Character Sketches 1984 
O’Brien
Physical appearance
“O’Brien was a large, burly man with a thick neck and
a coarse, humorous, brutal face.”
“Prizefighter’s physique”
“…heavy face was flushed. He was sitting very straight
in his chair, his powerful chest swelling and quivering
as though he were standing up to the assault of a
wave.”
Personality traits
Mysterious – we don’t even know his first name!
Contradicting
Sadistic
Eloquent
Condescending
First mention in the novel
“The other person was a man named O’Brien, a
member of the Inner Party and holder of some post so
important and remote that Winston had only a dim
idea of its nature. “
Winston’s attitude to him: “He felt deeply drawn to
him, and not solely because he was intrigued by the
contrast between O’Brien’s urbane manner and his
prizefighter’s physique.”
Key scene in the novel
When Winston, Julia and O’Brien meet to discuss how
to take down the Party and O’Brien gives Winston a
book called “The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical
Collectivism by Emmanuel Goldstein”
When O’Brien is torturing Winston to “cure” him of
his “insanity”
Last appearance in novel
Last appearance: Torturing Winston
Last mention – “He [Winston] was light-years distant,
but O’Brien was still standing at his side.”
Setting
Room 101 at the concentration camp
Mr. Charrington’s shop
Major themes through
characters
Reduction of thought, (particularly
THOUGHTCRIME)
Vision
Semi-vision: “a trick of re-settling his spectacles on his
nose which was curiously disarming – in some
indefinable way, curiously civilized”
Reference to the spectacles
Quotations
“If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot
stamping on a human face – forever.”
Personification of totalitarian state, very violent.
O’Brien is very eloquent so it is ironic when he says
this because he negates the violence – makes it sound
less horrible than it is.
“You are a difficult case. But don’t give up hope. Everyone is cured
sooner or later. In the end we shall shoot you”
Saying “don’t give up hope” makes it appear as though
Winston is hopeful about being shot – IRONY
“Cured” – medical/pretentious diction – scientific impartiality
“In the end we shall shoot you” directly after “cured” implies
that being shot is the only definite way to be cured.
“God is Power”
The closest thing to a God is Big Brother, and therefore
believing in Big Brother means a higher level of power gained.
The word Power is capitalized – sounds like a slogan
Paradox
There is no God in this society – Big Brother is deified
The Party wants power over the people.
Self-elevation/Application to modern society
Does Big Brother exist?