"You do not exist."
Note: I will only be covering the 1949 novel version.
Would you look at the date? It's literally 1984. Anywho... Hey buddies, this is gonna be my third ever discussion, and it's for a George Orwell villain. Now, you might be wondering what exactly I'm doing with O'Brien, am I removing him? Not particularly, I'm just going to go through a re-evaluation of O'Brien, given that there's more to him, and a lot more arguments coming from his side. You'll get what I mean. Let's get it.
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What's the work?
1984 is George Orwell's satire dystopian novel, depicting a fictional future set in the year 1984 (which itself may not be true). The world is divided into three Superstates; Eurasia, Eastasia and Oceania. Great Britain, now known as Airstrip One, is a province of Oceania led by Big Brother, a totalitarian dictator figure of The Party. It shows that the world is in an omnipresence surveillance, policing an individuals thoughts itself.
Who is he?
O'Brien, first name unknown, is the main antagonist of 1984. He is the protagonist Winston Smith's superior at the Ministry of Truth, where they both work at, getting rid of documents, and rewriting history to fit The Party's agenda. Winston secretly despises the Party and seeks to rebel against it. Winston feels some odd sense of connection to O'Brien and starts to suspect that he is secretly working against the Party.
Winston is seemingly correct, as when O'Brien one day invites him to come to his flat. O'Brien tells Winston that he is a member of "Brotherhood", an underground rebellion group seeking to overthrow the totalitarian regime of The Party and Big Brother, and gives Winston a copy of a book written by Emmanuel Goldstein, the leader of the Brotherhood. It was all a farce, however, as O'Brien is revealed to be a member of the Thought Police all along, more specifically, a member of its Inner Party, and an agent of the False Flag resistance, aiming to find and "cure" dissenting thought-criminals and unpersons like Winston.
When Winston and his co-conspiring lover, Julia is captured and imprisoned, O'Brien appears in Winston's cell and reveals that the Party had gotten him long before they got Winston. From there, he personally oversees, supervises and controls Winston's "re-education", subjecting him to extremely brutal torture sessions such as beating, sleep deprivation, bone crushing, starvation and much more. In the end, Winston was left almost skeletonized, and become so weak that O'Brien would have no problem ripping off this tooth. After completely mind-breaking Winston when he forces him to enter room 101, where the captor's worst fears are placed against them, in Winston's case, rats, he denounces his love for Julia. O'Brien, satisfied with curing Winston, releases him back. A "re-educated" Winston now seemingly loves Big Brother and accepts the Party wholeheartedly, embracing the very regime he dreamt to overthrow.
What Makes him Close to Pure Evil?
Heinous Acts
O'Brien manipulates Winston's trust and makes him confess his guilt of conspiring against the party subtly. And when he reveals himself to be part of INGSOC's Inner Party all along, O'Brien subjects Winston to the most cruelest form of torture imaginable. He had him regularly beaten by guards and deprived of sleep. He had him starved relentlessly. To set an example on whatever the Party says is the truth, and if he doesn't give the desired answer, he has parts of his body brutally crushed by hydraulic press. When one of these questions, 2 = 2 = 5 is answered by Winston, he still punishes him, as he still believes that Winston didn't genuinely mean it.
These tortures had Winston resembling a skeleton in the end, and O'Brien was said to have no problem plucking a tooth out. He doesn't stop at physical torture, but mental ones too. When he gave Winston time to recover his sanity, he had him renounce his love for Julia by subjecting him to his worst fear, rats. When these torturous sessions finally ended, Winston was "cured" and mindlessly obeyed Big Brother. Reeeeal Sick fuck, and he's presumably done this to many people before Winston.
Heinous Standards
So, the original issue with O'Brien was that he was a "cog in the machine", as in, just a simple member of the INGSOC, merely following its doctrine, and only stood out enough due to him being the sole torturer seen in the story, as well as it having a gnarly focus on. However, I argue that O'Brien doesn't fail the system or heinous standards at all.
O'Brien is established as being a high-ranking member of INGSOC, and a distinguished agent of the Thought Police, and someone who is actively facilitating the brainwashing torture shown. The "Inner Party" he is in is a very select few of individuals, about 2% I'd say. I find it very hard calling him a standard "cog" given the role O'Brien plays as. To sum it up, he is a very important figure responsible for facilitating the brainwashing of the Party, and this is given a lot of focus on the story, essentially making him easily distinguishable from the rest of the members of the Party that we see. I'd say he passes well enough, rather easily too in fact.
Mitigating Factors?
Extremism?
Not really. O'Brien is VERY honest and cynical about the Party's real motive, which is absolute power for the sake of absolute power. According to him, it is the "Thrill of victory" and "Sensation of trampling on an enemy who is helpless". So that just throws away any well intentions that might have had is thrown out of the window and he does not sugarcoat it at all.
Moral Agency?
While he was similarly brainwashed and tortured like Winston was, I wouldn't say that he is morally impaired, as he is well aware of what he is doing, what the Party is doing, and is very much so aware that the Party is full of bullshit; They are only out for power. This level of self-awareness doesn't convince me that he isn't aware of what he's doing.
What Prevents him from Being Pure Evil?
| “ | Winston: They've got you too! O'Brien: They got me a long time ago. |
„ |
| ~ These seven words... says a LOT. |
So, the actual concern with O'Brien was just straight up glossed over. Given the context of 1984, and how none of the citizens seem to be free, O'Brien's seven words of "They got me a long time ago" holds a LOT of weight and a lot of implications.
He, like Winston, was tortured and broken into following the Party by INGSOC as well. We see just how horrific and cruel the tortures are, like we see with Winston. It is very apparent from this line that everything that happened to Winston also happened to O'Brien at one point, such as the skeletonization, being broken and subjected to their worst fears. It is a very horrible fate, and we saw just how it affected Winston.
Now, while this is very brief, it is still a prevention IMO, as it ultimately is the point of 1984 that anyone can be broken into submission under the totalitarian reign of INGSOC and Big Brother, and it isn't something that can be glossed over. It is a focal point in the story, and the way O'Brien acts, so dead, so psychopathic, is all a symptom of this. He was broken a long time ago, and now, having rose to the top, fully accepted the Party as what it is.
That said, I personally feel that it isn't too preventing, as it is ultimately a very brief exchange that serves to let us know that, yes, Winston isn't the only one, O'Brien suffered too. But given that for the remainder of 1984, O'Brien is depicted as this psychopathic and horrific torturer who is beyond irredeemable makes me incline to believe that his freudian excuse, while still holding up, isn't too preventing, as the narrative paints him more of a force of totalitarian nature devoid of warmth and mercy, than a victim.
O'Brien comes very close to being purely evil, but when you consider the world of 1984, O'Brien is ultimately one of those who suffered from INGSOC's cruelty like everyone else. But since this isn't elaborated on, and O'Brien is still treated as a monster for most of the time, I'd say he's fine as NPE.
Verdict?
Remember, Big Brother is always watching, so vote carefully. For now, I'm okay with him keeping, but since this is a discussion, the decision is ultimately yours.