Emmanuel Goldstein is a key character in George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four.

In the novel, Goldstein is rumored to be a former top member of the ruling (and sole) Party who had broken away early in the movement and started an organization known as "The Brotherhood", dedicated to the fall of The Party. The novel raises but leaves unanswered the question of whether Goldstein, the "Brotherhood," or even "Big Brother" really exist. The possibility that Goldstein was fabricated by the Party (for use as a scapegoat) is implied when Winston Smith rewrites Big Brother's Order of the Day (he works in the Records Department of the Ministry of Truth) to praise the actions of completely made-up Comrade Ogilvy, and thus realizes how easy it is to pull a person out of thin air in Oceania.

Each member of "The Brotherhood" is required to read the book supposedly written by Goldstein, The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism. Each person is said to have three or four contacts at one time which are replaced as people disappear, so that if a member is captured, he can only give up three or four others. Goldstein is always the subject of the "Two Minutes Hate," a daily, 2-minute period beginning at 11:00 AM at which some image of Goldstein is shown on the telescreen (a one-channel television with surveillance devices in it that can not be turned off except possibly by members of the inner party). It is thought that the opposition to Big Brother—namely, Goldstein—was simply a construction, which ensured that support and devotion towards Big Brother was continuous. It is never revealed whether this is true. In fact, O'Brien adamantly refuses to reveal whether or not The Brotherhood truly exists when asked by Winston in the torture room: O'Brien also claims to have collaborated in writing the book himself, which supports the idea that Goldstein was fabricated by the Party.