Orwell, George — Nineteen eighty-four [86]

Momentarily he caught O’Brien’s eye. O’Brien had stood up. He had taken off his spectacles and was in the act of re-settling them on his nose with his characteristic gesture. But there was a fraction of a second when their eyes met, and for as long as it took to happen Winston knew – yes, he knew! – that O’Brien was thinking the same thing as himself. An unmistakable message had passed. It was as though their two minds had opened and the thoughts were flowing from one into the other through their eyes. ‘I am with you,’ O’Brien seemed to be saying to him. ‘I know precisely what you are feeling. I know all about your contempt, your hatred, your disgust. But don’t worry, I am on your side!’ And then the flash of intelligence was gone, and O’Brien’s face was as inscrutable as everybody else’s. — Orwell, George, Nineteen eighty-four, 86

Note

The hope of a secret fellowship under surveillance — an unvoiced exchange inside a crowd performing loyalty. The imagined dialogue in O’Brien’s voice carries the full weight of Winston’s longing and, given the novel’s later turn, his self-deception.