The Brotherhood (Nineteen Eighty-Four)
Encyclopedia
The Brotherhood is a fictitious organization in George Orwell
's novel, Nineteen-Eighty Four. It is mysterious in origin and operations, working to bring down The Party
.
The Brotherhood was supposedly founded by a man named Emmanuel Goldstein
, one of the members of the original inner circle of the Party just below Big Brother himself. Like most leaders of the revolution, Goldstein turned on Big Brother but, unlike the others, he was somehow able to escape, and founded the Brotherhood. It remains unknown as to whether or not Goldstein exists and is still active, but if so, his location is unknown.
The Brotherhood cannot be said to be an "active" resistance movement, because its main goal is simply increasing in size slowly, in the hopes that generations in the future they might pose a threat to the party. In the film of the same name
, O'Brien implies that perhaps in "A thousand years" there might be an attack on the party by The Brotherhood. However, in the present day, even if they are not active enough to actually cause any damage, the Party's propaganda blames virtually anything that goes wrong on sabotage by Brotherhood spies.
Supposedly, Brotherhood members do not even know one another. All Brotherhood members are expected to be captured, and when they are, they will not be rescued, as to protect the secrecy of the mysterious organization – most attempt suicide when captured if it is possible. As a result of their extreme likelihood of capture, Brotherhood members do not know more than 3-4 other members of the party, and if captured they consequently cannot betray any significant number of other members.
Very little information is given as to whether the Brotherhood, or anything like it, actually exists. O'Brien heavily implies to Smith that all of the details of the Brotherhood and the very existence of Emmanuel Goldstein are just fabrications that the Party invented in order to lure out thought criminals and serve as a convenient scapegoat for the Party. O'Brien does allow that there might, hypothetically, be a real resistance movement similar to the fake Brotherhood, but if so, it has hidden itself so well that the Party has never detected it (the implication being, of course, that a movement so secret could never attain the level of organisation needed to genuinely threaten the regime).
The idea of the Brotherhood is, however, very real and is frequently used by the Party as a trap for potential thought criminals. Winston Smith
, the novel's protagonist, is contacted discreetly by O'Brien. O'Brien pretends to be a member of the Brotherhood. However, he is really working for the Party, lying to gain Winston's trust and denounce him as a thought criminal. When Winston is captured and tortured inside the Ministry of Love
, he asks O'Brien if the Brotherhood does exist. He tells Winston that that is a question he will never get an answer to, so it remains unknown as to whether it really exists or is merely an illusion created by the party.
The Brotherhood bears some resemblance a real OGPU operation known as the Trust Operation
, which was a fake anti-communist front group established to lure enemies of the Bolsheviks back from exile.
George Orwell
Eric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist...
's novel, Nineteen-Eighty Four. It is mysterious in origin and operations, working to bring down The Party
Ingsoc
Ingsoc is the political ideology of the totalitarian government of Oceania in George Orwell's dystopian science fiction novel Nineteen Eighty-Four.-Fictionalised origin of Ingsoc:...
.
The Brotherhood was supposedly founded by a man named Emmanuel Goldstein
Emmanuel Goldstein
Emmanuel Goldstein is a character in George Orwell's classic dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. He is the number one enemy of the people according to Big Brother and the Party, who heads a mysterious and possibly fictitious anti-party organization called The Brotherhood...
, one of the members of the original inner circle of the Party just below Big Brother himself. Like most leaders of the revolution, Goldstein turned on Big Brother but, unlike the others, he was somehow able to escape, and founded the Brotherhood. It remains unknown as to whether or not Goldstein exists and is still active, but if so, his location is unknown.
The Brotherhood cannot be said to be an "active" resistance movement, because its main goal is simply increasing in size slowly, in the hopes that generations in the future they might pose a threat to the party. In the film of the same name
Nineteen Eighty-Four (film)
Nineteen Eighty-Four is a 1984 British science fiction film, based upon George Orwell's novel of the same name, following the life of Winston Smith in Oceania, a country run by a totalitarian government...
, O'Brien implies that perhaps in "A thousand years" there might be an attack on the party by The Brotherhood. However, in the present day, even if they are not active enough to actually cause any damage, the Party's propaganda blames virtually anything that goes wrong on sabotage by Brotherhood spies.
Supposedly, Brotherhood members do not even know one another. All Brotherhood members are expected to be captured, and when they are, they will not be rescued, as to protect the secrecy of the mysterious organization – most attempt suicide when captured if it is possible. As a result of their extreme likelihood of capture, Brotherhood members do not know more than 3-4 other members of the party, and if captured they consequently cannot betray any significant number of other members.
Very little information is given as to whether the Brotherhood, or anything like it, actually exists. O'Brien heavily implies to Smith that all of the details of the Brotherhood and the very existence of Emmanuel Goldstein are just fabrications that the Party invented in order to lure out thought criminals and serve as a convenient scapegoat for the Party. O'Brien does allow that there might, hypothetically, be a real resistance movement similar to the fake Brotherhood, but if so, it has hidden itself so well that the Party has never detected it (the implication being, of course, that a movement so secret could never attain the level of organisation needed to genuinely threaten the regime).
The idea of the Brotherhood is, however, very real and is frequently used by the Party as a trap for potential thought criminals. Winston Smith
Winston Smith
Winston Smith is a fictional character and the protagonist of George Orwell's 1949 novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. The character was employed by Orwell as an everyman in the setting of the novel, a "central eye ... [the reader] can readily identify with"...
, the novel's protagonist, is contacted discreetly by O'Brien. O'Brien pretends to be a member of the Brotherhood. However, he is really working for the Party, lying to gain Winston's trust and denounce him as a thought criminal. When Winston is captured and tortured inside the Ministry of Love
Ministry of Love
The Ministry of Love is one of the four ministries that govern Oceania in George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four....
, he asks O'Brien if the Brotherhood does exist. He tells Winston that that is a question he will never get an answer to, so it remains unknown as to whether it really exists or is merely an illusion created by the party.
The Brotherhood bears some resemblance a real OGPU operation known as the Trust Operation
Trust Operation
Operation Trust was a counterintelligence operation of the State Political Directorate of the Soviet Union. The operation, which ran from 1921-1926, set up a fake anti-Bolshevik underground organization, "Monarchist Union of Central Russia", MUCR , in order to help the OGPU identify real...
, which was a fake anti-communist front group established to lure enemies of the Bolsheviks back from exile.