Emmanuel Goldstein In George Orwell's '1984'

Any character, no matter how minor, can change the course of any book. In George Orwell’s “1984”, Emmanuel Goldstein is no exception. Orwell uses Goldstein to represent the major enemy of the Party, which drastically affects the main character, Winston Smith. Winston’s and the readers opinions on Goldstein vary from book to book, making the motivations of Winston change. George Orwell uses the character of Emmanuel Goldstein to show that people should not just see what they are accomplishing, but how they are accomplishing it.

In Books 1 & 2, Emmanuel Goldstein is introduced as the leader of the Brotherhood, the main radicalist group aiming to take down the Party. Winston and his fellow comrades are taught from a young age to hate Goldstein, making him the center of the two minutes of hate. As described in the book, “A hideous ecstasy of fear and vindictiveness, a desire to kill, to torture, to smash faces in with a sledge-hammer, seemed to flow through the whole group of people like an electric current, turning one even against one's will into a grimacing, screaming lunatic." These descriptions help show how much the citizens of Oceania hated Goldstein. These two minutes of hate help keep citizens in check by making them hate their only source of hope. Winston has constant doubts throughout Book 1 about his loyalty to the Party, making him become more and
As the story progressed, the radicalism of the Brotherhood became clear. As O’Brien repeats the horrible things Winston was willing to do shows that the Brotherhood is truly no better than the Party. After O’Brien reveals that the Inner Party wrote Goldstein’s book, the Party and the Brotherhood begin sounding the same, believing in the same ideals and philosophies. As those similarities become clear, the theme surrounding Emmanuel Goldstein starts to