Jesus Walks

"We believe that there is some kind of conspiracy, some kind of secret organization working against the Party. We want to join it and work for it. We are enemies of the Party. We disbelieve in the principles of Ingsoc. We are thought-criminals. We are also adulterers. ... If you want us to incriminate ourselves in any other way, we are ready." -- Page 150-151

So at the start of the second half of the book (which I read over Spring Break, mind you), Winston and Julia are visiting O'Brien in his home, discussing the possibility of The Brotherhood and their future places in it.  Naturally, this entire conversation is incredibly ironic now that I've finished the book and know the true nature of O'Brien.  In one specific line O'Brien says to the eager duo, "I think it is fitting that we should begin by drinking a health. To our Leader: To Emmanuel Goldstein."  As I sit here re-reading that, it gives quite the eerie feeling to be honest.  O'Brien wrote the book that expresses the supposed 'views' of Emmanuel Goldstein, so for him to toast to the ideals of a man that he, and others in the Inner Party, created riffles me with doublethink and leads to so much irony looking back.  This scene is also slightly sad to me, because it represents the first time Winston and Julia, together, take responsibility for their thoughtcrimes and declare their personal heresies pertaining to the Party, also together.  The last three words of the above quote, "we are ready" rings as especially pathetic, because neither of them were, in fact, ready for the betrayal that would take place in Room 101.  The confidence displayed in the paragraph where Winston essentially hands himself and Julia over to the Party through a complete confession is almost touching, knowing that at that exact moment the Party was listening and O'Brien's work, seven years in the making, was about to come to fruition.