George Orwell, 1984, part 3

Part 2 concluded with Winston Smith's hopes of freedom dashed as he and Julia are arrested.
Part 3 opens in the ironically-named Ministry of Love. After weeks of interrogation and torture, O’Brien tells Winston about the Party’s motives. Orwell continues Conrad's theme of efficiency as the distinctive mark of modern empires. Winston naively speculates that the Party rules the proles for their own benefit. But there is no such intent.
O’Brien tortures him for this answer, saying that the Party’s only goal is absolute, endless, and limitless power. It values power not for any good but solely for its own sake. Therein it contradicts a history of thought going back to Socrates, who claimed that everyone, even those who did evil, did it to achieve some perceived good (even if they were mistaken).
Winston argues that this contradicts natural law: the Party cannot alter the stars or the universe; O’Brien answers that it could if it needed to because the only reality that matters is in the human mind, which the Party controls. In fact, its aim is to destroy all goodness: “Never again will you be capable of love, or friendship, or joy of living, or laughter, or curiosity, or courage, or integrity. You will be hollow. We shall squeeze you empty, and then we shall fill you with ourselves."
Rather than promoting the human good of a few, it is wholly misanthropic in intent: “If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face-forever.”
Orwell's dystopia is Satanic. Evil is Big Brother's good. And Winston Smith, in the end, is conditioned to love Big Brother.
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Excellent take on this. You spoke profoundly of so many aspects of this novel I had never known. I'm amazed, astounded, and astonished. It's a privilege to bask in the rays of your knowledge. 🌞