The book explicitly asks the question: why? Why does the Party exist, and why does O’Brien do what he’s doing to Winston? I think the book’s answer is partially correct, but incomplete. O’Brien states, correctly, that they’re motivated by the desire for power. But the book doesn’t explain why O’Brien wants this particular type of power. Why is Winston’s mental, spiritual, emotional capitulation so important if O’Brien is just gonna kill him anyway?

Also: is O’Brien a true believer, a genuine practitioner of Doublespeak? Does he drink his own kool-aid? Has O’Brien himself internalized the twisted epistemology that he manages to sell so effectively to Winston? The book states that the Inner Party members do in fact practice Doublespeak, implying that this should be the case for O’Brien as well. But why, and how, does O’Brien gain the ability to practice Doublespeak so well? Is it simply bc he knows what will happen to him if he doesn’t? Because if that is the case, then O’Brien’s primary motivation is not a desire for power; his primary motivation is fear. Or perhaps, in true Doublespeak fashion, it’s both at the same time.

So I don’t feel like the book gives us clear answers. I suspect Orwell himself didn’t have a full understanding of the big picture. Pretty sure this was my take when I first read this decades ago, and I’ve been simmering on it, trying to answer the unanswered questions ever since.

An important book, well worth the time spent