O'Brien (1984)

O'Brien is a fictional character in George Orwell's novel "Nineteen Eighty-Four". The protagonist Winston Smith, living in a dystopian society governed by the Party, feels strangely attracted to Inner Party member O'Brien. Orwell never reveals O'Brien's first name.

Winston suspects that O'Brien is secretly opposing the Party. Eventually O'Brien approaches Winston with some leading remarks which seem to confirm Winston's suspicions. Winston finds the courage to approach him candidly, openly declaring himself an enemy of the totalitarian state. At first, Winston's intuition seems to be correct: O'Brien presents himself as a member of the "Brotherhood" seeking to overthrow the Party.

When Winston is later arrested, it turns out that O'Brien is actually entirely loyal to the Party. He reveals himself as he enters the cell by responding to Winston's exclamation ("They've got you too!") by admitting, "They got me a long time ago." This could imply that O'Brien was once an "unorthodox" revolutionary and thought-criminal as well -- before being brought back into the Party fold, perhaps through the same method as Winston and the other prisoners. Alternatively, the Party "got" O'Brien simply in the sense that he willingly joined the totalitarian movement and embraced its philosophy.

O'Brien's job appears to be to search for potential thought-criminals (citizens who do not support the party), lure them in by pretending to be on their side, then arrest and "cure" them. O'Brien tortures Winston to cure him of his "insanity", in particular his "false" notion that there exists an external, self-evident reality independent of the Party; O'Brien explains that reality is simply what the Party defines it as.

He is entirely honest about the brutal cynicism of the Party; the Party does not seek power to do anything good, but simply to revel in that power: "Always, Winston, at every moment, there will be the thrill of victory, the sensation of trampling on an enemy who is helpless. If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face - forever."

Even in the torture scenes, there is a strange intimacy that persists between Winston and O'Brien, who displays an uncanny ability to infer what Winston is thinking. O'Brien even states that Winston's mind appeals to him, and that it resembles his own mind, except that Winston happens to be insane. Eventually, in Room 101, O'Brien does manage to torture Winston into submission so that he "willingly" embraces the philosophy of the Party.

The character of O'Brien is an intellectual who uses his gifts to serve the authoritarian state rather than criticize it.

Variations

In the 1984 movie version of the story, O'Brien was portrayed by Richard Burton in his last role before he died in 1984.

In the 1954 BBC Television adaptation of "Nineteen Eighty-Four", the character was played by André Morell.

Canadian actor Lorne Greene played O'Brien in a 1953 adaptation on CBS's anthology series "Studio One".

In the comic book "", O'Brien became the "replacement party leader" after the original Big Brother was assassinated. He is also implied to have entered a romantic relationship with Julia. His first name is revealed to be Gerry.