One Flew Over The Cuckoo 's Nest By Ken Kesey

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.

This quote shows how Nurse Ratched is reminding the patients that they all have a mental illness and they are not “normal” people. A lot of the patients begin to question the ruling of Nurse Ratched. When they speak up about how they feel, she implies that they are rules for therapeutic reasons. She wants them to follow the orders and not question her command in the ward. The nurse makes the patients feel worthless and hopeless, which is a

Second in a discussion of power are the women associated with the patients. The supervisor at the hospital is associated with the patients by controlling who is employed to take care of the patients. Nurse Ratched and the supervisor served in the Army together as nurses. They are still very close and have a good relationship. Because of this relationship, Nurse Ratched’s employment is secured and others won’t stand up to her for fear of losing their own jobs. Harding states “In this hospital, the doctor doesn’t hold the power of hiring and firing. That power goes to the supervisor and the supervisor is a woman, a dear old friend of Miss Ratched’s” (61). The receptionist on the ward is Nurse Ratched’s neighbor

Works of literature innately embody the author’s ideology and the historical context of the given time period. Within the novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, by Ken Kesey, the author furthers his ideals against the issue of oppression as he attempts to take stabs against its deteriorating effects and support those who rebel. Set in the microcosm of a small mental hospital, he establishes man’s external struggle to overcome tyranny. At the head of the head of the ward is the corrupted character of Nurse Ratched, who rules with an iron fist and the help of her machine like aides. It also features the nonconformist character, McMurphy, as he works to break Nurse Ratched’s endless cycle of tyranny. Although the novel shifts between the

Both Taber and the men view Nurse Ratched as a counselor of their decisions, a mother. In fact, he tells the others, “This is Miss Ratched. I chose this ward because it’s her ward. She’s, girls, just like a mother. Not that I mean age but you girls understand” (37). The way that Nurse Ratched’s ward functions is by her manipulation of the men through the use of pills and lobotomy as demonstrated on Taber. Thus, why he was dismissed, the men are set up to believe in conforming or are dehumanized enough to conform to Nurse Ratched’s authority in order to be prepared for the real world. However, Taber previously rejected her pills, “He still isn’t ready to swallow some-thing, he don’t know what is, not even just for her” (34). This action-made decision influences the progress the patients make as individuals as they follow his footsteps. The men realize they can follow their own decisions and although few are afraid of her authority some chose to rise against her along with McMurphy, “ dragging them out of the fog till there they stand, all twenty of them, raising not just for watching tv, but against the Big Nurse, against her trying to send McMurphy to Disturbed…” This is parallel to the attitude presented by Taber, when he refused to take the pills, and ignored the Nurse’s request, making him metaphorically influential of the

Nurse Ratched (also known as Big Nurse) was used to being forceful to get what she wanted. She stopped at no end to have complete oversight over the men in the ward. When the men were in the nurse’s presence they were either saying what they knew she wanted to hear or cleaning something that she ordered them to clean. They knew not to speak out against her and to not say something that would make you stand out too much. Ratched’s tactics to get them to be fit for society were normally some kind of procedure on the man

The island in William Golding’s novel, Lord Of The Flies, is one of wonder and a great deal of natural resources. However what develops on this oasis is war, bloodshed and cruelty. This could also be said for Earth, as the same traits occur in the global society as well. Therefor, the island symbolises the entire outside world in three key ways, social relationships, war, and politics.

Though she smiles a lot and talks sweetly, she’s not a kind or charming woman; instead she is a woman with a strong will for control. She pursues power with intensity and is very successful at getting people to do what she wants. Nurse Ratched has the ability to present a false superficial self, and she has complete and total control over the ward and her emotions at all times. This exemplifies that the mechanistic and oppressive forces in society build up through the abuse of power and dishonesty by authoritative figures. (Lead in) “Manipulative to the core, the only thing that really matters to Ratched is her desire to control everything around her- the environment, the staff, the patients” (Novel For Student 224). The abuse of power and authority cause individuals to be broken. Explain how the outside quote integrates into your thesis and your quotes from the book. The narrator says, “What the chronics are - or most of us - are machines with flaws inside that can’t be repaired, flaws born in, or flaws beaten in over so many years of the guy running head-on into solid things that by the time the hospital found him he was bleeding rust in some vacant

Nurse Ratched, the ward supervisor, personifies the forces that seek to control the individual by subduing their right to think and act for themselves. She acts as a dictator who is constantly manipulating her patients to gain an advantage over them. Because Nurse Ratched supervises a mental hospital, she is expected to tell her patients what to do, but “the novel suggests that Nurse Ratched goes beyond mere supervision and instead seeks to rule all elements of the patients lives” (“Oppression in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest”). Nurse Ratched and her staff dehumanize the patients, and this eventually causes the patients to become broken inside.

In modern day society, individuals are influenced by strong superiority figures their whose dominance stems from internal power. Authority can often lead subordinates to rebel and seize control; therefore ability to obtain power is exceptionally difficult. A rivalry for rigid power is seen in the literary piece, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. The limited dominance is shifted fluidly between Nurse Ratched and Randle McMurphy, and finally designated to Chief Bromden. Although Nurse Ratched exercises initial control over her ward, Randle McMurphy attempts to disobey her authority through defiance, and ultimately the power shifts into Chief Bromden’s final control in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.

A sexless, rigid caricature of a nurse, Nurse Ratched imposes discipline on her ward with all the fervour of an Army Nurse, which she had been. Large, with huge breasts only partially disguised by her ultra-stretched white uniform, she nevertheless has a pretty, delicate face that belies her cruelty.

Nurse Ratched and Big Brother have many similarities in their deeds - they are able to constantly monitor others and execute their powers. The actions of the nurse towards her patients are crude and inhumane. The big difference, however, between these two leaders lie in the achieving of their goals. While Big Brother manages to get his aims realized, Nurse Ratched is deprived of it, by the brave actions of the patients. The patients try to deprive her of feeling of being a dominant dictator. Both, Big Brother and Nurse Ratched seem to be powerful leaders, and integral part of a system, their unconditional control causes a negative impact on a person’s mind.

In the novel "American Psycho" written by Bret Easton Ellis, Patrick Bateman 's use of violence and his wealth are exemplified in scenes involving the murder of his ex-girlfriend Bethany. As well as appealing to the idea to maintain an upscale image by any means such as purchasing expensive merchandise and taking the initiative to attend upscale restaurants. His actions with the implications of those elements reveal the consumptions of status and privilege. The detailed narration of Bateman 's intense violent acts and purchases of expensive products creates imaginary and conflict for readers to accept the appearance he is trying to come across to his associates and the general public. This may result in readers rejecting his character and concluding that he is worthy of the position in society, he desires to achieve or deserving of it. This plays a significant part in how to read this novel because it demonstrates the obsession of acknowledgment and the measurements individuals are prepared to grasp it. The only sense of acknowledgment Bateman receives from the other characters in the novel is his tan instead of his presence or success. Experiencing treatment like this can possibly help the audience understand his motives for preying on women. Feeding off the vulnerability and the weakness of women provides him with the confidence and authority that he lacks. Overall, the consumption of seeking prestige and praise through aggressive behavior towards powerless people

Many times throughout one of Ken Kesey’s most famous novels, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, the book uses animals as symbols to represent the story’s plot. The animals usually relate to individual characters and their current struggles within the story. Animal imagery provides us with great insight to the themes that Kesey is trying to have us explore, and is a very good tool that the reader can use to help better understand and relate to the characters.

Characters like Billy Bibbit, who is too timid, with a speech impediment and Harding who is a closet homosexual and was less avert in sexuality were seen as having mental problems, and were committed to the asylum. McMurphy demonstrated the treating of these patients like normal people, helped them to become more in line with society then Nurse Ratched’s rules and group therapy meetings, or pecking party as Chief Bromden would call it. Chief Bromden was a Native American and wasn’t insane until he was institutionalized and withdrew himself from everyone else pretending he was deaf and dumb to protect himself. Ken Kesey’s message here with Chief Bromdens silence, was to portray the natives of the time having no voice in the country and to show the controlling and manipulative manner of Nurse Ratched that emasculated and de-socialised these grown men.