One flew over the cuckoo 's nest One flew over the cuckoo 's nest One Flew Over the Cuckoo 's Nest For as long as time could tell, whenever and wherever there is a corrupt ruling system in place, there will always be an opposing force trying to over throw it. This ruling system can be a variety of things. In some cases it is the government, a boss, or basically anything or anyone that has some type of control or authority over something else or someone else. In some cases the opposition can successfully take over control of these corrupt systems, while in other incidents the opposition is pitifully pounded back to silence. In other cases, the opposing force will be beaten, but in their shadowy remains lye a path for future generations …show more content…
In the end McMurphy loses his life in the fight to change the system, but he left a substantial impact on the hospital and the policies of Nurse Ratchet. His fight to change the system was well worth it because of the positive change it brought to so many patients. Before his ultimate death, McMurphy does win some major battles at the ward. From battle to battle against the system, McMurphy leads his lost chronic soldiers beyond enemy lines and toward safety. Even after being smothered from his command position, it was as if he had never left their side. For the path he paved was much to large to be coverup with the leaves left by Big Nurse. By following McMurphys footsteps, the squad finally found the light within society, and stepped into it with open arms and wishful smiles. No longer were they under the control of the system and its rules. he had broken free from the routine, and in the end, changed the world as they knew it. It is evident that it 's very difficult to change the system, but it is possible. The right type of character and personality is a big help when you are trying to achieve success in fighting the system. In order to make a true difference you have to keep on trying and fighting. Even if you just change a small area of the system, the majority of the time it is well worth the fight. In this novel the main character was successful in changing some aspect of the system. To him, the corruption unfair practices, and indecencies were enough. Something
McMurphy is at constant odds with Nurse Ratched, the antagonist of the story; she represents the anally fixated dictator. She has established system believed to find sanity by adjusting the patients to the outside world standards. Nurse Ratched tries to shape the patients not in their own image but an image that she sees all people should act. It is believed that what the Nurse is doing is helpful to the acute’s actually suppressing their individually. In the novel they are multiple power struggles between the Big Nurse and Randle Patrick McMurphy on Nurse Ratched side, she is trying to hold order among the ward to conform McMurphy. However, McMurphy acknowledges the way she runs the ward is not right and it is actually suppressing the acute’s masculinity and self-confidence. In one section Chief Bromden acknowledges why he believes McMurphy is so strong is because he is what he is. “I’d think he was strong enough being his own self that he would never back down the way she was hoping he would.” Nurse Ratched may have a hard time trying to make McMurphy conform but she has ease making the rest conform to her standards. These are the supposed standards that the patients believe they need in order to be accepted in society. However, they are the supposed beliefs that the majority of people believe in order to strive socially. It is not only the Combine’s Ward that there a sense of missing identity there is also. Compared to the society that humankind occupies, people
Kesey has also given this novel great Symbolic value. As an opposer to the McCarthy scheme, he has used the mental hospital as a scale model of how society breaks free of society's conformity. McMurphy acts as the liberator', or rebel of the ward's excessively strict conformity. He saves the patients from "the
Randle McMurphy, the protagonist, is introduced to break down the nurse’s oppressive ways. McMurphy, a con man who was sentenced to a work farm, was diagnosed as a psychopath and sent to the mental hospital, which he much preferred. Serving as a savior figure to the patients of the ward who have already been battered by the Big Nurse, McMurphy causes interference to the nurse’s control. He supports the men as they are ridiculed in meetings and supports their attempts to change policy. Although he does help other patients, he first looks out for himself. He cons the patients out of their money and then follows the nurse’s rules for awhile because of the threat of being kept on the
McMurphy can also be considered a tragic hero. Although he could almost always take control of a situation and never let the combine get the best of him, he could not always control his temper. It was the one think that could get him in trouble because Nurse Ratched could not punish him with electric shock therapy unless he had an outburst. The best thing that McMurphy could have had in the hospital was patience and a calm temper because the only weapon Nurse Ratched had was to try to frustrate him. Since she has ultimate power on the ward, she could do anything she wants and make any rules. For instance, when the patients wanted to watch the world series and they clearly had a majority, she didn’t let them because she wanted them to know that she has authority
After leaving the hellish work farm where he serving his prison sentence, McMurphy arrives at the ward, which is exponentially more dull and drab in comparison. The impact of his arrival at the ward is seen instantly. The enthusiasm and energy he brings to the ward is so uncharacteristic, that even some of the Chronics, who are longstanding patients that have become “machines with flaws inside that can’t be repaired,” show some life (Kesey 10). In his typical westernized fashion, McMurphy arrives at the hospital with the aura of “a frontier
As soon as McMurphy arrives on the ward, he challenges Nurse Ratched’s abusive regime in hopes of restoring humanity and the rights of the individual. It didn’t take long
Right now, the society that we all live in secretly oppresses the people and is slowly taking away our freedoms, yet we do not notice it. In a controlled environment, the one who holds power is usually the most corrupt and conceitful one of the group. Power and authority may seem like an easy stick to wield, but unfortunately, that is not the case. With great power comes great responsibility is a quote that echoes this predicament. Though power and authority may seem like it is an almighty power to behold, only a minute amount of people carry it, while the majority live under it. If a majority gets upset or aggravated over the misuse of power and authority, a rebellion is bound to happen. Freedom is the sweet nectar that many throughout history
McMurphy learns that involuntarily committed patients cannot leave the hospital without staff approval. Therefore, he cannot leave at the end of his six months sentence, but when Nurse Ratched says he can and he begins to submit to her authority. However, by this time, he had become the leader for the other patients. Their sanity, their claim to manhood lies in the balance. Cheswick, dismayed by McMurphy’s surrender, commits suicide.
conflict as it did in Ken Kesely's novel One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest when
In the asylums during the 50’s, patients were allowed to smoke, were admitted for petty issues such as jealousy, or laziness and were also treated with harsh consequences like electroshock therapy or lobotomies. I would recommend this book because it gives a special message, that we can change the structure of society – if we possess enough determination, courage, and perseverance. McMurphy showed his courage and determination by not giving up when trying to make the other patients happy, while still trying to get into Nurse Ratched’s head. Throughout the story, I have noticed that McMurphy could be looked at as a God, because he “cured” the patients by providing them with hope and happiness. McMurphy’s death could be referred to as Jesus dying for people’s sins. Overall, I believe this was a very good book and would be in my top five favorites. The message that “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” brings, and the close relationships all the characters have really pull the book together and present a bittersweet
When McMurphy finds out that he is one of two patients that are involuntarily committed to the hospital, it makes him realize that he alone is fighting for his freedom, and the others have been repressed by Ratched to the point of being afraid to rebel against her or simply leave. McMurphy fights until the end to free these men of their emasculation even if it
“People don't want other people to get high, because if you get high, you might see the falsity of the fabric of the society we live in.” This quote by Ken Kesey embodies his view of society in the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s nest. He depicts the modern society through Nurse Ratched, a strong authoritarian figure, that embellishes the nature of society. Nurse Ratched is notorious in her endeavors to control the men and uses her power to regulate the men. In this domain the beams of society cause the men to shrink from individual freedom that is reawakened with McMurphy, who teaches the men to be bold in the face of society. In Kesey’s work he highlights several major ideas about society. He illustrates the repressive nature of society that causes men to conform to boundaries. Further, he depicts how society rejects those who are deemed defective in the system. Lastly, he also illustrates how society is a major cause of shame and indignity. Thus, Kensey delineates the nature of society as being repressive, selective, and a cause of diffidence.
When McMurphy came to the institution, he was seen as being a problem. This is because he was going against Foucault’s argument of being docile. He did not want to conform to that. McMurphy soon realized that many of the patients were in the institution voluntarily, which caused for him to become more disobedient. He always tried to go against the nurses by telling the patients that they aren’t lunatics. He would consistently break the rules by trying to change the routine, by taking the patients fishing, teaching them to play basketball, and by sneaking in alcohol and girls during the hours of dark. Foucault would say that McMurphy was an anarchist rather than a conformist.
Our perspective of a stranger whom we’ve never met nor seen, but only heard of through the mouth of the enemy’s opinion, will inevitably align with the only version of the story we’ve heard. This sort of bias is found in Ken Kesey’s 1962 novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, with Nurse Ratched’s depiction through the narration by Chief Bromden. The reliability of Bromden’s perspective is questionable, as it is his interpretation of the world, rather than what it actually is.
At the end of the novel, McMurphy ends up a “Vegetable” in the mental ward. Many of the voluntary patients, left. Chief, before escaping, suffocates him McMurphy. McMurphy was their hero, their rebel who was torn down by the society, after he tore it down.