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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. Image File history File links Richard_Burton_O'Brien_1984. ...
Image File history File links Richard_Burton_O'Brien_1984. ...
Richard Burton CBE (November 10, 1925 – August 5, 1984) was a Welsh actor. ...
Year 1984 (MCMLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1984 Gregorian calendar). ...
1984 (sometimes Nineteen Eighty-Four, which is how the title appears on screen) is a British film based upon the 1949 novel of the same name by George Orwell; the film was made in the year imagined by the author. ...
Alice, a fictional character based on a real character from the work of Lewis Carroll. ...
Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903[1][2] – 21 January 1950), better known by the pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist. ...
This article is about the Orwell novel. ...
Peter Cushing as Winston Smith in the 1954 BBC Television adaptation of Nineteen Eighty-Four, with Donald Pleasence as Syme. ...
This article is about the philosophical concept and literary form. ...
In the world of George Orwells Nineteen Eighty-Four, The Party which controls Oceania is split into two halves: the Inner Party and the Outer Party. ...
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. Forms of government Part of the Politics series Politics Portal This box: Totalitarianism is a term employed by political scientists, especially those in the field of comparative politics, to describe modern regimes in which the state regulates nearly every aspect of public and private behavior. ...
When Winston is later arrested, it turns out that O'Brien is actually entirely loyal to the Party. His 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. Torture is defined by the United Nations Convention Against Torture as any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he...
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, a strange intimacy 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. Room 101 is a place introduced in the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell. ...
The character of O'Brien is an intellectual who uses his gifts to serve the authoritarian state rather than criticize it.
In the 1984 movie version of the story, O'Brien was portrayed by Richard Burton in his last role before he died. 1984 (sometimes Nineteen Eighty-Four, which is how the title appears on screen) is a British film based upon the 1949 novel of the same name by George Orwell; the film was made in the year imagined by the author. ...
Richard Burton CBE (November 10, 1925 – August 5, 1984) was a Welsh actor. ...
In the 1954 BBC Television adaptation of Nineteen Eighty-Four, the character was played by André Morell. Year 1954 (MCMLIV) was a common year (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...
BBC Television is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation which began in 1932. ...
Peter Cushing played Winston Smith while Donald Pleasence played Syme. ...
André Morell as Professor Bernard Quatermass in the BBC Television serial Quatermass and the Pit (1958-59). ...
Canadian actor Lorne Greene played O'Brien in a 1953 adaptation on CBS's anthology series Studio One. Lorne Greene in his role as Ben Cartwright in Bonanza Lorne Greene as Commander Adama in Battlestar Galactica Lorne Greene O.C., LL.D. (February 12, 1915 – September 11, 1987) was a Canadian actor best known for two iconic roles on American television. ...
Year 1953 (MCMLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...
CBS Broadcasting, Inc. ...
Studio One was an American dramatic television anthology series, sponsored by Westinghouse Electric Corporation. ...
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