Brotherhood

[OrwellianTiger]

Winston and Julia finally meet O'Brian face to face to talk. They are added to the brotherhood which seems more like an unorganized group. No one knows who else is in it except for their contact. When they are told what is expected of them O'Brian makes it seem very bleak. He says that they will never see any effects and will surely be killed. So why does being part of the Brotherhood give Winston hope?

[TherealGO]

It gives him hope,as there is something else he can do to strike out against BB and the Party.

[cool-story-bro]

I believe it gives Winston hope because even though there isn't going to be any change in his life time, there might be change in the future. He also knows that no matter what, he's going to die. But dying doing something against the Party is better than dying doing nothing at all.

[kev67]

Knowing what you know of O'Brien, that list of terrorist activities he asks Winston and Julia whether they are prepared to do sounds like a very damning charge sheet. If Winston and Julia were really prepared to carry out those activities, the state would have ample justification for doing whatever it needed to do to stop them.

The description of the Brotherhood reminds me of a book I read recently that discussed asymetric warfare, in which secretive cells of terrorists/insurgents/freedom fighters commit acts of violence and sabotage against the state. For example, it is often said Al Quaeda is more a franchise than a single, organised movement. It reminded me a bit of the IRA, which was also organised in cells so that no member could give away the whole movement.

It seems pretty likely The Brotherhood was thought up by the Inner Party to trap its enemies. This is quite clever. I seem to remember hearing that after the Russian Revolution, the Bolsheviks set up its own counter-revolutionary movement and then rounded up anyone who turned up. Maybe this is where Orwell got his inspiration for the Brotherhood. Stalinism definitely seems to be the inspiration for 1984 more than any other example of totalitarianism.