1984

           Exactlyastheyhaddoneatthefrontdoor,thelittleman’sdarkeyesflickeredovertheirfaces. Therewasnotatraceoffriendlinessinhismanner. Hewasmemorizingtheirappearance,buthefeltnointerestinthem,orappearedtofeelnone. ItoccurredtoWinstonthatasyntheticfacewasperhapsincapableofchangingitsexpression. Withoutspeakingorgivinganykindofsalutation,Martinwentout,closingthedoorsilentlybehindhim. O’Brienwasstrollingupanddown,onehandinthepocketofhisblackoveralls,theotherholdinghiscigarette. 

           ‘Youunderstand,’hesaid,‘thatyouwillbefightinginthedark. Youwillalwaysbeinthedark. Youwillreceiveordersandyouwillobeythem,withoutknowingwhy. LaterIshallsendyouabookfromwhichyouwilllearnthetruenatureofthesocietywelivein,andthestrategybywhichweshalldestroyit. Whenyouhavereadthebook,youwillbefullmembersoftheBrotherhood. Butbetweenthegeneralaimsthatwearefightingforandtheimmediatetasksofthemoment,youwillneverknowanything. ItellyouthattheBrotherhoodexists,butIcannottellyouwhetheritnumbersahundredmembers,ortenmillion. Fromyourpersonalknowledgeyouwillneverbeabletosaythatitnumbersevenasmanyasadozen. Youwillhavethreeorfourcontacts,whowillberenewedfromtimetotimeastheydisappear. Asthiswasyourfirstcontact,itwillbepreserved. Whenyoureceiveorders,theywillcomefromme. Ifwefinditnecessarytocommunicatewithyou,itwillbethroughMartin. Whenyouarefinallycaught,youwillconfess. Thatisunavoidable. Butyouwillhaveverylittletoconfess,otherthanyourownactions. Youwillnotbeabletobetraymorethanahandfulofunimportantpeople. Probablyyouwillnotevenbetrayme. BythattimeImaybedead,orIshallhavebecomeadifferentperson,withadifferentface.’