André Morell as O'Brien in the 1954 BBC Television adaptation of Nineteen Eighty-Four.

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.) André Morell as Professor Bernard Quatermass in the BBC Television serial Quatermass and the Pit (1958-59). ... 1954 was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... BBC One (or BBC1 as it was formerly styled) is the oldest television station in the United Kingdom, and indeed, the world. ... Peter Cushing played Winston Smith while Donald Pleasence played Syme. ... A fictional character is any person who appears in a work of fiction. ... George Orwell George Orwell was the pen name of British author Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950). ... Nineteen Eighty-Four (sometimes 1984) was written by George Orwell under the working title of The Last Man in Europe. ... This article is regarding the character in Nineteen Eighty-Four. ... A dystopia (alternatively, cacotopia or kakotopia) is a hypothetical society usually portrayed as existing in a future time when the conditions of life are extremely bad due to deprivation, oppression, or terror. ... 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, and eventually finds the courage to approach him, 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 almost legendary "Brotherhood" seeking to overthrow the Party. The concept of Totalitarianism is a typology or ideal-type used by some political scientists to encapsulate the characteristics of a number of twentieth century regimes that mobilized entire populations in support of the state or an ideology. ...

However, when Winston is later arrested, it turns out that O'Brien is actually entirely loyal to the Party. Reading between the lines, we may even suspect that he is one of the architects of the totalitarian society Winston lives in (the ultra-cynical faction of the Party that eliminated the original leaders of the Revolution). 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 as reality. 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 - for ever."

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, O'Brien does manage to torture Winston into submission so that he "willingly" embraces the philosophy of the Party.

The character of O'Brien may be regarded as Orwell's chilling portrayal of 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 (his demise being an uncanny apropos to the story: Winston at one point observes that O'Brien looks old and tired, but O'Brien says the death of the individual is of no importance since individuals are just the cells of the immortal Party). In the 1954 BBC Television adaptation of Nineteen Eighty-Four, the character was played by André Morell. This article is about the 20th-century actor. ... 1954 was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... BBC Television is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation which began in 1936. ... 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). ...

See also: Goldstein's book (of which O'Brien is revealed as one of the true authors). Goldsteins book is a fictional book which is an important element in both the plot and the overall theme of George Orwells dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. ...