1984 Forum

Do the rats have any symbolism in this work?

they might. I barely got it, but i think the bugs may have symbolized somethingtoo, because they like, kept coming back

Yes, there is symbolism. It says in the book that in the prole section, an unattended child is likely to be attacted and consumed by the ravounous rats. It's not exactly all rats that winston is afraid of, it's the football-sized rabies rats that he fears. In the room winston and julia rent in the prole section, winston freaks out about the sound of a rat and he tells julia "a thing happened when i was a child. I can't stand that sound of them. I can't even think about them... "
put two and two together..... you get five. AND! you get that something happened with those crazy ravounous prole rats. Maybe when he ran away with the chocolate into the prole section, alone, when he was a child and then the story drifts away without an ending???..... get it? 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 1984. To be as different and defiant to the party as he possably can be. This is part of why he hates the rats so.

THANKS!!! I had the same question and your answer really helped me.