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What is the importance of character development in literature
Annotated bibliography on mental illness in literature
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Many novels and other pieces of literature are often adapted into a movie production, and often times those who have read the literature and then see the movie adaptation express their approval or disapproval of the latter. There is a clear reason why such approval and disapproval exists within a reader; the reader is comparing and contrasting how well the movie portrayed the story with elements of which the author intended. These elements are instrumental shaping the story from beginning to end. One piece of literature where such a comparison could be made is One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest written by Ken Kesey. One element that Kesey intends to show in the novel is that McMurphy is an important static character as he is unwaveringly determined …show more content…
The movie director, Milos Forman, also portrays this element in his movie adaptation of the story, and does so successfully. It is crucial that Forman had successfully presented this element in the movie. Forman realized the importance of McMurphy’s unwavering voluntary leadership in the plot of the novel, that he is the driving force behind the future of the patients in the ward. If Forman had portrayed McMurphy stepping down as a leader midway into the storyline, he would have presented a movie that is anti-climactic and would distort the conclusion of the story. Therefore, in order to preserve the original plot of the novel, it is essential that Forman accurately presented McMurphy’s desire to show the patients the world beyond their psychiatric …show more content…
Literary techniques such as characterization, symbolism, dialogue, and imagery are all used to portray McMurphy’s character. One instance of how McMurphy demonstrates this behavior in the beginning of the story is when McMurphy disrupts the Group Meeting, and by extension, the routine of the ward, by making lecherous remarks in regards to Nurse Ratched and what she has said about Harding’s relationship with his wife. Nurse Ratched says, “‘He has also stated that his wife’s ample bosom at times gives him a feeling of inferiority. So. Does anyone care to touch upon this subject further?’ [...] ‘Mr. - ah - McMurry?’ ‘Touch upon what?’ ‘What? Touch -’ ‘You ask, I believe, “Does anyone care to touch upon - “’ ‘Touch upon the - subject, Mr. McMurry, the subject of Mr. Harding’s problem with his wife.’ ‘Oh. I thought you mean touch upon her - something else’” (44). Through dialogue, one can see how McMurphy has evidently tried to disrupt the flow of the routine. In the middle of the novel, McMurphy still shows this unwavering determination to show the patients the outside world. In the novel, McMurphy fights to change the television viewing time to when the World Series games are aired. “‘I’m proposing a revote on watching the TV in the afternoon.’ ‘You’re certain one more vote will satisfy you? we have more important things --’ ‘It’ll
Ken Kesey’s, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, is a novel containing the theme of emotions being played with in order to confine and change people. One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest is about a mental institution where a Nurse named Miss Ratched has total control over its patients. She uses her knowledge of the patients to strike fear in their minds. Chief Bromden a chronic who suffers from schizophrenia and pretends to be deaf and mute narrates the novel. From his perspective we see the rise and fall of a newly admitted patient, RP McMurphy. McMurphy used his knowledge and courage to bring changes in the ward. During his time period in the ward he sought to end the reign of the dictatorship of Nurse Ratched, also to bring the patients back on their feet. McMurphy issue with the ward and the patients on the ward can be better understood when you look at this novel through a psychoanalytic lens. By applying Daniel Goleman’s theory of emotional intelligence to McMurphy’s views, it is can be seen that his ideas can bring change in the patients and they can use their
-Character Development- All of the characters experience significant development throughout the story. This starts when McMurphy first enters the hospital and teaches the patients to not be afraid of expressing their feelings. For example, he wanted to watch the world series in the television, but the television hours were at a different time than the world series. He got some patients to vote for the time to be changed by questioning why they were afraid to vote for the change. “You afraid if you raise your hand that the old buzzard'll cut it off”(pg 117). with the aid of McMurphy, chief Bromden goes from withdrawn with flashbacks on his time in the war to actually participating in activities instead of hiding away. “I noticed vaguely that I was getting so’s I could see some good in the life around me. McMurphy was teaching me”(pg 223). Lastly, McMurphy's efforts to rebel against the system and Big Nurse's rules do not go to waste. Chief Bromden runs away from The asylum, and is finally free at the end of the novel (pg 310-311). He was free of the asylum and its' rules. Harding also speaks up to Big Nurse when she tells him that McMurphy will be back after his electroshock treatment. At the beginning of the novel, he wouldn't have dared to say anything to her because he would have been too afraid, but he tells he that he thinks she is “so full of bullshit”(pg 307).
This essay will be exploring the text One flew over the Cuckoo’s nest by Ken Kesey and the film Dead poet’s society written by Tom Schulman. The essay will show how the authors use over exaggerated wildcard characters such as McMurphy and Keating. The use of different settings such as an insane asylum and an all-boys institution. And Lastly the use of fore shading to show how the authors can use different texts to present similar ideas in different ways.
Comparison of Book and Movie of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. & nbsp; One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest is a book written by Ken Kesey to accomplish a certain mood within its chapters. The feelings and moods given in the book differ greatly from those in the movie because of multiple changes in character development. Each and every time a movie is produced from a book, the producers are forced to change parts of the story. in order to suit the audiences needs for a faster paced plot. It is impossible to capture every mood or setting which the author creates. What is lost can sometimes be the real meaning behind the story. & nbsp; The characterization of Chief Bromden is a good example of the changes made from book to movie. His past is a vital piece of information. contributing to the mood and understanding of the story. In the movie.
From the moment McMurphy enters the ward it is clear to all that he is different and hard to control. He’s seen as a figure the rest of the patients can look up to and he raises their hopes in taking back power from the big nurse. The other patients identify McMurphy as a leader when he first stands up to the nurse at her group therapy, saying that she has manipulated them all to become “a bunch of chickens at a pecking party”(Kesey 55). He tells the patients that they do not have to listen to Nurse Ratched and he confronts her tactics and motives. The patients see him as a leader at this point, but McMurphy does not see the need for him to be leading alone. McMurphy is a strong willed and opinionated man, so when he arrives at the ward he fails to comprehend why the men live in fear, until Harding explains it to him by
He was a character that manipulated everyone at the ward to his advantage from the Nurse Rached to The Old Sea Captain and not forgetting the patients. Randle McMurphy was a protagonist who messed up the ward system and with it gave it humor, manipulative skills and an interest to the
Everybody wants to be accepted, yet society is not so forgiving. It bends you and changes you until you are like everyone else. Society depends on conformity and it forces it upon people. In Emerson's Self Reliance, he says "Society is a joint stock company, in which the members agree, for the better securing of his bread to each shareholder, to surrender the liberty and culture of the eater." People are willing to sacrifice their own hopes and freedoms just to get the bread to survive. Although the society that we are living in is different than the one the Emerson's essay, the idea of fitting in still exists today. Although society and our minds make us think a certain way, we should always trust our better judgment instead of just conforming to society.
Fred Wright, Lauren's instructor for EN 132 (Life, Language, Literature), comments, "English 132 is an introduction to English studies, in which students learn about various areas in the discipline from linguistics to the study of popular culture. For the literature and literary criticism section of the course, students read a canonical work of literature and what scholars have said about the work over the years. This year, students read One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, by Ken Kesey, a classic of American literature which dates from the 1960s counterculture. Popularized in a film version starring Jack Nicholson, which the class also watched in order to discuss film studies and adaptation, the novel became notable for its sympathetic portrayal of the mentally ill. For an essay about the novel, students were asked to choose a critical approach (such as feminist, formalist, psychological, and so forth) and interpret the novel using that approach, while also considering how their interpretation fit into the ongoing scholarly dialogue about the work. Lauren chose the challenge of applying a Marxist approach to One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest. Not only did she learn about critical approaches and how to apply one to a text, she wrote an excellent essay, which will help other readers understand the text better. In fact, if John Clark Pratt or another editor ever want to update the 1996 Viking Critical Library edition of the novel, then he or she might want to include Lauren's essay in the next edition!"
The ending of the novel ”One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” feels unfulfilling, because McMurphy’s influence over the ward is not conveyed enough after his death. In addition I feel that Miss Ratched did not receive the punishment she deserved. I think these aspects could be developed further with my text.
He continued to show the patients that the nurses were not in power in fact had little power over him. Inspired patients occurred once again he had inspired them with is lack of surrender to the wards system. With this situation in play this brought up McMurphy picking the needs of patients to motivate his own plan of
The men, after McMurphy’s death, hold onto his story and pass it on. He is a man, a myth, and a legend that forever remains in the hospital. Leaving an everlasting sting on the nurse and how she reigns over the hospital. McMurphy’s death also affected Bromden, giving him enough strength to set off into the world, breaking loose from the Nurse’s control and living life as McMurphy would have wanted him to. “I feel good, seeing McMurphy get that black boys goat like not many men could. Papa used to be able to do that” (Kesey 94) This is Bromden speaking of McMurphy making fun of the staff’s blind rule-following tendencies. This also, strongly shows how much Bromden, and the other men, think of McMurphy as a father figure. He is a man in their lives that gives them confidence and comfort. The men in the ward & especially Billy Bibbit and Bromden, like authority and power; for example, the Big Nurse, Billy’s mom, and Bromden’s dad. They like to follow a structure and have a power to look up to; McMurphy is a different kind of power that’s freeing to be lead by. When they see their leader ‘fight the power’ they see this as an invitation to follow suit and question their old ways of the ward, therefore not conforming. So, when the men in the ward make McMurphy like their strong father figure, that becomes their normal. This also speaks to Kesey’s underline analogy,
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.
Unable to see McMurphy imprisoned in a body that will go on living (under Nurse Ratched’s control) even though his spirit is gone, Chief smothers him to death that night. Then he escapes the hospital and leaves for Canada and a new life. We begin to see the different situations in which the patients struggle to overcome. Whether insane or not, the hospital is undeniably in control of the fates of its
McMurphy is an individual who is challenging and rebelling against the system's rules and practices. He eventually teaches this practice of rebellion to the other patients who begin to realize that their lives are being controlled unfairly by the mental institution. When McMurphy first arrives at the institution, all of the other patients are afraid to express their thoughts to the Big Nurse. They are afraid to exercise their thoughts freely, and they believe that the Big Nurse will punish them if they question her authority. One patient, Harding, says, "All of us in here are rabbits of varying ages and degrees...We need a good strong wolf like the nurse to teach us our place" (Kesey 62).
With all the awards and praise, the movie was considered to be a masterpiece. On the other hand, Ken Kesey felt that this production would ruin his mindset of his own novel. The main reason why there were more differences between the book and the movie was because Kesey had arguments with the producers, Michael Douglas and Saul Zaentz. Of course, everyone has a different view of how a story should be told. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is superb as both a movie adaptation and a novel that all critics can appreciate.