O’Brien is a large, graceful man and prominent Inner Party member, to whom Winston feels strangely connected. He is seemingly more intelligent than some other Party members, which leads Winston to believe that O’Brien would understand Winston, and that he may even harbour some secret rebellious thoughts of his own. However, O’Brien remains mys- terious to Winston for most of the novel, until he invites Winston to his apartment, which Winston takes as a secret invitation into the Brotherhood. It is here that O’Brien “confesses” to the rebellion and legitimises the horrors of the Party by giving Winston a copy of Em- manuel Goldstein’s book, The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism. Ultimately, O’Brien betrays Winston and turns him in to the Thought Police – it seems as though he only pretended to be part of the rebellion in order to get Winston to confess his crimes. In a weird way, this seems to be O’Brien’s way of showing that he cares for Winston’s personal wellbeing. Even the torture is a wicked form of parental discipline, done out of ‘love’ in order to make Winston ‘better.’
