I never thought that O'Brien was particularly high level, more a lower level of the upper level. He dealt with the lower level, Winston et al, he enforced policy but didn't decide it. He could turn off the viewscreens but only for a time. He was trusted but only so far.
I don't think. Like there is no room full of decision makers looking at all the parts. Just a lot of o briens. Guys who know there one thing and never look outside there part. The few randoms that do get purged by someother O brien. There is no big brother there is not highest party concile.
@@josephwarren6658 no omnipotent council but i imagine an endless amount of petty bureaucrats and scheming wannabe dictators looking over O'Brien shoulder.
@@TomFromMars Hmm ya pretty much that but i think most are like obrien in that the are true believers. So there not dictators persay they really love big brother and want him and the party to be in charge.
I find he’s such a chilling character because I genuinely can’t understand his reasoning, or the reasoning for Ingsoc in general. What would they do if they ever “won”? How do you have a society built on hating the enemy when there is no more enemy to hate? There’s the famous line where he says “if you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face forever” but that line is a tacit admission that the party doesn’t really want to win, they want to just keep fighting forever and that mindset is horrifyingly alien to me (and presumably most sane people) It’s like setting up a party where you’re the only guest, it feels like it would make a life that is nothing but a slog, even the thrill of power would surely wear off in time.
The Party exists purely to ensure the continued existence of The Party. The Party doesn't have to "win" and does not want to "win". Victory would eventually lead to its end. Stalinism had shaken Orwell's socialist beliefs so much that he began to fear that such a system was not, in fact, self-defeating if it was allowed to spread too much further. The Party would become the end itself and the end would always justify the means.
It is happening before your very eyes. Call it Schwabism. Look to UN agendas. There is no reason for their fascism that they are doing their best to implement.
I mean many believe the party has already "won" and its so called "enemies" like goldstein, eurasia and eastasia are simply fictional constructs to distract the masses.
You confuse the means with the ends. Attempting to win the fight is not the end, it is the means. The means through which the people voluntarily give up the sovereignty of their own minds. The novel explains that wars are not meant to be won, but to use up any potential excess in what society can produce, so that the people are always exhausted and on the edge, and unable to focus on improving their selves. We are never to know if it is a conspiracy organised by a few behind the curtain, or if the inner party simply simply runs on routine. - you have wealth and power from doing things this way, why risk that from doing it any other way. Or, perhaps they are philosophers who Hate the people for their base weakness, and enjoy a cruel spite in oppressing them. Either way, it is not a fantasy novel, but metaphor and allegory. If your interpretation could never occur in reality, then it's not the interpretation which Orwell intended.
There is no enemy. The enemy is a product of the party. There likely even is no (more) war, and you might have different armies of the same country fighting each other, _if_ there is any actual fighting at all. The enemy is just another tool for the party to keep itself in power.
I think O'Brien is Big Brother , that was so intrigued by Winston that he disguised itself as ordinary inner party member to personally deal with Winston
Goldstein's book: "The scientist of today is either a mixture of psychologist and inquisitor, studying with extraordinary minuteness the meaning of facial expressions, gestures and tones of voice, and testing the truth-producing effects of drugs, shock therapy, hypnosis, and physical torture; or he is chemist, physicist, or biologist concerned only with such branches of his special subject as are relevant to the taking of life." The former alternative is probably O'Brien's job description. He repeatedly demonstrates an uncanny ability to figure out what Winston is thinking just by watching his face. Perhaps this is especially easy for him in Winston's case, since he readily admits that they are, in a way, kindred souls: "I enjoy talking to you. Your mind appeals to me. It resembles my own mind except that you happen to be insane." Winston himself is humbled by the thought that his own mind is actually CONTAINED within O'Brien's mind. What is all of Winston's mentality is just a subset of O'Brien's superior intellect, making Winston wonder if indeed he is the insane one, while O'Brien is sane.
'The former alternative is probably O'Brien's job description.' As I mention above, 'What is the purpose of war, Winston?' is a question that O'Brien asks. I have returned to this again and again over the years. It reveals real depth of understanding and not, I'd like to suggest, not a scientist's appreciation of reality. More a philosopher with an economist's training? Anyway, Julian Assange advises us that the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, now Ukraine and soon to be Taiwan, are not supposed to be 'won'. Instead. they have a macro-economic and financial purpose. They are 'forever wars', the object being to...well, O'Brien can explain further.
@@johnrichmond8978 That's a pretty dumb take that totally discards the interests and agency of most involved parties. The Taliban really want to rule Afghanistan. Putin really wants to keep Ukraine from joinging NATO/the West. The Communist Party really doesn't want the Republic of China to exist.
in one torture session , Winston was all the more disconcerted by O'Brien's denial of truth by the fact that Winston knew O'Brien wasn't just lying but actually believes it....the photo O'Brien destroys,,he announces, 'never existed' , really has been forgotten
Fun fact: in the 1956 film adaptatoin of 1984, O'Brien's name is changed to "O'Connor", because Winston Smith was being played by Edmond O'Brien, and they thought it might be confusing to audiences.
Thanks. I'm glad you enjoyed them. It's always a good decision to read the book again. I must have read or listened to the audio book a few dozen times now, but it never gets old. Lol I recently read the Julia novel by Sandra Newman. Got it on audiobook to listen again too. It's pretty good. Fleshes out the world a bit, though it's obviously not strictly cannon.
What might be truly scary about O'Brien is that he might truthy think he's helping cure Winston of his "affliction." He may be so far gone into the ideology of INSOC that it is his reality and that he believes that stomping on a human face is a good thing despite how horrifying it all is. I remember him torturing Winston over giving the wrong answer, when Winston says that they want to do good for the people, but then O'Brien shocks him stating that the goal is they want total power. He wants Winston to admit to the truth he knows rather than the fiction.
I think that even before O'Brien came to power, he was a pauper and joined the party to make some change for himself. When the revolution came, he proved himself to be an effective collaborator for the new government and rose to the heights of power.
Both Hitler and Stalin came from poor and abusive backgrounds both did time in prisons. Is it possible that O'Brian came from that impoverished abusive background were his only drive is self presavation and control.
O Brien strongly hints that he was like Winston when he was younger and that is how he knows that Winston is a thought criminal because as he says - regretfully - "they got me a long time ago" but he also knows how Winston thinks not just through reading his diary but from the fact that they think very much alike and he notes that he likes Winston's intellectualism and knows when Winston is lying because he has been there before. He also reveals that to be in the Inner Party you also have to be an intellectual as people interested in the physical trappings of power are untrustworthy. The idea of a building a perfect system of power and maintenance of power that cannot be undone and is focused solely on keeping itself in power and perfecting itself for the sake of power is something that could only be of interest to intellectuals.
When O'brien finally breaks Winston in room 101. I love the little smile of victory from one side of O'briens mouth. Richard Burton played the part perfectly.
I think you can assume, that Obrien is like the other authors of the Goldstein Books maybe the most successfull and truest follower of ingsoc. Why this? I think the meaning of Goldsteins Book is underrated in some point of view: Its existence is maybe more important to the inner party members itself than for the thought police alone. O'brien is full aware of the downsides and hypocrisy of Ingsoc and its higher echolons but is also undoubtly believing in the overtimely righteousness of the partys cause and is able not even to doublethink this the whole time, but can solve the contradiction in sourcing it out in the Emanuel Goldstein Book. He can put every doubt he may have or had into the book and is so able to see the party in every moment for what it really is, if necessary and can so be aware of the potential dangers or weaknesses (like when the party have to know, that 2+2 is four in case of necessity but believing the most time that it equals 5 undoubtly) and at the same time to believe in the ruling of the party is the natural cause of history. He is not blindly believing Ingsocs own propaganda and become blinded by it, like all other people. He willingly chooses to be part of a system, he is very aware about how it is truely functioning and still honestly believing in its cause, this is true loyalty. A party member, who is only loyal, when he is believing the false propaganda is not really loyal, how we see in Winston. So goldsteins book is not only vital in finding traitors and weak spots but keep the higher echolons of the Inner Party aware of the truth of its system the same time preventing them from falling into delusions about their own propaganda. This is the reason why they can't change the content of the book: eliminating all truth about IngSoc would led to blinding the inner party totally from the reality and would bring their downfall.
I don't think O'Brien even understands the party himself. When Winston sees himself, teeth falling out, hair gone, emaciated, in the mirror, he should have realised that HE was the party, that O'Brien is the thought criminal, beyond any shadow of doubt, O'Brien can say what the goal of the party is but can't live it, he must always be outside of it. Until there's nothing left but the swirling singularity of the party. There's no room even for O'Brien there, he's still too human. The party is all consuming, all annihilating, and its structure will make itself irrelevant.
A good voice actor's great. In an ideal world it would have be brillliant to have someone narrate this channel with a voice like Burton's, but obviously he passed away in 1984 and most actors with cool voices are expensive. The voice actor who narrated the 'Julia' novel was pretty good too. It might have been cool to get Suzanna Hamilton to have narrated it though, though she's getting on a bit.
Thank you for the vid. Perhaps you might have investigated O'Brien's somewhat hidden intellectual depth, I recall; 'What is the purpose of war, Winston?' Very interesting.
Your description of O'Brien as "being broken a long time ago" made me think. What if Winston instead of being unpersoned was *promoted* instead? What if agents of the thought police must come from a background such as him or O'Brien's?
Since O'Brien admits that they got him a long time ago, and that he claims to have written Goldstein s book, is it too unthinkable to suggest that O'Brien was Goldstein or someone close to him before the party got him and rehabilitated him.
i always thought it was pointless that they spend so much time torturing the protagonist only to kill him - but maybe the torture is for o'brien, to help him affirm his loyalty?
I always wondered if O'Brian's first interview with Winston actually gave him a choice...to go to room 101 or join the Inner Party, depending on how he reacted to discovering that the dictionary hid Goldstein's writings.
I am not sure if O Brien really did believe what he said., I suspect he didn't. The frighting thing about big brother is that we have created a worse state her then what we saw in that story. People being tortured who haven't even opposed the system.
When Winston first see's O'brien, looking at him and turning away, O'brien looks like he has a smirk on face, it's looks to say, you'll be mine shortly.
I saw that a woman in the UK was arrested for praying silently while standing on the sidewalk across the street from an abortion clinic. She was arrested for thinking. So, don't say it can't happen here. And consider the notion of "hate crimes." A criminal may receive a stiffer sentence for what he was thinking during the commission of the offense. If a man gets an additional year in prison for thinking hateful thoughts during the commission of the crime, then that's a year in prison for his thought crime. The notion that there is such a thing as thought crime is becoming embedded in the English-speaking countries. Who knows how far that will go?
To be clear, that woman was arrested on the basis of rules that prevent religious protestors from harassing people going into and out of the abortion clinic. Regardless of any opinions of abortion, the rules are there to protect the freedoms of those who sought the clinic’s services, not serve as a thought-police action. And charges were dropped against her. Not to say that it’s not impossible here, it totally is, but this isn’t quite the Orwellian moment it appears to be on the surface.
@@RomanHistoryFan476AD Not really, she didn't get arrested for thinking, or praying, but rather harassing people trying to get an abortion. If anything trying to equivocate harrassing somebody based on your beliefs with someone just thinking and being punished for thoughtcrimes is closer to doublespeak. If we treat what she did like you said she did, then it would lead to mass religous discrimination and violence, and we couldn't punish them because you would say its thought policing Christians are one of the furthest from persecuted groups in the west if not the most. Nobody is arresting people for being prolife but they are for being pro choice. Yall can't freely discriminate and oppress those you deem as sinners anymore, that's not being oppressed.
@@RomanHistoryFan476AD And your comprehension of what a thought crime is, is very shallow. For instance we've always taken in to account what the person commiting a crime is thinking, or rather what their intent is or was. Classifying hatecrimes being a thing we charge people with as anything close to 1984, is ludicrous. It's not thought policing, we simply have that law because to commit a murder for instance for racist reasons is especially evil and needless, unlike murdering someone during a robbery or gang shootout, unlike a murder done in passion, we already have extra qualifiers like premeditation, how young the person is, The notion that including racism as motive is somehow oppressive is stupid.
I always though it was ineresting that Winston understood/realized the manipulation that was going on, he still got Juilia's and O'Brian's relationships to him completely backward. He intially thought Juila was with the thought police and would never have sex with him and he thoght O'Brian was his "friend" and fellow rebel. I think Orwell intended this to show that, even if you are trying, you would never be able to figueout who was on your side without great risk.
I kind of want to believe that O’Brien is Big Brother in the flesh who says that Big Brother does exist that Winston doesn’t exist because big brother is the party so that really means that he is big brother himself who watches everything including Winston as well to represents tyranny. Or he is probably a second in command of the party INSOC and is probably the real boss to the Ministry of Love which is the thought police who kind of reminds me about every dictator’s second in command who is very loyal to their evil leader’s cause that they become leaders of any secret police force to detain and tortured dissidents who go against the leader and the state.
After briefly studying film 🎥 in 1978-79, I've had this morbid curiosity regarding Actors in their last roles; my curiosity hasntbeen matched by effort in research 😢 Burton, Monroe, James Dean... these powerful people went "off-stage" and Beyond. Burton played this bleak character, then passed away within months. Was "O'Brien" a true believer & valued team player? I think he knew he *had* to be, and had the skillset that mastered personal "thought control" and supervisory functioning. I'd offer this comparison: some war veterans (I'm in USA; never did military) with very similar experiences, return and achieve very diverse life paths. Some become high ranking business people, some bureaucrats, some go blue collar and others homeless or addicts. So, somehow similarly, those in the Inner Party have *genuine* affinity for IngSoc, or a *contrived* ("self-serving"?) allegiance that steps on toes to finagle promotions & benefits? I think O'Brien connives: it's certainly part of his job, dealing with Smith, a betrayed Outer Party dissident. 😅😮😂 How did O'Brien achieve his position? Is it even a high position? Or is he one of hundreds or thousands who process Thought Criminals? Certainly that brings up the one on one aspects: O'Brien as "tutor"? They can't rehabilitate in groups, we must presume. Fun thoughts...😅
It's a shame really as he got quite a bit of critical acclaim for the role and apparently he had become somewhat of a pariah. Great performance. I always picture his face and hear his voice when thinking of O'Brien. Lol Good points on O'Brien's position in the hierarchy. It's certainly feasible he is just a 'rank-and-file' inner party member (so to speak). Not everyone can be a minister or director or such under BB, I suppose. Many inner party members must be military officers and thought police, etc.
I'd imagine that TC troopers/Handlers are allowed some latitude in snaring these most dangerous and virulent of offenders. I'd rather a rash of bank robberies than one BadThinkDoer speaking where someone can hear it.
I have the feeling that Wiston was in the right path at the end of the book. One day he would have the same status of O’Brien erasing party members like Parsons and Syme. Those were unfit because they truly believed in ingsoc while Wiston was tortured and broken to love the party above everything else, even love.
No, O'Brien is a powerless hypocrite. He doesn't believe what he says, but says it anyway. The Party is a lion to be fed, and today he's feeding it Winston. That's why O'Brien continues his musings and intellectual banter with Winston. Imagine O'Brien as a "sword nerd" slowing ramping another sword nerd through with a blade while talking about the intricacies of the blade as he does it, and suddenly it all make sense.
I'm curious about the soldiers. They seem to see everything but still follow orders and they seem to exist outside of the social structure triangle. They are clearly too intelligent to be Proles but there is no way a soldier could retire to the outer party because they know too much. So, is being a soldier a way for outer party members to become inner party or are they unpersoned once they join the army and then culled once they have served their time?
I suspect that they may be privileged proles. Indeed, as with many cultures, joining the army may have been a way to escape their crushing poverty and perhaps get out of Air Strip One or their home province a bit. In Goldstein's Book it does state that the forces involved in actual warfare in the disputed zones are relatively smaller professional ones, which makes me believe they are probably in the lower hundreds of thousands total and perhaps even in the upper tens of thousands. Factor into this scenario casualties through KIAs and disease that will reduce the numbers returning to their home province and perhaps causing trouble. I think too they might mitigate this by stationing Oceanic soldiers in garrisons in disputed zone territories that are also periodically wiped out (by the enemy) or simply moved to another area or 'foreign' province (e.g. Australian troops stationed in South America and vice versa). Given how small both branches of the Party are compared to the proles I think it's highly likely soldiers and guards are proles. Winston too describes the guards patrolling the outer bounds of the Ministry of Love as "guerilla-faced" too which may be a snobbish comment on their prole origins and perceived lack of intelligence. Thank you for the interesting question. This isn't a definitive answer by any means, just a few random thoughts. 👍
I think that O'Brian definitely believes in party doctrine and also knows that the true purpose of the Inner Party is to hold power for the sake of power and dominate all others. This is the act of doublethink that Inner Party members must be able to make or be purged.
What if O’Brien really was like Winston? He wrote the opposition book. Maybe Goldstein was real once and he knew him. And then the party “got him” a long time ago and successfully transformed him into its agent
“That, Winston, you will never know. If we choose to set you free when we have finished with you, and if you live to be ninety years old, still you will never learn whether the answer to that question is Yes or No. As long as you live it will be an unsolved riddle in your mind.” LOL
I don't think it did, I think the illusion was created by the party in order to root out thought criminals and to focus the proles hate onto something.
To slightly misquote a very different film, I'm an O'Brien and so is my wife. That's actually true, as is the fact that my mum's born name was Smith, and sadly - nay tragically - she has dementia to the point she, Smith, is in a way torturing my dad, an O'Brien.
The Foray into Thought and Motive: Hate crime legislation and hate speech laws embark upon a daring and dangerous frontier, where the law peers not merely into the consequences of action but into the motives that spark it. A crime becomes more grievous if fueled by the venom of bias-racism, sexism, or prejudice-and speech becomes punishable when laced with the potential to incite harm. This heralds a seismic shift: from punishing deeds to probing the private sanctum of belief and motive. It is a delicate dance, balancing the need to shield society from prejudice's scourge against the peril of legislating thought itself. Generational Drift and Interpretive Erosion: Legal constructs, like artifacts buried under time’s sediment, risk misinterpretation by successive generations. As the progeny of today inherit the legal corpus, the original raison d'être behind hate crime or hate speech laws may blur. The clarity of these statutes’ intent-to mitigate harm-might dissolve into an opaque perception of policing thought or belief, jeopardizing cornerstones of justice such as the presumption of innocence and the sanctity of free expression. A Future Balanced on a Knife's Edge: The trajectory of these laws may mirror the trajectory of drink-driving statutes, where societal understanding diverges from foundational legal philosophy. Could an utterance of distaste, if deemed hateful, one day bear the weight of incitement to violence, even in the absence of direct harm? This specter haunts the intersection of protecting the vulnerable and preserving the unassailable principle of free speech-a tension that may define the legal odyssey of the next century.
It's certainly a complicated relationship. O'Brien even states Winston's mind appeals to him, as it resembles his own (aside from the former's "insanity"). For Winston's part, even after the big reveal and in the midst of O'Brien torturing him Winston still feels a strong bond and even admiration for O'Brien at times.
@nineteen-eighty-four-lore why would a high ranking inner party member put in so much time and effort on one rank and file outer party thought criminal?
Thing is, from a certain Point of View*, O'Brien is the hero of the story in knowing Winston was a thought criminal of the doubleplusungood sort and exposing him before he carried out any of the horrible things he confessed he was willing to do. And then because the Party is so benevolent, they 'rehabilitated' him rather than executing him like barbarians so he'd be a productive and sane member of society. *reference intended
Ive always wondered how exactly O'brien knew for sure Winston was a thought criminal? It appears to just be knowing looks untill he invites him to his office.
winston wasnt subtle enough. he was a disgusting thought criminal and gave away hints. plus he was writing a literal diary in his room which is bugged and observed. the party knew what he was doing. the reason why winston wasnt outright killed is because he was actually a useful idiot. not smart enough like symes to be erased totally, but stupid enough to be converted fully.
@@ThailandOutsiderYes Winston was identified as a possible thought criminal before the events of the novel and was set up from the start, with increased surveillance. Even his apartment was setup in such a way with a nook away from the telescreen to tempt him to write down traitorous thoughts in a journal, which he did.
I think they should make a sequel set 20 or 10 years after the John Hurt film starring Art Parkinson from GOT and Kubo and the Two Strings and Isabella Sermon from Jurrassic World Fallen Kingdom and Dominion . They’re great young actors. What do you think?
@@chasehedges6775 Because it wouldn't do justice to Orwell's work. Because Hollywood nowadays could not understand Orwell's work. Because Hollywood nowadays WILL taint Orwell's work.
“If you want a vision of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face. Forever.”
Such a chilling line.
I love it. Glory to BB
Beautifully delivered by Richard Burton
i thought it was the labour manifesto
Our future when Trump wins the election.
I never thought that O'Brien was particularly high level, more a lower level of the upper level. He dealt with the lower level, Winston et al, he enforced policy but didn't decide it. He could turn off the viewscreens but only for a time. He was trusted but only so far.
There is always an upper echelon.
U don't really think there is much of a upper upper level. The machine is just left running.
I don't think.
Like there is no room full of decision makers looking at all the parts. Just a lot of o briens. Guys who know there one thing and never look outside there part. The few randoms that do get purged by someother O brien. There is no big brother there is not highest party concile.
@@josephwarren6658 no omnipotent council but i imagine an endless amount of petty bureaucrats and scheming wannabe dictators looking over O'Brien shoulder.
@@TomFromMars Hmm ya pretty much that but i think most are like obrien in that the are true believers. So there not dictators persay they really love big brother and want him and the party to be in charge.
O'Brien is basically a perfect representation of the party. He is the Party basically
A living hell without compassion is what Orwell created in his novel of 1984.
@@garyturner5739Well said.
I see in Richard Burton's performance as O'Brien the eyes of a former dreamer.
Word. 🙏🏻
I find he’s such a chilling character because I genuinely can’t understand his reasoning, or the reasoning for Ingsoc in general. What would they do if they ever “won”? How do you have a society built on hating the enemy when there is no more enemy to hate?
There’s the famous line where he says “if you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face forever” but that line is a tacit admission that the party doesn’t really want to win, they want to just keep fighting forever and that mindset is horrifyingly alien to me (and presumably most sane people) It’s like setting up a party where you’re the only guest, it feels like it would make a life that is nothing but a slog, even the thrill of power would surely wear off in time.
The Party exists purely to ensure the continued existence of The Party. The Party doesn't have to "win" and does not want to "win". Victory would eventually lead to its end. Stalinism had shaken Orwell's socialist beliefs so much that he began to fear that such a system was not, in fact, self-defeating if it was allowed to spread too much further. The Party would become the end itself and the end would always justify the means.
It is happening before your very eyes. Call it Schwabism. Look to UN agendas. There is no reason for their fascism that they are doing their best to implement.
I mean many believe the party has already "won" and its so called "enemies" like goldstein, eurasia and eastasia are simply fictional constructs to distract the masses.
You confuse the means with the ends. Attempting to win the fight is not the end, it is the means. The means through which the people voluntarily give up the sovereignty of their own minds.
The novel explains that wars are not meant to be won, but to use up any potential excess in what society can produce, so that the people are always exhausted and on the edge, and unable to focus on improving their selves.
We are never to know if it is a conspiracy organised by a few behind the curtain, or if the inner party simply simply runs on routine. - you have wealth and power from doing things this way, why risk that from doing it any other way. Or, perhaps they are philosophers who Hate the people for their base weakness, and enjoy a cruel spite in oppressing them.
Either way, it is not a fantasy novel, but metaphor and allegory. If your interpretation could never occur in reality, then it's not the interpretation which Orwell intended.
There is no enemy. The enemy is a product of the party. There likely even is no (more) war, and you might have different armies of the same country fighting each other, _if_ there is any actual fighting at all. The enemy is just another tool for the party to keep itself in power.
RIP Richard Burton and John Hurt.
THOSE were actors.
@@johnrichmond8978 💯
@@johnrichmond8978 💯
The best and nearest to Orwell's novel of the film adaptations.
@@garyturner5739 Burton's voice was made for THAT role.
Nice O'brien bio. Also very effective collage of those different production's "1984" clips.
I think O'Brien is Big Brother , that was so intrigued by Winston that he disguised itself as ordinary inner party member to personally deal with Winston
Goldstein's book: "The scientist of today is either a mixture of psychologist and inquisitor, studying with extraordinary minuteness the meaning of facial expressions, gestures and tones of voice, and testing the truth-producing effects of drugs, shock therapy, hypnosis, and physical torture; or he is chemist, physicist, or biologist concerned only with such branches of his special subject as are relevant to the taking of life."
The former alternative is probably O'Brien's job description. He repeatedly demonstrates an uncanny ability to figure out what Winston is thinking just by watching his face. Perhaps this is especially easy for him in Winston's case, since he readily admits that they are, in a way, kindred souls: "I enjoy talking to you. Your mind appeals to me. It resembles my own mind except that you happen to be insane."
Winston himself is humbled by the thought that his own mind is actually CONTAINED within O'Brien's mind. What is all of Winston's mentality is just a subset of O'Brien's superior intellect, making Winston wonder if indeed he is the insane one, while O'Brien is sane.
'The former alternative is probably O'Brien's job description.' As I mention above, 'What is the purpose of war, Winston?' is a question that O'Brien asks. I have returned to this again and again over the years. It reveals real depth of understanding and not, I'd like to suggest, not a scientist's appreciation of reality. More a philosopher with an economist's training? Anyway, Julian Assange advises us that the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, now Ukraine and soon to be Taiwan, are not supposed to be 'won'. Instead. they have a macro-economic and financial purpose. They are 'forever wars', the object being to...well, O'Brien can explain further.
@@johnrichmond8978 That's a pretty dumb take that totally discards the interests and agency of most involved parties. The Taliban really want to rule Afghanistan. Putin really wants to keep Ukraine from joinging NATO/the West. The Communist Party really doesn't want the Republic of China to exist.
@@MrCmon113 'That's a pretty dumb take...' You open your post to me with this insult and expect me to read the rest? You must be an American.
I truly enjoy watching your videos. There is one difference between me and you though, and that is, you are insane.
in one torture session , Winston was all the more disconcerted by O'Brien's denial of truth by the fact that Winston knew O'Brien wasn't just lying but actually believes it....the photo O'Brien destroys,,he announces, 'never existed' , really has been forgotten
You could easily put Catholic or Protesant priest instead of O Brain in those torture scenes. Obrain mentios in the novel The Holy Inqustion.
@@garyturner5739ye, you don't know how the medieval justice system worked.
Fun fact: in the 1956 film adaptatoin of 1984, O'Brien's name is changed to "O'Connor", because Winston Smith was being played by Edmond O'Brien, and they thought it might be confusing to audiences.
i was actually thinking that yesterday when i saw the film
I watched every video you made so far thank you to have take the time to make them I really enjoy them. Also you made me want to read the book again.
Thanks. I'm glad you enjoyed them. It's always a good decision to read the book again. I must have read or listened to the audio book a few dozen times now, but it never gets old. Lol
I recently read the Julia novel by Sandra Newman. Got it on audiobook to listen again too. It's pretty good. Fleshes out the world a bit, though it's obviously not strictly cannon.
What might be truly scary about O'Brien is that he might truthy think he's helping cure Winston of his "affliction." He may be so far gone into the ideology of INSOC that it is his reality and that he believes that stomping on a human face is a good thing despite how horrifying it all is. I remember him torturing Winston over giving the wrong answer, when Winston says that they want to do good for the people, but then O'Brien shocks him stating that the goal is they want total power. He wants Winston to admit to the truth he knows rather than the fiction.
I think he really does believe in it. Winston himself gets this impression, thinking O'Brien's not a hypocrite, he really believes what he's saying.
1984 pre-saged Maoism to a remarkable degree.
I think that even before O'Brien came to power, he was a pauper and joined the party to make some change for himself. When the revolution came, he proved himself to be an effective collaborator for the new government and rose to the heights of power.
Very interesting and plausible.
Khrushchev was pretty much like this for the Soviet Union.
Both Hitler and Stalin came from poor and abusive backgrounds both did time in prisons.
Is it possible that O'Brian came from that impoverished abusive background were his only drive is self presavation and control.
Some great actors in 1984
I really enjoy watching those old clips.
O Brien strongly hints that he was like Winston when he was younger and that is how he knows that Winston is a thought criminal because as he says - regretfully - "they got me a long time ago" but he also knows how Winston thinks not just through reading his diary but from the fact that they think very much alike and he notes that he likes Winston's intellectualism and knows when Winston is lying because he has been there before. He also reveals that to be in the Inner Party you also have to be an intellectual as people interested in the physical trappings of power are untrustworthy. The idea of a building a perfect system of power and maintenance of power that cannot be undone and is focused solely on keeping itself in power and perfecting itself for the sake of power is something that could only be of interest to intellectuals.
I thought the same
When O'brien finally breaks Winston in room 101. I love the little smile of victory from one side of O'briens mouth.
Richard Burton played the part perfectly.
My favorite line from Winston is, "I understand 'how', I just don't understand 'why'.
That's good one. "Sanity is not statistical," I think Winston impressed himself with that one.
I think you can assume, that Obrien is like the other authors of the Goldstein Books maybe the most successfull and truest follower of ingsoc. Why this?
I think the meaning of Goldsteins Book is underrated in some point of view: Its existence is maybe more important to the inner party members itself than for the thought police alone. O'brien is full aware of the downsides and hypocrisy of Ingsoc and its higher echolons but is also undoubtly believing in the overtimely righteousness of the partys cause and is able not even to doublethink this the whole time, but can solve the contradiction in sourcing it out in the Emanuel Goldstein Book. He can put every doubt he may have or had into the book and is so able to see the party in every moment for what it really is, if necessary and can so be aware of the potential dangers or weaknesses (like when the party have to know, that 2+2 is four in case of necessity but believing the most time that it equals 5 undoubtly) and at the same time to believe in the ruling of the party is the natural cause of history.
He is not blindly believing Ingsocs own propaganda and become blinded by it, like all other people. He willingly chooses to be part of a system, he is very aware about how it is truely functioning and still honestly believing in its cause, this is true loyalty. A party member, who is only loyal, when he is believing the false propaganda is not really loyal, how we see in Winston. So goldsteins book is not only vital in finding traitors and weak spots but keep the higher echolons of the Inner Party aware of the truth of its system the same time preventing them from falling into delusions about their own propaganda.
This is the reason why they can't change the content of the book: eliminating all truth about IngSoc would led to blinding the inner party totally from the reality and would bring their downfall.
John Hurt completely captured the essence and the desperation of Winston. He is easily my favorite of underrated actors.
I don't think O'Brien even understands the party himself. When Winston sees himself, teeth falling out, hair gone, emaciated, in the mirror, he should have realised that HE was the party, that O'Brien is the thought criminal, beyond any shadow of doubt, O'Brien can say what the goal of the party is but can't live it, he must always be outside of it. Until there's nothing left but the swirling singularity of the party. There's no room even for O'Brien there, he's still too human. The party is all consuming, all annihilating, and its structure will make itself irrelevant.
He is not a vilain. He's just a transmission gear inside a man grinder.
Another cog in the machine, really
In the new audible version Andrew Scott voices Obrien and he so sinisterly understated its very unsettling. Such a great actor..
A good voice actor's great. In an ideal world it would have be brillliant to have someone narrate this channel with a voice like Burton's, but obviously he passed away in 1984 and most actors with cool voices are expensive. The voice actor who narrated the 'Julia' novel was pretty good too. It might have been cool to get Suzanna Hamilton to have narrated it though, though she's getting on a bit.
Thank you for the vid. Perhaps you might have investigated O'Brien's somewhat hidden intellectual depth, I recall; 'What is the purpose of war, Winston?' Very interesting.
Your description of O'Brien as "being broken a long time ago" made me think. What if Winston instead of being unpersoned was *promoted* instead? What if agents of the thought police must come from a background such as him or O'Brien's?
Since O'Brien admits that they got him a long time ago, and that he claims to have written Goldstein s book, is it too unthinkable to suggest that O'Brien was Goldstein or someone close to him before the party got him and rehabilitated him.
RIP to both brilliant actors in this timeless movie
i always thought it was pointless that they spend so much time torturing the protagonist only to kill him - but maybe the torture is for o'brien, to help him affirm his loyalty?
At least O'Brien is honest. Better than our current cheerleaders for the status quo who pretend the billionaires in charge give a shit about us plebs.
I always wondered if O'Brian's first interview with Winston actually gave him a choice...to go to room 101 or join the Inner Party, depending on how he reacted to discovering that the dictionary hid Goldstein's writings.
I am not sure if O Brien really did believe what he said., I suspect he didn't. The frighting thing about big brother is that we have created a worse state her then what we saw in that story. People being tortured who haven't even opposed the system.
When Winston first see's O'brien, looking at him and turning away, O'brien looks like he has a smirk on face, it's looks to say, you'll be mine shortly.
I saw that a woman in the UK was arrested for praying silently while standing on the sidewalk across the street from an abortion clinic. She was arrested for thinking. So, don't say it can't happen here. And consider the notion of "hate crimes." A criminal may receive a stiffer sentence for what he was thinking during the commission of the offense. If a man gets an additional year in prison for thinking hateful thoughts during the commission of the crime, then that's a year in prison for his thought crime. The notion that there is such a thing as thought crime is becoming embedded in the English-speaking countries. Who knows how far that will go?
To be clear, that woman was arrested on the basis of rules that prevent religious protestors from harassing people going into and out of the abortion clinic. Regardless of any opinions of abortion, the rules are there to protect the freedoms of those who sought the clinic’s services, not serve as a thought-police action. And charges were dropped against her.
Not to say that it’s not impossible here, it totally is, but this isn’t quite the Orwellian moment it appears to be on the surface.
@@Guiscardr She was literally only thinking tho ??
@@Guiscardr Maybe so, but you can see the foundation; the risk of it growing into something worse.
@@RomanHistoryFan476AD Not really, she didn't get arrested for thinking, or praying, but rather harassing people trying to get an abortion.
If anything trying to equivocate harrassing somebody based on your beliefs with someone just thinking and being punished for thoughtcrimes is closer to doublespeak.
If we treat what she did like you said she did, then it would lead to mass religous discrimination and violence, and we couldn't punish them because you would say its thought policing
Christians are one of the furthest from persecuted groups in the west if not the most. Nobody is arresting people for being prolife but they are for being pro choice. Yall can't freely discriminate and oppress those you deem as sinners anymore, that's not being oppressed.
@@RomanHistoryFan476AD And your comprehension of what a thought crime is, is very shallow.
For instance we've always taken in to account what the person commiting a crime is thinking, or rather what their intent is or was.
Classifying hatecrimes being a thing we charge people with as anything close to 1984, is ludicrous. It's not thought policing, we simply have that law because to commit a murder for instance for racist reasons is especially evil and needless, unlike murdering someone during a robbery or gang shootout, unlike a murder done in passion, we already have extra qualifiers like premeditation, how young the person is, The notion that including racism as motive is somehow oppressive is stupid.
I always though it was ineresting that Winston understood/realized the manipulation that was going on, he still got Juilia's and O'Brian's relationships to him completely backward. He intially thought Juila was with the thought police and would never have sex with him and he thoght O'Brian was his "friend" and fellow rebel.
I think Orwell intended this to show that, even if you are trying, you would never be able to figueout who was on your side without great risk.
I picture Beria when I think of O'Brian.
He is the wolf, and winston was a lonely black sheep that could not be herded. So instead, he was vaporized.
I kind of want to believe that O’Brien is Big Brother in the flesh who says that Big Brother does exist that Winston doesn’t exist because big brother is the party so that really means that he is big brother himself who watches everything including Winston as well to represents tyranny. Or he is probably a second in command of the party INSOC and is probably the real boss to the Ministry of Love which is the thought police who kind of reminds me about every dictator’s second in command who is very loyal to their evil leader’s cause that they become leaders of any secret police force to detain and tortured dissidents who go against the leader and the state.
black girls whine because makeup foundations don't suit them but they can actually use their own poop as foundation
After briefly studying film 🎥 in 1978-79, I've had this morbid curiosity regarding Actors in their last roles; my curiosity hasntbeen matched by effort in research 😢
Burton, Monroe, James Dean... these powerful people went "off-stage" and Beyond. Burton played this bleak character, then passed away within months.
Was "O'Brien" a true believer & valued team player? I think he knew he *had* to be, and had the skillset that mastered personal "thought control" and supervisory functioning. I'd offer this comparison: some war veterans (I'm in USA; never did military) with very similar experiences, return and achieve very diverse life paths. Some become high ranking business people, some bureaucrats, some go blue collar and others homeless or addicts.
So, somehow similarly, those in the Inner Party have *genuine* affinity for IngSoc, or a *contrived* ("self-serving"?) allegiance that steps on toes to finagle promotions & benefits? I think O'Brien connives: it's certainly part of his job, dealing with Smith, a betrayed Outer Party dissident. 😅😮😂
How did O'Brien achieve his position? Is it even a high position? Or is he one of hundreds or thousands who process Thought Criminals? Certainly that brings up the one on one aspects: O'Brien as "tutor"? They can't rehabilitate in groups, we must presume.
Fun thoughts...😅
It's a shame really as he got quite a bit of critical acclaim for the role and apparently he had become somewhat of a pariah. Great performance. I always picture his face and hear his voice when thinking of O'Brien. Lol
Good points on O'Brien's position in the hierarchy. It's certainly feasible he is just a 'rank-and-file' inner party member (so to speak). Not everyone can be a minister or director or such under BB, I suppose. Many inner party members must be military officers and thought police, etc.
Did O'Brian subscribe to the principles of INGSOC?
Yes *and* No
(Both at the same time, at once rebelling and never wavering simultaneously.)
I'd imagine that TC troopers/Handlers are allowed some latitude in snaring these most dangerous and virulent of offenders. I'd rather a rash of bank robberies than one BadThinkDoer speaking where someone can hear it.
O'Brien is an opposite of Winston. Powerless - powerful. Thoughtcriminal - goodthinking. And so on.
I have the feeling that Wiston was in the right path at the end of the book. One day he would have the same status of O’Brien erasing party members like Parsons and Syme. Those were unfit because they truly believed in ingsoc while Wiston was tortured and broken to love the party above everything else, even love.
No, O'Brien is a powerless hypocrite. He doesn't believe what he says, but says it anyway. The Party is a lion to be fed, and today he's feeding it Winston. That's why O'Brien continues his musings and intellectual banter with Winston. Imagine O'Brien as a "sword nerd" slowing ramping another sword nerd through with a blade while talking about the intricacies of the blade as he does it, and suddenly it all make sense.
Surely the father of James O'Brien from LBC!
The character is far more interesting than a turd of that sort
O'Brien would like to be the thought police
1984 lore!! They got u too?
"They got me a long time ago..." ;-D
Of all the characters in that wonderful book, O'Brien is for me, the most fascinating ...
There is something about his character. I think many share Winston's in-universe fascination with him.
I'm curious about the soldiers. They seem to see everything but still follow orders and they seem to exist outside of the social structure triangle. They are clearly too intelligent to be Proles but there is no way a soldier could retire to the outer party because they know too much. So, is being a soldier a way for outer party members to become inner party or are they unpersoned once they join the army and then culled once they have served their time?
I suspect that they may be privileged proles. Indeed, as with many cultures, joining the army may have been a way to escape their crushing poverty and perhaps get out of Air Strip One or their home province a bit.
In Goldstein's Book it does state that the forces involved in actual warfare in the disputed zones are relatively smaller professional ones, which makes me believe they are probably in the lower hundreds of thousands total and perhaps even in the upper tens of thousands.
Factor into this scenario casualties through KIAs and disease that will reduce the numbers returning to their home province and perhaps causing trouble. I think too they might mitigate this by stationing Oceanic soldiers in garrisons in disputed zone territories that are also periodically wiped out (by the enemy) or simply moved to another area or 'foreign' province (e.g. Australian troops stationed in South America and vice versa).
Given how small both branches of the Party are compared to the proles I think it's highly likely soldiers and guards are proles. Winston too describes the guards patrolling the outer bounds of the Ministry of Love as "guerilla-faced" too which may be a snobbish comment on their prole origins and perceived lack of intelligence.
Thank you for the interesting question. This isn't a definitive answer by any means, just a few random thoughts. 👍
Can you a video on how you think O’Briens early life was? Childhood, school, interests ect
Unfortunately, there's not enough information on this. We know little about him. It would be 100% speculation or fan fiction. :(
I think that O'Brian definitely believes in party doctrine and also knows that the true purpose of the Inner Party is to hold power for the sake of power and dominate all others. This is the act of doublethink that Inner Party members must be able to make or be purged.
Good to know he has some Irish in him
I forget: are the soldiers supposed to be outer party, or are they proles?
I'd imagine they would be proles. Since the proles have the largest percentage population wise. Easy to decide to be the war fodder.
What if O’Brien really was like Winston? He wrote the opposition book. Maybe Goldstein was real once and he knew him. And then the party “got him” a long time ago and successfully transformed him into its agent
Marianna Spring?
Who is O'Brien? Winston Smith is.
Does the brotherhood even exist?
“That, Winston, you will never know. If we choose to set you free when we have finished with you, and if you live to be ninety years old, still you will never learn whether the answer to that question is Yes or No. As long as you live it will be an unsolved riddle in your mind.” LOL
I don't think it did, I think the illusion was created by the party in order to root out thought criminals and to focus the proles hate onto something.
Yes, i believe they do and thats why O'brien never confirmed or denied
Good film, PHENOMENAL novel. Read it.
To slightly misquote a very different film, I'm an O'Brien and so is my wife.
That's actually true, as is the fact that my mum's born name was Smith, and sadly - nay tragically - she has dementia to the point she, Smith, is in a way torturing my dad, an O'Brien.
Since o brien is a psychopath with a powerful intelligence and imagination,perhaps everything in the novel only happens in his mind.
Predictive programming come to life in 2024.
The Foray into Thought and Motive:
Hate crime legislation and hate speech laws embark upon a daring and dangerous frontier, where the law peers not merely into the consequences of action but into the motives that spark it. A crime becomes more grievous if fueled by the venom of bias-racism, sexism, or prejudice-and speech becomes punishable when laced with the potential to incite harm. This heralds a seismic shift: from punishing deeds to probing the private sanctum of belief and motive. It is a delicate dance, balancing the need to shield society from prejudice's scourge against the peril of legislating thought itself.
Generational Drift and Interpretive Erosion:
Legal constructs, like artifacts buried under time’s sediment, risk misinterpretation by successive generations. As the progeny of today inherit the legal corpus, the original raison d'être behind hate crime or hate speech laws may blur. The clarity of these statutes’ intent-to mitigate harm-might dissolve into an opaque perception of policing thought or belief, jeopardizing cornerstones of justice such as the presumption of innocence and the sanctity of free expression.
A Future Balanced on a Knife's Edge:
The trajectory of these laws may mirror the trajectory of drink-driving statutes, where societal understanding diverges from foundational legal philosophy. Could an utterance of distaste, if deemed hateful, one day bear the weight of incitement to violence, even in the absence of direct harm? This specter haunts the intersection of protecting the vulnerable and preserving the unassailable principle of free speech-a tension that may define the legal odyssey of the next century.
I think O'Brian generally likes Winston.
It's certainly a complicated relationship. O'Brien even states Winston's mind appeals to him, as it resembles his own (aside from the former's "insanity"). For Winston's part, even after the big reveal and in the midst of O'Brien torturing him Winston still feels a strong bond and even admiration for O'Brien at times.
@nineteen-eighty-four-lore why would a high ranking inner party member put in so much time and effort on one rank and file outer party thought criminal?
Thing is, from a certain Point of View*, O'Brien is the hero of the story in knowing Winston was a thought criminal of the doubleplusungood sort and exposing him before he carried out any of the horrible things he confessed he was willing to do. And then because the Party is so benevolent, they 'rehabilitated' him rather than executing him like barbarians so he'd be a productive and sane member of society.
*reference intended
I like 1984. It's a really great book that got hijacked by idiots to call not being an asshole "1984 like"
Of course you have a furry PFP...enjoy your servitude to the ruling class.
Well some things may be "like 1984", you think otherwise? I would say more Brave New World.
Ive always wondered how exactly O'brien knew for sure Winston was a thought criminal? It appears to just be knowing looks untill he invites him to his office.
Was it not more like entrapment? Been a couple years but I remember feeling Winston was set up, like the party testing people to find the weak links
winston wasnt subtle enough. he was a disgusting thought criminal and gave away hints. plus he was writing a literal diary in his room which is bugged and observed. the party knew what he was doing. the reason why winston wasnt outright killed is because he was actually a useful idiot. not smart enough like symes to be erased totally, but stupid enough to be converted fully.
@@ThailandOutsiderYes Winston was identified as a possible thought criminal before the events of the novel and was set up from the start, with increased surveillance. Even his apartment was setup in such a way with a nook away from the telescreen to tempt him to write down traitorous thoughts in a journal, which he did.
I think they should make a sequel set 20 or 10 years after the John Hurt film starring Art Parkinson from GOT and Kubo and the Two Strings and Isabella Sermon from Jurrassic World Fallen Kingdom and Dominion . They’re great young actors. What do you think?
No
Why not? I think it could be interesting.
@@chasehedges6775make it so we can all see you fail on your ass.
@@chasehedges6775
Because it wouldn't do justice to Orwell's work.
Because Hollywood nowadays could not understand Orwell's work.
Because Hollywood nowadays WILL taint Orwell's work.
I think you're trolling.
O'Brian was right
like trump did with magasoc to the american people
god help us
Re opening monologue, mumbling Joe's america 2024
Marrage?
Story of 2024 Russia.
Story of russia since the cheka and nkvd