A small grey rat wearing a gold medal stands at the entrance to a cardboard maze against coral.

Original artwork, not a still

Lily Tomlin

The trouble with the rat race is that even if you win, you're still a rat.

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

A joke about competitiveness: even if you come first in a frantic scramble for status or success, you haven't escaped what you were. The punchline lands because winning a rat race just makes you the champion rat, not something better.

Context reviewed

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