Page 285 - Animal Farm and 1984

resettled his spectacles on his nose.
“Do you remember writing in your diary,” he said, “that it did not matter
whether I was a friend or an enemy, since I was at least a person who understood you and could be talked to? You were right. I enjoy talking to you. Your mind appeals to me. It resembles my own mind except that you happen to be insane. Before we bring the session to an end you can ask me a few questions, if you choose.”
“Any question I like?”
“Anything.” He saw that Winston’s eyes were upon the dial. “It is switched off. What is your first question?”
“What have you done with Julia?” said Winston.
O’Brien smiled again. “She betrayed you, Winston. Immediately— unreservedly. I have seldom seen anyone come over to us so promptly. You would hardly recognize her if you saw her. All her rebelliousness, her deceit, her folly, her dirty-mindedness—everything has been burned out of her. It was a perfect conversion, a textbook case.”
“You tortured her.”
O’Brien left this unanswered. “Next question,” he said.
“Does Big Brother exist?”
“Of course he exists. The Party exists. Big Brother is the embodiment of
the Party.”
“Does he exist in the same way as I exist?”
“You do not exist,” said O’Brien.
Once again the sense of helplessness assailed him. He knew, or he could
imagine, the arguments which proved his own nonexis tence; but they were nonsense, they were only a play on words. Did not the statement, “You do not exist,” contain a logical absurdity? But what use was it to say so? His mind shriveled as he thought of the unanswerable, mad arguments with which O’Brien would demolish him.
“I think I exist,” he said wearily. “I am conscious of my own identity. I was born, and I shall die. I have arms and legs. I occupy a particular point in space. No other solid object can occupy the same point simultaneously. In that sense, does Big Brother exist?”
“It is of no importance. He exists.”
“Will Big Brother ever die?”
“Of course not. How could he die? Next question.” “Does the Brotherhood exist?”