We primarily learn what the prole woman hanging laundry and singing means to Winston, as we are not privy to Julia's interiority.

We do learn, however, that on their last day together, shortly before they are arrested, both Winston and Julia watch the prole woman with "fascination." Julia's response, as is typical of her, is more pragmatic than Winston's: Julia notes the large size of the woman's hips.

For Winston, however, she represents the hope of the future because she is a symbol of traditional cultures around the world that go on with their lives as they always have, in a way that can't be penetrated or destroyed by the Party. Winston muses that she represents all the

people who had never learned to think but who were storing up in their hearts and bellies and muscles the power that would one day overturn the world. If there was hope, it lay in the proles!

Winston notes, too, that the washerwoman sings in a way that birds do, unconsciously and contently— a way that Party members never do. People like her keep alive hope for the future, Winston thinks, because they are grounded in a reality that cannot be dissuaded from believing two plus two equals four.

It also important to the narrative that Winston is able to see the middle-aged, heavy, reddened prole woman as beautiful as he gazes at her this last time. He sees her as not much different from Julia. This symbolizes the full extent to which Winston has been rehumanized by his love for Julia. He is no longer the person who can callously kick away the blown off hand of a prole into the gutter, but one who can see the worth in others.

The red-armed prole woman that Winston and Julia hear singing through the window represents many things. At first glance, she represents hope. Winston is sure that the enduring point that Goldstein is trying to make is that the only possible hope of taking on the Inner Party lies in the proles. The Inner Party does not monitor the proles as carefully as it does the Outer Party, and Winston finds a very whimsical beauty in the prole woman's ability to sing without fear of scrutiny. Winston knows that the reason the proles are capable of taking back the world is because of their sheer number. Despite being widely unorganized, the proles outnumber everyone else in Oceania more than four to one.

More than this, however, Winston speaks of an enduring and immortal spirit that can only be seen in the proles and a resolve that cannot be found in the Party. Winston romanticizes this spirit as "passing on from body to body." The woman herself is a symbol of that cycle, as her ability to give birth to more proles that would one day start some sort of revolution is celebrated in her ample figure. The red-armed prole woman is a bright contrast to Winston and Julia's otherwise bleak lives.

The singing Prole woman from Part 2, Chapter 10 has a number of symbolic meanings for Winston and Julia.

First of all, she symbolizes fertility. This is shown clearly by her physical description, like her "mare-like buttocks," which makes Winston question how many children she has given birth to. Winston comes to the conclusion that although she has been "blown up to monstrous proportions" by the number of children she has birthed, she is a beautiful woman.

In addition, the Prole woman also symbolizes freedom. This is shown most clearly by the fact that she is singing—a pastime which the Party does not encourage. For Winston, singing is synonymous with vitality and energy. Even though this woman toils all day, the fact that she is singing while she does it demonstrates an energy which Party members do not possess.

Winston also uses a metaphor to highlight this woman's energy in which he compares her to a singing bird. Birds are often associated with freedom because of their ability to fly.

For Winston, this constant singing proves that the Proles are the only ones capable of overthrowing the Party. All they need is the necessary awareness to realize their potential. Once this happens, they will successfully rebel against and overthrow the Party.

The red-armed prole woman singing as she washes her family's clothes outside of Charrington's apartment symbolizes hope and represents a future after the Party is destroyed. After Winston is finished reading Goldstein's book, Orwell writes, "If there was hope, it lay in the proles!" (277). As Winston watches the prole woman singing to herself while she does her chores, it occurs to him that the proles will always survive. Despite the dire conditions and oppressive society that they live in, the proles will never go away. They account for 85% of the population and are strong, tough, emotional individuals. Although they are currently too ignorant to revolt against the authoritarian government, they will continue to live their lives freely. Winston has hope that one day the masses will be educated and united with one another to rise up. Therefore, the red-armed prole woman represents hope in a future void of absolute government control. 

The prole woman singing behind Charrington's apartment is symbolic to Julia and Winston because she represents a "sort of melancholy" happiness. It would seem she was perfectly content with her lot in life, trudging on through the days, even if her days were full of endless lines of laundry. Winston muses that no member of the party would sing so "alone", "spontaneously" and thinks that it would be a "dangerous eccentricity" (148). The prole woman might be a Sisyphus of sorts, from the Myth of Sisyphus, constantly struggling against an isolated and alienated existence, or perhaps trying to be happy in a dire situation. She is an example of someone trying to make the best out of her situation in life.