Winston reflects on the omniopresence of the party: "HE thought of the telescreen with its never sleeping ear. They could spy upon you night aand day, but if you kept your head you could still outwit them. Facts at any rate, could not be kept hidden. They could be tracked down by inquiry, they could be squeezed out of you by torture. But if the object was not to stay alive but to stay human. what difference did it ultimately make?" what in essence is Winston saying about the lone individual in relation to the state ? does the contention remain true throughout the novel?

What really stands out in this quote from Part Two, Chapter Seven is a sense of powerlessness. For the individual in Oceania, there is no escape from the Party's intrusive surveillance. The telescreen hears and sees everything, and the Party is constantly listening for any instances of thoughtcrime.
This sense of powerlessness remains constant throughout much of the novel. Only in a few instances is Winston able to overcome this feeling. When he meets with Julia in the woods, for instance, and when he visits O'Brien's apartment, Winston is able to escape the Party's pervasive influence. He can shut off the telescreen, for example, and "outwit" the hidden microphones, as Winston mentions in this quote.
Ultimately, however, Winston is never able to completely overcome this sense of powerlessness and loneliness. His imprisonment in the Ministry of Love and his experience in Room 101 demonstrates that the power of the individual will never be stronger than the power of the state.