In many ways, the world operates like a game. While the weak rely on chance and dumb luck to advance, the cunning will use strategy and manipulation to gain advantage. Nonetheless. not all games played are fair. As Adolf Hitler says, “there could be many players. If you don’t play with them, they’ll play with you”. At times, in order to ensure success, individuals tweak circumstances in their favor, thereby “rigging” the game. Though it may seem pointless to play at this point, forfeiting is beyond the most tactical decision; submission only enables others to continue to cheat, and only through playing their game and defying presumptions, can an individual beat corruption. Ken Kesey encompassed this phenomenon in his novel “One Flew Over …show more content…
Just as Billy and Cheswick, Chief had his own self-image issues. Despite being somewhat of a giant, measuring in at “six f[oo]t-seven” (p.24), Chief felt none of the bravado associated with his size. Instead, Bromden felt “way too little” (p.219), unable to truly be a contributing member of society. As a child, Chief witnessed his “big” (p.219) father’s demise to society’s destructive order , becoming “too little to fight” (p.220) the adversities projected towards him. At a loss for hope, Chief, as his father, became debilitated, pretending to be mute and deaf. Specifically, he began because “it was people that first started acting like [he] was too dumb to hear...or say anything at all” (p.210). In compliance to other’s perception of others, Chief began to lose himself. Moreover, under the shrewd supervision of Nurse Ratched, Chief’s perception of himself worsened. Nevertheless, once Mcmurphy arrived to the hospital, Chief discovered a new side of himself. Mcmurphy’s free-thinking mentality brought upon hope, and reinforced Bromden’s initial strength. One of the first moments Chief felt a regained sense of control over his life was during the World Series. He’d always been considered useless; the patients thought of him as “just a [big] deaf Indian” …show more content…
In this, individual’s regain self-confidence, and in turn inspires others to pursue the same. With Mcmurphy’s unwavering confidence and belief, the impossible seemed achievable, and gave hope to the other patients. Consequently, this phenomena inspired the rest of the patients to band together, and act out against injustice- regardless of the discomfort this imposed upon them. In doing all, an individual is able to evoke self confidence and overcome personal obstacles, just as Chief did. As the novel highlights, life will not always be lawful. Despite the convenience of conformity, individuals must muster up the courage to face the unjust, in order to restore any sense of self-esteem and save the vulnerable. Many humans are frail and cowardly, but with the guidance of a committed leader, even the most grim obstacles can be
In Ken Kesey’s, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest there are many recurring motifs and images. One very prominent motif is laughter. Following the motif of laughter throughout the novel, it is mostly associated with McMurphy and power/control. McMurphy teaches the patients how to laugh again and with the laughter the combine loses control and the patients gain their power back.
Consequently, love, moral, or spiritual belief are the three senses that can brace people up in adversity. The stronger these senses are, the stronger the person is. The Grapes of Wrath and The English Patient portray many vivid characters. Each of them undergoes various plots and encounters all kinds problem. While the fates are testing them, some stand up and overcome, and others escape and hide. At this moment, who are the ‘goats’ and who are the ‘sheep’ has never been so clear.
Randle Patrick McMurphy, the main character in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”, is the perfect example of a hero. He is committed to a mental institution after faking insanity to get out of a work camp. From the beginning of his presence on the ward, things start to change. He brings in laughter, gambling, profanity and he begins to get the other patients to open up. All of this, however, clashes with the head nurse, Nurse Ratched, who is trying to press conformity and obeying authority. It is then a battle between McMurphy and the nurse, McMurphy trying to set the patients free and the nurse trying to make them “normal”.
A human being is a complicated entity of a contradictory nature where creative and destructive, virtuous and vicious are interwoven. Each of us has gone through various kinds of struggle at least once in a lifetime ranging from everyday discrepancies to worldwide catastrophes. There are always different causes and reasons that trigger these struggles, however, there is common ground for them as well: people are different, even though it is a truism no one seems to able to realize this statement from beyond the bounds of one’s self and reach out to approach the Other.
Finally the actions and feelings of the other characters successfully shows the development of McMurphy as a Christ figure and hero. Clearly smiliarities can be drawn between McMurphy and Jesus' healing. Jesus, made blind men see and mute men speak. McMurphy is the one who prompted the Chief to speak for the first time in years, when he says "Thank-you." (Page 184) and eventually, McMurphy "heals" Chief of his `deafness' and `dumbness'.
Christopher’s goal of becoming independent and finding his role within society is investigated. Since, he experiences adversity understanding other people, dealing with new environments and making decisions (when confronted with an overload of new information) it causes Christopher to feel overwhelmed. This is sincerely portrayed in the novel, in chapter 227 where it explicitly underlines how Christopher copes with sensory overload from the train station where countless individuals are touching him as well as those speaking with an authoritative tone and this causes Christopher to become uncomfortable and apprehensive. However, Christopher’s trip to London serves a noble step towards independence as it epitomizes the factors that he finds distressing, such as social interactions and navigating new environments. By overcoming these obstacles, he advances in his ability to face any challenge on his own. Therefore, publicizing the theme of independence, it provokes a unique aspect to the novel by providing readers with diverse perspectives and interpretations on how others perceive the
The power of manipulation is a very powerful tool and can easily be misused to benefit
...ibbit, as he gives Billy the gift of his first sexual encounter, even as McMurphy realizes it will cost him his chance at freedom. In all these ways, McMurphy shows love for the unique, individual nature of each man. McMurphy honors and loves the sanctity of individual human beings. He talks to the Chief, even though he thinks the Chief is deaf. He is patient with the babyish Martini, even though he cannot grasp the fundamentals of blackjack. He helps Taber catch a fish and teaches Cheswick to drive a boat. He encourages the Chief to grow through playing basketball. Its as if he is the father figure in the ward instead of top dog because every decision he makes is to help the patients in the ward and help better their stay. He doesn’t want the ward to seem like a prison to the patients. Each individual should be able to be themselves no matter what society thinks.
The novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey introduces Chief Broom, a half Indian character, and the events that occur to him inside of a mental hospital in the beginning of the novel. Chief Broom narrates the novel and describes every situation that occurs to him as well as the feelings that he evokes in chronological order. Broom’s fake act of remaining “dead and dumb” allows him to observe the actions and conversations of the workers (10). For instance, Chief Broom describes that the worker could “smell [his] fear” before actually taking him to shave his head which shows that the writing of the story occurs in order rather than jumping to different points in time.
Chief Bromden is a six foot seven tall Native American (half) who feels very small and weak even though by physical description, he is very big and strong. Chief does not have enough self-confidence and he is not independent. That is what makes him so small and weak. When Randle McMurphy, the new inmate in the asylum comes in, Chief is reminded of what his father used to be: strong, independent, confident and big. "He talks a little the way papa used to, voice loud and full of hell " (16) McMurphy helps Chief gains back his self-confidence and teaches him to be independent.
There were no heroes on the psychiatric ward until McMurphy's arrival. McMurphy gave the patients courage to stand against a truncated concept of masculinity, such as Nurse Ratched. For example, Harding states, "No ones ever dared to come out and say it before, but there is not a man among us that does not think it. That doesn't feel just as you do about her, and the whole business feels it somewhere down deep in his sacred little soul." McMurphy did not only understand his friends/patients, but understood the enemy who portrayed evil, spite, and hatred. McMurphy is the only one who can stand against the Big Nurse's oppressive supreme power. Chief explains this by stating, "To beat her you don't have to whip her two out of three or three out of five, but every time you meet. As soon as you let down your guard, as sson as you loose once, she's won for good. And eventually we all got to lose. Nobody can help that." McMuprhy's struggle for hte patient's free will is a disruption to Nurse Ratched's social order. Though she holds down her guard she yet is incapable of controlling what McMurphy is incontrollable of , such as his friends well being, to the order of Nurse Ratched and the Combine.
Consider McMurphy and Mr. Keating, both characters are very similar in a multitude of ways. Neither of them is in charge as they are both under their respective antagonist, either being Nurse Ratched or Principle Nolan. However throughout the progression of each plot, they both teach and inspire either the patients or the students to become individuals. McMurphy gave the patients the ability to seize back the power from Nurse Ratched through showing them the way how, and teaching the patients that they are their own person and have their own rights. Mr. Keating teaches the students how to be outside the box, as shown when in class he strays from the regular methods of teaching and shows the students a truly out-of-the-box concept about life, “Carpe Diem.” Towards the final moments of the plot, both characters achieve a full commitment to their cause that eventuates in self-sacrifice. McMurphy is lobotomized and Mr. Keating is fired from Welton Academy. However similarly in both plots, after both characters sacrifices themselves they pass on what they have learned and allowed others to beat their struggle for independence. Chief leaves the institution and the students stand up against Principle Nolan with what they believe in. Weir and Kesey use these characters to inspire and support those who struggle for independence and use their characterization as a technique to do so.
The sweeping influence of society can dictate important choices in one’s life. In Native Son by Richard Wright, the behavior of Bigger Thomas is largely caused by the devastating effect of his environment on every aspect of his life. Bigger grows up in Chicago in the 1930s and is enveloped in a prejudiced and racist culture that ultimately drives his reprehensible acts of violence. The oppressive society in which Bigger lives engenders his actions.
The background of Chief Bromden’s life makes him a likely target for mental illness. Conflict that Chief’s father faced also negatively impacted Chief. His father was Chief Tee Ah Millatoona of the Umpqua tribe and his mother was a white woman. Chief’s father took his mother’s last name, “Her name is Bromden. He took her name” (214). This suggests her domination in the relationship, but it is made clear that her extreme belittling had negative psychological effects: “It wasn't just her that made him little. Everybody worked on him because he was big, and wouldn't give in, and did as he pleased... He fought it a long time until my mother made him too little to fight anymore and he gave up" (220). Just like his father, Chief was a big man crushed into a tiny man by the pressures of society. Chief grew up living a normal life, without schizophrenia, on the Columbia Gorge in an Umpqua village led by his father. The first memorable trigger of Chief’s schizophrenia came when government officials were inspecting his vil...
McMurphy displays and utilizes his power through leadership and inspiration to the patients. McMurphy leads the crew of patients on a fishing trip, which leads to relevations for all of them. By the end of the trip, the patients are described “They could sense the change that most of us were only suspecting; these weren’t the same bunch of weak-knees from a nuthouse that they’d watched take their insults on the dock this morning” (196). This novel is based on the idea of power, and the idea of it is shown in every single chapter. However, to make the idea of power more dynamic, McMurphy was introduced by the author to display a certain type of power; power that is good and inspires others.