In George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, Emmanuel Goldstein is presented as the leader of the Brotherhood, the secret organization opposing the Party and Big Brother.
Goldstein is introduced through the Party's propaganda, especially the daily Two Minutes Hate. His image and supposed treason give citizens a convenient target for their anger. The Party describes him as a dangerous revolutionary who seeks to destroy the society created by Ingsoc.
Goldstein is also credited with writing The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism, commonly called “the book.” Winston reads it hoping to understand how the Party maintains power. However, the novel leaves the Brotherhood's real existence uncertain: it may be a genuine resistance movement, a Party-controlled trap, or a mixture of both.
Readers sometimes confuse Goldstein with Big Brother because both are central political symbols. Their roles are opposites: Big Brother represents the Party's supposedly protective authority, while Goldstein represents the enemy used to justify surveillance, repression, and permanent war.