Characters In Miss Ratched

Setting is also important, as it refers to the period this book was set in, the 1950's. Ultimately, it is a reflection of what was happening in American society at the time, and what American society expected from each other. McCarthyism, as started by Senator Joseph McCarthy, was the most prevalent movement of the 1950's, where there was great momentum for anti-communism and the suppression of the Anti-communist party. Freedom of speech was suppressed, just like speech and actions were inside the hospital. Here, the Combine and Nurse Ratched act like the McCarthy "representatives", where the patients are seen as members of the public, having their every word and movement under close scrutiny.

The oppressor, or antagonist, of the story is Nurse Ratched, or the Big Nurse. Her methods of oppression, including attempts to emasculating the men in the medical ward, is the foundation of the work. The nurse uses her power to manipulate the patients as well as members of the staff in the hospital. Since she is in charge of the entire ward, she runs it with an iron fist while concealing her feminism and humanity behind a patronizing façade. As the story progresses, Nurse Ratched loses some power over the patients with the introduction of a new patient on the ward, Randle McMurphy. As McMurphy continues to fight her oppression, her façade breaks down and falls apart as she loses control.

Nurse Ratched is a former army nurse who works in the ward, she has manipulates the men in many ways. One way is having the patients “spy on each other” making them write things down, they think she would want to hear, or know. Bromden described Nurse Ratched as having the ability to “set the wall clock to whatever speed she wants”, a metaphor for her control, showing how the patients lose track of

The nurse, Miss Ratched is undoubtedly a villain from most reader’s perspective, but there is much more to being a villain that simply being a “ball-cutter” on the surface. In fiction, typically a villain is someone who follows a certain set of motives in order to gain what they are trying to achieve. Whether this is money, power, or something they just do for the sake of the act, all villains possess a motive. Though the reasons behind her actions are not explicitly clear in the novel, it is obvious that one of Nurse Ratched’s main motives is the implied fact that she wants to break down the men in her ward. The reason behind this is that she wants to degrade and force them into the mould of not only society’s, but her own twisted imagery of the way a person should look and act as well. The nurse is an established authoritarian figure in the novel, and presents herself in such a way that her patients not only fear what she may do to them on any given day, but merely her presence as well. She keeps the men sedated with drugs they may not ask about, abuses them and manipulates them with her words and the power of suggestion, and makes self-admitted patients feel as though they are too “sick” to sign themselves out. Out of all the heinous acts she commits in the novel, one of the most villainous is probably the group “therapy” sessions she holds. The men

As a man who pretends to be deaf and mute, Bromden is considered to be a relatively unbiased character, yet he even displays strong feelings of hatred towards Nurse Ratched, proving just how evil she is. As Nurse Ratched enters the novel for the first time, she brings with her a noticeably ominous atmospheric change with, “A gust of cold,” (4) that represents her complete control over every aspect of the mental ward, even the weather. At the pinnacle of Kesey’s totalitarian society, Nurse Ratched represents the tendencies of an oppressive government or what Bromden calls, The Combine. For example, she suppresses the patients’ free will because regardless of the patients actual sanity, she is undeniably in control of their fates at the hospital. Besides McMurphy, the majority of the patients could leave on their own, but Nurse Ratched has been able to brainwash them into thinking that they are not suited to assimilate with others outside of the ward. Billy Bibbit says to McMurphy when he asks why they do not leave, “You think I wuh-wuh-wuh-want to stay in here? You think I wouldn’t like a con-convertible and a guh-guh-girl friend? But did you ever have people l-l-laughing at you? No, because you’re so b-big and so tough!” (162-163). Just like an oppressive government, Nurse Ratched convinces its people that they are worthless so they never feel powerful enough to retaliate. Like an alcoholic, Nurse Ratched needs her fix of power that makes her drunk and

There are many situations in which Nurse Ratched exhibits control over her patients, by treating them as subordinates, humiliating them and de-masculinizing them without concern for their well-being. She uses control to withhold simple privileges, such as being able to watch a baseball game on the television, tub privileges and their right to have possession of cigarettes. It seems she actually derives satisfaction from this through hints of smiles, which are so seldom seen. This only brings about anger and hostility in the patients because of the way she treats them: like children instead of men. This is put best when one patient, Charlie Cheswick (Sydney Lassick) says, “Rules? Piss on your fucking rules, Miss Ratched! ... I ain’t no little kid! When you’re gonna have cigarettes kept from me like

Regarding Miss Ratched, she seems to show signs of passive-aggressive behavior throughout the book. This behavior adds to her manipulative ways and contributed to the decrease of the patients’ progress (mental/physical state). Passive-aggressive behavior is used to maintain control and power because it’s a way for her to not display any signs of weakness. Miss Ratched, also known as the Big Nurse to the patients, fights hard to remain as the top authority figure in the Ward due to her thirst for power. To maintain the control over the men, she emasculates them, stripping them of their masculinity, in various ways to prevent the chance of an uproar against her. For instance, after a group meeting regarding Harding’s problem with his wife’s breasts, the patients attack Harding. In response, McMurphy provides an analogy of a pecking party to the current

The suppression that the male patients face traces back to the suppression of American society. McMurphy refuses to be another robot following orders aimlessly, he fights to maintain his individuality and to spread that individuality to the other patients. Just as the novel, society in America is very mechanical, citizens follow mundane orders like machines and when a unique individual breaks through and expresses themselves, they are eliminated. The power that Nurse Ratched feels against the male patients is similar to the power that Society holds on their people, order and control is essential. Both entities fear individuals whom have original thought, those people cause a threat since they can influence others to think the way they do--control is then lost.

By carrying out the Combine?s orders and imposing a matriarchal system, the Big Nurse has the ability to systematically dehumanize the patients and suppress their individuality. In Group Meetings, the men are forced to talk about personal experiences, a method Big Nurse claims is therapeutic but is actually very humiliating. Billy Bibbit talks about his first love who his mother disliked. Billy?s relationships with women seem to be the root of his problems. Nurse Ratched worsens the situation by ?grinding (his) nose in (his) mistakes? instead of helping him work through his problems (59). The patients let the nurse manipulate them in fear of the consequences of her wrath, and consequently are shamed, weak, and defenseless men. Even the Chief, the biggest man, has become a person so weakened by his society that he loses his ability to speak against the cruelty that surrounds him, ultimately leaving him powerless. The men are victims of their society and lose all their self confidence and individuality as a result of being pressured to conform.

Nurse Ratched, also known as “Big Nurse” was an oppressive figure that thrived on the conformity of the patients within the mental institution. Nurse Ratched represents a mechanical machine through her consistent appearance and attitude. Her character lacks sympathy and her cold demeanor sends chills down the back of the patients. Nurse Ratched is a perfect example of society today due to the controlling and cruel stance she withholds.

Nurse Ratched’s pretense was the hardest one to identify. We see her as the head nurse in the institution and controls every worker and patient in it. Her desire is that things go her way and only her way and has complete power, and runs the institute more of a dictatorship. We all see Nurses universally as good people that help others in need. But I think that Nurse Ratched did more bad than

The peckin’ party is a way to keep order by singling out and humiliating the individual until they have no self-worth. Miss Ratched puts up a pleasant facade giving the illusion that her motives are for the greater good of her patients. This is evident in Harding’s denial of McMurphy’s view that the meetings are Peckin’ Parties, “Our dear Miss Ratched? Our sweet, smiling, tender angel of mercy, Mother Ratched, a ball-cutter? Why, friend, that’s most unlikely” (57). Miss Ratched’s job is to keep order in the ward at all costs. She does not act out of pure obligation to do her job well, but enforces her authority even at the expense of the patient’s progress. Miss Ratched’s treatment of Billy is proof of how she casts aside patient’s advancement and wellbeing to ensure strict adherence to the rules. Billy desires to live a normal life but Miss Ratched squashes his dreams and keeps him under her thumb. Sadly, when McMurphy schemes to give Billy a real sexual encounter, he gets caught. Even though Billy shows a glimmer of confidence, Miss Ratched targets his weakness to his mother by saying, “Mrs. Bibbit's always been so proud of your discretion. I know she has. This is going to disturb her terribly. You know how she is when she gets disturbed, Billy; you know how ill the poor woman can become. She's very sensitive” (264). Unable to bare the shame, Billy commits suicide. Again Miss Ratched

She forces the patients to complete household chores such as cleaning the hallways and the bathrooms, chores that a woman would typically complete in a male dominated society. When McMurphy arrives to the ward, he immediately tries to take Nurse Ratched’s power away from her by defying all of her rules and leading the other patients to go against her as well. Bromden states, “The big nurse tests a needle against her fingertip. I’m afraid—she stabs the needle down in the rubber-capped vial and lifts the plunger—that is exactly what the new patient is planning: to take over.” (Kesey, 1962, p. 27), symbolizing that even in a female dominated ward, a male should still be the head of the ward.

There seems to be an uncanny similarity between all the men at ward. Most of the male patients are tormented by a woman: Brombden’s wife, billy’s mom, nurse ratched, Mrs. Harding. Each of these women are intent on dominating men by emasculating them. These female characters are demonized as “ball-cutters” because they do not adhere to traditional female roles and they emasculate the male characters(Kesey 54). Take the poor Billy Bibbit a 31 year old is still very dependent on his mother,“Mother, I’ th-th-thirty-one years old!...

In the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, the author Ken Kesey 1.enthralls the reader’s attention by displaying events of 2.diminished 3.humanity all throughout the book. This book revolves around the idea that women may be a threat to the masculinity of mental ward patients. The manipulation that occurs within the ward has do with making other characters betray one another and reveal their shame. The manner in which the dominant characters attack the other 's’ “manhood” demonstrates their methods for manipulating the inferior characters under their control. The 4.diverse types of minority groups become 5.conspicuous as the author reveals the 6.inclement and 7.sadistic character, Nurse Ratched, the stories antagonist, , who runs the ward with 8.morbid intentions to 9.desiccate the courage of the people around her. The power in which she portrays is10. ample to the point it becomes 11. flagrant. Her choice of words and background knowledge on the patient 's weaknesses, 12.engender her ability to control people within the ward using insinuation. Although she claims that her actions are in favor for everyone she has contact with within the ward, they are just 13.facades in which 14.covert her manipulation. Throughout the novel, the power of emasculation was a common implement in which controlled the ward, dismayed the courage of many patients and