"In this game that we're playing, we can't win." (135)

          This metaphor compares Winston and Julia's lives to a game that they cannot win. Winston says this because in the totalitarian society of 1984, one's options are incredibly limited. Either people spend their entire lives devoted to Big Brother and The Party, without emotions or individual thoughts, or they are jailed, tortured, and eventually vaporized. Dreams, aspirations, and hope outside of The Party no longer exist. Happiness is fleeting, and for most people, is only connected to Big Brother.Winston feels that no matter what, his future is bleak and empty.