Appendix on Newspeak

The book ends with an appendix, 'The Principles of Newspeak,' which describes the structure and purpose of the official language of Oceania. Newspeak was designed to make all other modes of thought impossible by narrowing the vocabulary and eliminating heretical words. The appendix explains the A, B and C vocabularies, and the way that words like 'free' and 'equal' had their meanings purged. The essay is written in the past tense, suggesting that Newspeak has become a thing of the past and that the Party's attempt to freeze history did not ultimately succeed. It offers a faint, ambiguous hope of restoration.