1984 Sigmund Goldstein Character Analysis

Who is Emmanuel Goldstein? While some might say Emmanuel Goldstein did not affect the loyalty of Oceania’s public, one might argue that Goldstein is the most effective use of propaganda in the book 1984 by George Orwell. His Jewish name is an allusion to Hitler and Stalin’s fear of Jewish intelligentsia, which is why he is represented as an evil human being and shown in Two-Minute Hate to channel hate away from the party. Although he may be a fictitious character, he is used as a real common enemy by Big Brother to keep the public’s loyalty with the party. Through the twists and turns of the book, the reader is plunged into the world of Big Brother. In 1984, the character Emmanuel Goldstein accomplishes three things; he is a symbol of hate,

Secondly, Goldstein is a conflicting power to Big Brother. Every story needs a protagonist and an antagonist and in 1984, he is neither. He is the force acting heavily on the protagonist’s conscience. Goldstein’s ideas lead to the founding of The Brotherhood, the supposed underground rebellious group revolting against Big Brother. The existence of the Brotherhood remains an enigma, as it is not spelled out whether Goldstein is real or not. Big Brother uses fear of The Brotherhood and mixes it with hatred for the Brotherhood to make people draw closer to the safety of Big Brother. The party does not only aim to eliminate the enemy, they aim to change the enemy completely using torture and brainwashing. A poem

Lastly, Emmanuel Goldstein is a rallying point for Oceania. He is a risky act of propaganda aiming to bring the people of Oceania together. The way that Big Brother functions is similar to that of Hitler; they both use hate and blame to bring large groups of people together. According to syndicated columnist Carl Rowan, “Shootings and bombings committed by white supremacists reveal how dangerous hate groups can be. Although these crimes have thus far been isolated incidents, they have been praised by well-known hate-group leaders and may be harbingers of a more organized "race war" in the years to come. Americans must come to understand that hate groups pose a serious threat.”(Rowan) Although he is talking about racial hate, the same hate is applied to the people of Oceania in regards to underground groups that rebel against Big Brother, such as The Brotherhood. Goldstein is shown in Two-Minute Hate as an outlet for people to release emotional stress. An example of this technique is Goldie Hawn’s emotional stress relief technique. “Her book 10 Mindful Minutes: Giving Our Children--and Ourselves--the Social and Emotional Skills to Reduce Stress and Anxiety for Healthier, Happier Lives, which she wrote with Wendy Holden, relates to her MindUp mission”(Goldie). The only difference in the ten minute meditation and Two Minutes hate, is time. They are both outlets for emotion that bring people emotional peace. Another reason this is effective is because it makes people less