Orwell, George — Nineteen eighty-four [674]

‘It is called wine,’ said O’Brien with a faint smile. ‘You will have read about it in books, no doubt. Not much of it gets to the Outer Party, I am afraid.’ His face grew solemn again, and he raised his glass: ‘I think it is fitting that we should begin by drinking a health. To our Leader: To Emmanuel Goldstein.’ — Orwell, George, Nineteen eighty-four, 674

Note

The seduction of the ritual: O’Brien smiles at the class gap—wine unavailable to the Outer Party—then solemnizes the moment with a toast ‘to our Leader’ that pivots to Goldstein, the traitor-turned-messiah. The structure (ordinary luxury, then ideological oath) in a single beat.