Rat frightens Winston

While Julia is looking at the paperweight, a rat sticks its nose out of the wainscoting. Julia throws a shoe at it and chases it away, but Winston is overwhelmed by panic. He goes pale and shuts his eyes, and Julia tries to reassure him with the warmth of her body. He says 'Of all horrors in the world - a rat!' and tells her it is nothing. The fear is connected with a recurring nightmare of something dreadful behind a wall of darkness. This terror will later be exploited in Room 101.