Information about Emmanuel Goldstein

For the editor and publisher of 2600 Magazine, see Eric Gordon Corley.

Emmanuel Goldstein is a key character in George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four.

In the novel, Goldstein is rumored to be a former top member of the ruling (and sole) Party who had broken away early in the movement and started an organization known as "The Brotherhood", dedicated to the fall of The Party. The novel raises but leaves unanswered the question of whether Goldstein, the "Brotherhood," or even "Big Brother" really exist. The possibility that Goldstein was fabricated by the Party (for use as a scapegoat) is implied when Winston Smith rewrites Big Brother's Order of the Day (he works in the Records Department of the Ministry of Truth) to praise the actions of completely made-up Comrade Ogilvy, and thus realizes how easy it is to pull a person out of thin air in Oceania.^[1]

Each member of "The Brotherhood" is required to read the book supposedly written by Goldstein, The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism. Each person is said to have three or four contacts at one time which are replaced as people disappear, so that if a member is captured, he can only give up three or four others. Goldstein is always the subject of the "Two Minutes Hate," a daily, 2-minute period beginning at 11:00 AM at which some image of Goldstein is shown on the telescreen (a one-channel television with surveillance devices in it that can not be turned off except possibly by members of the inner party). It is thought that the opposition to Big Brother—namely, Goldstein—was simply a construction, which ensured that support and devotion towards Big Brother was continuous. It is never revealed whether this is true. In fact, O'Brien adamantly refuses to reveal whether or not The Brotherhood truly exists when asked by Winston in the torture room:

(Winston) "Does the Brotherhood exist?"

(O'Brien) "That, Winston, you will never know. If we choose to set you free when we have finished with you, and if you live to be ninety years old, still you will never learn whether the answer to that question is Yes or No. As long as you live it will be an unsolved riddle in your mind."

O'Brien also claims to have collaborated in writing the book himself, which supports the idea that Goldstein was fabricated by the Party.

Alleged real-life origins of the character

Leon Trotsky

Christopher Hitchens has claimed that the character is based on Leon Trotsky (born Lev Davidovich Bronstein), and that Goldstein's book is likewise based on Trotsky's The Revolution Betrayed.^[2] Orwell wrote of Trotskyism that

"the fact that Trotskyists are everywhere a persecuted minority, and that the accusation usually made against them, i.e. of collaborating with the Fascists, is obviously false, creates an impression that Trotskyism is intellectually and morally superior to Communism [i.e. supporters of Stalin]; but it is doubtful whether there is much difference."^[3]

In the "initiation ceremony" into the Brotherhood, as depicted in the novel, the characters of Winston and Julia are required to swear to complete and unconditional obedience, including taking the obligation to obey such orders as killing hundreds of innocents or pouring acid on a child's face. This suggests that in fact the Brotherhood is as tyrannical and authoritarian as the Party, and that if it ever gained power there would be little real change. This accords with the theory that the Brotherhood represents the Trotskyists, whom Orwell saw as little different fundamentally from the Communists.^[3] This has been disputed, as Winston remarks later that the extreme acts mentioned above are a bad means to achieve a good end and will not be required once the party has been overthrown and when "life is worth living again". However, this "initiation" was administered by O'Brien who is afterwards shown to be a Thought Police agent, and the possibility exists that the true Brotherhood - if it exists - might employ a completely different initiation ceremony.

Another perspective is that if the Brotherhood is indeed a creation of the Party, the initiation ceremony is deliberately designed to discredit and morally devalue the participants.

Religion

The character's name could be a reference to religion (which is banned in the world of Nineteen Eighty-Four), as "Emmanuel" translates as "God with us" in Hebrew while "Goldstein" is a typically Jewish surname (note that Trotsky was Jewish).

Emma Goldman

The website Newspeak Dictionary speculates that the name is a masculinized version of that of the female anarchist Emma Goldman.

Eduard Bernstein

Among revolutionary socialists in the late-nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, special ire was directed against reformist socialists, who believed in peaceable change that would meet the needs of the workers without social upheaval. Of these the most notorious was Eduard Bernstein, considered the founder of the movement. He was particularly disliked by the Marxist-Leninists based throughout Europe. Orwell was familiar with the history of the socialist movement, and would have cued into the feelings which still remained.

Emanuel Goldstein

Another possible source of inspiration for Orwell's Goldstein was the poet Emanuel Goldstein. A radical, Goldstein was friends with Norwegian painter Edvard Munch among others, though little else is known of him or his work.

In popular culture

The name Emmanuel Goldstein was taken as a pseudonym by Eric Gordon Corley, editor of . The 1995 film Hackers has a character known as "Cereal Killer" with the given name of Emmanuel Goldstein. The Internet Movie Database lists Corley as an (uncredited) consultant during the making of this movie.

References

•  • [ e] Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
Characters	Winston Smith
Places	Oceania
Classes	Inner Party
Ministries	Ministry of Love
Concepts	Ingsoc
Miscellaneous	Thought Police
Adaptations	1956 film
Influence	Nineteen Eighty-Four in popular media