A Look at Emmanuel Goldstein’s Personality as Illustrated in George Orwell Book, 1984

Emmanuel Goldstein is a fictional person made by the Party to control the members of the Party. The idea of Emmanuel Goldstein is similar to the idea of Big brother. As stated in the novel, Big Brother himself is not real but a fictional person which the Party uses to control the people. By having a “real” figure, the people have someone to look up to and follow. This would not be possible with an abstract idea/object or a group of people forming an organization. In the same way, Emmanuel is just a tool used by the Party to control the people of Oceania.

Emmanuel Goldstein is the leader of the Brotherhood and the enemy of the Party. As the author of “the book,” Emmanuel is believed to be creating an organization called the Brotherhood to overthrow the Party. The Party often spreads propaganda which states that Emmanuel Goldstein is plotting against the people of Oceania and allying with their enemies Eurasia and Eastasia. This often incites the people of Oceania, especially the Party members, to immediately fear him and have strong negative attitudes towards Emmanuel Goldstein. In the novel, Emmanuel Goldstein is said to have physical facial similarities to a sheep. With the characteristic of a Jewish face and a goatee, the face of Emmanuel Goldstein had a despicable aspect to it.

These characteristics of Emmanuel Goldstein clearly shows the time of when the novel was written. The novel, 1984, depicts George Orwell’s belief of a plausible tyrannical government in the future. With the end of World War II in 1945, George Orwell includes the tyrannic nature of the Nazi government and creates a similar situation through the characters in the book, the Party representing the Nazi party. Through this relationship, the sheeplike qualities and the Jewish face of Emmanuel Goldstein creates an implication that Emmanuel Goldstein represents the Jewish people of that time. The hate Emmanuel receives from the Party is similar to the hate which the Jews received from the Nazi party.

Emmanuel Goldstein’s purpose within the novel can be separated into two different categories. One category of Emmanuel Goldstein’s purpose is to expose the members of the party who are against the Party and commits the dangerous crime of thoughtcrime. With the idea of an organization and a leader who are against the Party, the Party provides a sense of hope to those who feel the oppression of the Party and do not accept their tyrannical government. This results in these “rebels” to seek out the brotherhood. The Party then can bring up spies or administrators, such as O’Brian, to pretend to be a part of the Brotherhood and lure these people in and have them confess to their thoughtcrime, just as Wilson has.

The other category of Emmanuel Goldstein’s purpose is a scapegoat used to control the emotion of the Party members. As stated earlier, Emmanuel Goldstein is a fictional character created by the Party. By having a “real” and “physical” person or figure, the people have someone to either look up to or hate against. As previously mentioned, this would be significantly harder, if not impossible, to do with an abstract idea or an organization. With Emmanuel Goldstein acting as a scapegoat to direct the hatred of the Party members, the Party can direct adoration and love towards Big Brother, a “savior” against the evil Emmanuel Goldstein, and bringing a false sense of security to the people. This would create a massive support for the Party, eliminating any thoughts of disapproval against the tyrannical government of the Party.