative approach through the prism of the "glass paperweight" as a key image, which determines its scientific novelty.

The main purpose of this work is a comprehensive analysis of the symbolic function of the glass paperweight in George Orwell's novel 1984 as a key element revealing the mechanisms of totalitarian control over history, memory and humanity. The research focuses on deconstructing the multifaceted role of this artifact in the narrative, which serves not only as a material embodiment of the lost past, but also as a metaphor for the individual's resistance to the systematic violence of the "Angsoc" ideology.

In the novel, the totalitarian state of Oceania is created, where the "Thought Police" operates everywhere. The main character Winston, a member of the Ingsoc Outside Party, works in the Minitrue, the Records Department. His duty is to "correct" documents, sending the former "absurdity" into "Memory holes" for destruction, which is essentially a falsification of history, rewriting facts and creating "pseudo—facts," or, as the author summarizes, "replacing one nonsense with another." Winston is one of the few in Oceania who has retained his independence of judgment. Through the description of his attempts to find confirmation of reality in his personal memories, as well as through the story of Winston and his beloved Julia's resistance to the Angsoc regime, Orwell conveys the horror of a totalitarian society. At the same time, the image of a glass Paperweight becomes a ray of light that resists the darkness and suffocation of the system. Its soft and warm texture provides solace, symbolizing the forbidden love of the characters and the fragments of preserved humanity in Oceania. The status of an "indestructible artifact of the past" makes the paperweight a response to Winston's personal memories and a spiritual support that encourages him to confront his "Older Brother."

The novel "1984" reveals the dangers of totalitarianism, warning humanity of the threat, with Orwell emphasizing the risk of increasing authoritarianism through technological progress in modern society. The most striking control tool in Oceania is the total surveillance of the members of the Angsoc and the population. Under the rule of the party, people's lives are like corals and bubbles in a "transparent, rain-like" glass paperweight ^{[4, p. 99]}, devoid of hiding places from prying eyes. Surveillance technologies are presented in terrifying abundance in the novel: from the first page, the reader is confronted with ubiquitous "television screens" — in offices, canteens for party officials, squares, streets ^{[4, p. 4]}. Even the "last refuge" — Mr. Charrington's room — hides the television screen behind the painting, and in the court scene a representative of the Inner Party He proudly declares that in the "Golden Land", where the installation of television screens is impossible, there are Angsoc listening devices. Nothing escapes the eyes of the "Big Brother": The inhabitants of Oceania, like corals in a paperweight, are deprived of privacy, completely naked in front of the authorities.

A glass paperweight, being a "relic of a past era" ^{[4, p. 99]}, is a traditional artifact with an aesthetic function, forming the polar opposite of the products of technological civilization — "television screens" and "listening devices". This contrast embodies not only the expansion of modern industrial technologies, displacing traditional artistic skill, but also the dominance of modern utilitarianism and pragmatism over the disinterested aesthetics of the past. The quantitative disparity — the ubiquitous "TV screens" versus the only surviving "artifact"—creates a sharp antithesis of strength and weakness, mirroring the confrontation between the all-powerful "Angsoc" with his army of thought police and the lone rebel Winston, challenging his "Big Brother."

The fragile beauty of the glass paperweight and its final destruction become a mirror image of the fate of Winston, who, boldly seeking love and historical truth under the yoke of the system, was eventually broken by totalitarianism. They are united not only by their identity of status, but also by their general helplessness in the face of the regime. The status of the "last surviving artifact" assigned to the paperweight by Orwell gives it a function similar to the "holes of oblivion" and the "Ministry of Truth" - demonstrating the falsification of history and constructing narratives to legitimize power. Being a small material object, the paperweight materializes the abstract monumentality of the Ministry of Truth, and its daily routine enhances the reader's empathy for the ideas symbolized, deepening the subconscious horror of totalitarianism. The softness and transparency of the glass metaphorically reflect the duality of the Angsoc members' existence: physical survival and mental state, which serve as two tools for strengthening power. The destruction of an artifact and the destruction of its fragments by thought police symbolize the mechanism of eliminating dissent and suppressing rebellious potential in the "Big Brother" system.

The glass paperweight, "casually" mentioned by Orwell, seems to be an insignificant decorative element, but it is actually connected with the development of the plot and anticipates the fate of Winston in the third part of the novel, carrying the author's anti-totalitarian message. However, this object has hardly been studied in existing studies.

The analysis of "1984" traditionally begins and ends within the framework of a political and literary interpretation. In the 70 years since the novel's publication, most critics have focused on its political component — reflecting the author's views, the era, and contemporary socio-political issues. Many researchers viewed the work in the context of Orwell's previous works and the dystopian genre, some through the prism of the writer's physical and mental state during the creation of the text. However, the emphasis on Orwell's symbolic rhetoric, his mastery of interweaving and developing symbols into a narrative, will allow for a more complete explanation of the novel's architectonics, the evolution of the protagonist's psychology, and political and managerial metaphors relevant to the real world.

For six decades, research has mainly developed in the mainstream of political science, linguistics, existentialism and feminism: A linguistic approach: an analysis of the author's linguistic philosophy and strategies of power through the prism of "newspeak". Key works: John Wesley Young. "Totalitarian Language: Orwell's Newspeak and its Nazi-Communist Predecessors" ^[5]. William Lutz. "Beyond 1984: Dual Language Strategies in the Post-Orwellian Era" ^[6]. Bakhtiyar Sabir Hama: Criticism of manipulating the language of power to suppress thinking. Political science analysis: the study of the mechanisms of totalitarianism, the destruction of humanity and resistance to the system. This area remains the most developed.

In the new millennium, political interpretations of the novel have gone beyond superficial ideologism, focusing on the underlying problems of totalitarianism. Research increasingly combines the theories of power by Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) and Michel Foucault (1926-1984) with an existential analysis of the destruction of virtues, civilization, and morality. Tony E. Jackson, synthesizing the concepts of Foucault's "panopticon" and the psychoanalytic paradigm of Jacques Lacan, explores how the "Angsoc" controls consciousness through the manipulation of language, turning citizens into self-regulating entities ^[7]. Syed Raza and Abdul Awan emphasize Orwell's foresight in analyzing socio-political mechanisms, emphasizing his warnings about the dangers of manipulating human nature ^{[8, pp. 21-37]}.

Cultural-critical reflection on modern political realities through the prism of the novel remains a key focus. The canonical works are Irving Howe's "1984—Utopia Reversed" ^{[9, pp. 560-568]}, Mark Schorer's "An Indignant and Prophetic Novel" ^{[10, p. 16]}, John Strachey's "The Strangled Cry" ^{[11, pp. 25-32]} and Lionel Trilling's "Orwell and the Future" ^{[12, pp. 81-83]}.

Psychoanalytic interpretations, such as those of Gerald Fiderer ^{[13, pp. 3-21]}, Fares Muhammad S. Ali and Anand Ubale ^[14], explore sadomasochistic patterns of characters, linking them with problems of social management and collective psychology. Robert Resch, through criticism of the nostalgic middle class of Oceania in the person of Winston, offers a reflection on the role of the bourgeoisie in the real world ^[15].

The destruction of human nature and moral principles by methods of totalitarian control of the "Angsoc" type

The Angsoc Party has consistently implemented a number of new ethical standards in order to destroy traditional moral foundations, for example, by approving the ethical concept of "love for Big Brother" instead of "love for parents", and continuously monitored compliance with these new ethical standards through various surveillance channels. Just as the police of thought breaks a glass paperweight, the Angsoc, by destroying previously existing value norms and a system of moral and ethical institutions, formulates new rules of the game, forcing people to live in an unusual, different society from the previous one. The feeling of alienness makes people who lived in an earlier era carefully adapt to new conditions, forgetting about the past.

The "destruction of the old" not only deprives the younger generation of historical memory, but also simultaneously denies human nature and the moral and ethical norms that were formed in the former society. The creators of the new rules have the absolute right to interpret them. The Angsoc's methods of destroying the old and establishing the new not only deprive the "old people" of a sense of stability, but also to a certain extent ensure the stability of power by concentrating it in one hand.

Specific manifestations of this process include: the deconstruction of the family as the smallest unit of social unification, the destruction of blood ties, the eradication of empathy, compassion and erotic pleasure as instincts inherent in animal nature. All feelings are replaced by love for "Big Brother" and hatred for "traitors to the motherland."

The "glass paperweight" and the destroyed instinct of human empathy

As a historical relic of a "bygone era," the glass paperweight, on the one hand, embodies the artifacts and value norms of the former world destroyed by the Angsoc, and on the other hand, it symbolizes the remnants of an indestructible humanity and aesthetic sense preserved in Oceania. Under the rule of the Angsoc, "partisanship" and "humanity" become antagonists, and the latter is deprived of space for existence: party members, possessing physical strength, are devoid of emotional fluctuations and innate feelings. Only rare "bearers of humanity" like Winston experience momentary impulses of compassion, which predetermines their death — like a broken paperweight.

The artifact, "filled with the spirit of the past" (it seemed to possess of belonging to an age quite different from the present one), with its "softness like rainwater" (The soft, rain-watery glass) ^{[4, p. 99]}, contrasts with the harsh, cruel society of Oceania, where mutual suspicion reigns. At the beginning of the novel, Winston describes a film screening: a helicopter drops bombs on a lifeboat with children, and the mother, covering them with her body, dies with them. The members of the Angsoc greet the scene with "applause", while a woman from the proletarian zone "suddenly screamed that she should not show this in front of children until the police expelled her" ^{[4, p. 10]}. Orwell directly identifies totalitarianism with a lack of compassion: deprived of independent thinking, "Angsociety" lose mercy, empathy and the ability to empathize, replacing them with cold detachment.

As O'Brien states, "There are no feelings in our world except fear, rage, triumph, and self-abasement. Everything else must be destroyed" ^{[4, p. 280]}. Winston calls the woman's reaction "typically proletarian" ^{[4, p. 11]}, emphasizing the author's sympathy for the proletariat, the bearers of compassion, a "soft light in the dark" who preserved the remnants of humanity ^{[4, p. 274]}.

It is noteworthy that Orwell does not pin his hopes on the children of Oceania: Raised in an ideology of hatred, the new generation is cruel, bloodthirsty, loves executions and applauds cinematic violence. This image reflects the author's conviction: people who grew up under the yoke of the dehumanizing regime of "Angsoc" will surpass even the current party members in insensitivity. Destroying natural empathy is a purely political tool, as unnatural as erasing historical artifacts like paperweights. The coral inside the artifact is "pinkish, oddly shaped, resembling a rose or an anemone... a beautiful object" (there was a strange, pink, convoluted object that recalled a rose or a sea anemone) ^{[4, p. 95]} — its aesthetic completeness opposes the utilitarian world of "television screens", symbolizing "humanity", antagonistic to "partisanship".

However, coral, being a dead skeleton of polyps, embodies the duality of humanity preserved in Oceania: fragility, remnants of feelings doomed to be absorbed by ideology; emptiness, party members who retained their physical shell, but lost the essence of human beings — thinking and feeling beings.

"Angsoc": Falsification of historical narrative and ideological discipline in a totalitarian regime

After seizing power in Oceania, the Angsoc party urgently needed to establish the legitimacy of its rule, which resulted in the implementation of the party slogan: "Who controls the past controls the future; who controls the present controls the past" ('Who controls the past,' ran the Party slogan, 'controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.')^{[4, p. 37]}. This was achieved through strict monitoring to identify everything related to the "past era", the merciless destruction of historical evidence and documents, the deprivation of personal memories and the elimination of comparative reference points when rewriting history. The "Elder Brother", demonstrating an understanding of the "textual nature of history", created a multi-level system of legitimization of power through the establishment of the "Ministry of Truth", the destruction of historical truth, the falsification of texts, ideological discipline and the physical elimination of memory carriers. The glass paperweight, as a concrete material object, serves both as a confirmation of Winston's personal memories and as a material embodiment of the abstract mechanism of the "Ministry of Truth."

The "glass paperweight" and the destroyed traces of history

As a relic of a past era, the glass paperweight, by its "ancient" nature, is directly related to the "history" before the founding of Oceania and the objective realities of that period. Thus, the paperweight represents a piece of historical truth. His destroyed and melted-down brethren symbolize the historical truth, distorted and erased by the "Engsoc". After a large-scale campaign to destroy antiquity initiated by the party, there is almost no material evidence of historical truth - the "past" has been preserved only in fragmentary memories of the elderly. And memory, as Pierre Nora noted, "in the modern era has separated from history" ^[16]. The function of history has ceased to be the search for truth or the extraction of lessons, becoming a tool for legitimizing power.

Maurice Halbwachs also believed that memory is not just individual fragmentary evidence of the past, but a socially constructed reconstruction tool ^[17]. To establish the legitimacy of its rule in Oceania, Angsoc not only destroyed historical artifacts and the truth symbolized by paperweights, but also created institutions such as the Records Department. Through falsified school history textbooks ^{[4, p. 5]}, and the "correction" of previous documents to match both the facts and the "infallibility of the party" ^{[4, p. 76]}, the party rewrote the history of Oceania. This convinced the people that before the establishment of the current regime, people lived in chaos and violence, creating the image of the Angsoc as a savior and linking the party with the concept of a "happy life." This perception, having penetrated the mass consciousness, subconsciously identified the overthrow of the "Angsoc" with a return to the "dark times". Simultaneously with the establishment of legitimacy, through the manipulation of memory, Angsoc carried out psychological terror, consolidating its power over Oceania.

Winston, as an employee of the Oceania Records Department who lived before the establishment of Angsoc's power, thanks to this dual status, not only knew the historical truth perfectly well, but also understood how recent events and government decrees were "corrected". This made him more sensitive to personal memories than others. Accidentally found old newspapers and other documents forgotten to destroy, contradicting the current propaganda ^{[4, p. 82]}, periodically caused him to doubt the party information.

When he felt powerless from the inability to find in the surrounding reality a single piece of evidence of recent events that was not distorted by the will of the "Angel", a desire arose in him - or strengthened - to look for objects that could confirm his childhood memories. The first exact match he found was a glass paperweight, which he immediately noticed in Mr. Charrington's shop.

It can be said that the paperweight, the "holes of oblivion" and the "Ministry of Truth" (Minitrue) form three levels, reflecting the systematic approach of Angsoc to the reconstruction of the historical narrative, demonstrating to the reader various levels of falsification of history. In addition, the paperweight, as an everyday object, evokes a sense of recognition in the reader, facilitating empathy for everything it symbolizes, and reinforcing the subconscious horror of totalitarianism.

The "glass paperweight" and alienated personal memory

The destruction of artifacts from the past, historical documents, and comparison opportunities represented the methods of "Angsoc" to manipulate objective reality. At the same time, the party deprived people of their memories in order to legitimize its power. In Orwell, Winston's memory serves as the driving force of the plot, and the glass paperweight becomes the catalyst for his awakening memories of the "old days" - the search for material evidence, attempts to restore the historical truth and hopes to use the "truth" to destroy the false historical structure of the party, and even undermine the legitimacy of the "Angsoc" ^{[4, p. 81]}.

The "1984" research traditionally focuses on "bodily resistance" to totalitarianism ^{[4, p. 157]}. However, there is another form of resistance that permeates the entire novel - Winston's personal memory as an instrument of opposition to the discourse of "Angsoc." In most cases, this resistance is related to physical intimacy with Julia. After Winston fell for O'Brien's bait, each of their meetings in the room above the store was accompanied by a reading of "Theory and Practice of Oligarchic Collectivism" and the presence of a glass paperweight. The lure for Winston was that the contents of the book coincided with his personal memories - he found in it confirmation of his isolated memories. For him, the book, like the paperweight, became a tangible proof of his memory, a temporary refuge from the "all-seeing eye of his Older Brother" and the false historical narrative of "Angsoc." It can be said that from the moment of its appearance, the book forms a single symbolic complex with the paperweight, embodying Winston's attempt to use the truth of personal memory to destroy the false history imposed on the inhabitants of Oceania.

The very status of the paperweight as the "last surviving relic" foreshadows the inevitable failure of Winston's resistance - disparate memories cannot form a coherent historical narrative. After Oceania was founded, Angsoc eliminated most of the former revolutionary leaders on charges of counterrevolution or treason. Goldstein, who fled, and Jones, Aronson, and Rutherford, who remained ^{[4, p. 81]}, later became the targets of the "Hate Week" - an ingenious move by the party to redirect popular discontent with economic, class, and other problems. Like the glass paperweight, these three were "relics of the ancient world, the last examples of former party glory." Their memories could confirm and support Winston's memory, but the ubiquitous thought police and universal surveillance made it impossible even to have a conversation in the Chestnut Cafe. Soon, all three of the "traitors" disappeared without a trace. The old man in the pub, shouting "pint", kept in his memory of the "past era" only "a bunch of useless junk" ^{[4, pp. 91-96]}. All the documents have been rewritten, and new measurement systems have eliminated the possibility of comparisons. Winston could not find anyone in the society whose memory would resonate with his own- not a single person who remembered the "past era," not to mention the possibility of forming a coherent historical narrative capable of refuting the propaganda of the "Angsoc."

The destruction of the glass paperweight foreshadows Winston's final capitulation to the totalitarian regime and his successful "reforging", symbolizing the completion of the work of the Angsoc on falsifying history. Winston's arrest, interrogations, and "transformation" become an act of destroying the last traces of "old world relics." As O'Brien states: "You're the last person... Your family has stopped. We are the heirs" ('You are the last man,' said O'Brien.) ^{[4, p. 283]}. The "Last Man" was reformed - through total supervision, destruction and reconstruction of the history of the "Angsoc" completed ideological control, strengthening the legitimacy of totalitarian rule. The denial of the pre-revolutionary past became a necessary step for the new order, where everything "old" had to disappear, including the very memory of it.

Conclusion

Angsoc made great efforts to strengthen its power by eliminating dissidents - in fact, the entire novel revolves around this goal. The falsification of history to legitimize the regime, the destruction of humanity and moral principles for the sake of stability - all these are just means to eradicate dissent. The glass paperweight, as an accidental surviving relic of a "past era," represents an anomaly in the historical narrative of the party. Without it, individual memories could not prove the existence of an alternative reality - like the "inhumans" who disappeared into oblivion, whose merits and mistakes were erased, and the witnesses of their existence were intimidated into silence. If the "transparency" of the paperweight symbolizes the pervasive surveillance of the Angsoc, then its "fragility" embodies the vulnerability of each individual to the totalitarian machine - the willingness at any moment to lose identity, voice and life itself.

The inhabitants of Oceania did not voluntarily become brittle as glass - the totalitarianism of Angsoc was artificially created through: 1) isolation of individuals and destruction of social ties; 2) deprivation of individuality. Universal surveillance and an atmosphere of fear, where anyone can turn out to be a thought policeman, have destroyed the basic trust between people. Society broke up into atomized individuals - like corals torn from a reef, they became electrons in a free state, as defenseless against the regime as a paperweight. As Hannah Arendt noted, "An isolated individual can preserve himself only within the framework of a comprehensive order, otherwise he risks disappearing into the mass again" ^{[18, p. 9]}.

Under the rule of the Angsoc, people lost their right to free existence, becoming just "sensors" in the surveillance system - indistinguishable from "television screens" that record signs of "thoughtcrime." For the party elite, rank-and-file members and proletarians are just expendable, a "thing and master" relationship. In Orwell's dystopia, a person is dehumanized to an insensitive object.

The paperweight as the "last surviving artifact" is an unfortunate blunder in the campaign to destroy the past. Confirming Winston's memories, it indirectly pushed him to resist. In this miniature, he unconsciously embodied everything beautiful from the past and everything lost in the present. Although it does not dominate the narrative, his fate symbolizes the fate of all the characters: the destruction foreshadows not only the collapse of Winston's personality and the futility of individual rebellion, but also the inevitability of the disappearance of truth, identity and human feelings in a totalitarian society - which is fully realized in the future described in the "Appendix".

Through this image, Orwell reveals five aspects of totalitarianism.: 1) the destruction of humanity; 2) the destruction of morality; 3) the falsification of history; 4) mind control; 5) the suppression of individuality. The history of the paperweight shows the futility of individual resistance, warning of the absurdity and horror of totalitarianism. Orwell's prophecy, based on the realities of the post-war world with its technological progress and the militarization of science, remains relevant in the democratic 21st century as a warning against totalitarianism in modern clothes.