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Racism in one flew over the cuckoos nest
Discrimination and racism used in one flew over the cuckoo's nest book
Discrimination and racism used in one flew over the cuckoo's nest book
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“For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” John 3:17
The savior of the Jewish people, Jesus Christ gave his life to absolve the world of its sins. He lived a pure and virtuous life guiding others towards the will of God while misdirecting them from the evils of earthly pleasures. Though he meant to bring peace, Jesus created discord in the governing processes of the land and was ultimately killed for it. His dissidence and claims of holiness displeased the rulers, but in perspective, he was a peasant who claimed to be the King of All Men; I would be skeptical also. Similarly, in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey, Randall P. McMurphy plays the martyr for a ward of mental patients against the regime of Nurse Ratched even though she is truly neither the cause nor the instigator of their mental difficulties. Kesey mocks the Christian religion through falsifying McMurphy’s sacrifice to convey white male fears of having minority groups in control.
In comparing McMurphy to Jesus, Kesey questions the true nature of Christ’s service while also conveying how negatively minorities are considered. By portraying McMurphy as a Christ figure who dies, Nurse Ratched and the black boys are being considered “sin”. According to the Bible, Jesus’s death brought the remittance of all sins and so when comparing the two, McMurphy’s sacrifice is meant to be the absorption of all of Nurse Ratched’s evil onto him. The author creates a social commentary this way to show that assertive women in higher positions are generally regarded by white men as being inhuman tyrants, or evil. While it could be mistaken that Kesey truly feels that way against women, the resolution of th...
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...e routine of ward life. The comparison between the two serves to lessen the sincerity of the former and questions the purpose of their being redundant. At the same time, the decision to liken the patients to the disciples makes minority groups in power seem wrong why? ; their control unsure what is happening is something that needs to be changed and eradicated. This paragraph needs more. The last sentence seems like a bit of a stretch there isn’t much to this section
McMurphy is used as the antithesis for Jesus Christ through his rebellious and vulgar actions to provide a sardonic commentary on religion while also on the fears of white men. The clever use of McMurphy as a conquering martyr in contrast with Jesus’s widely supported acts of goodness forms the imagery of domineering women and hateful black men, playing on the prejudices white males have against them.
Thomas C. Foster in his work How to Read Literature Like a Professor argues that even though characters may display evil characteristics, their religious values overpower and express “themselves in connection with the [character’s] role within society” (Foster 125). Literary characters may display some of the same characteristics as Christ while accomplishing actions with “redemption, hope, or miracle” (132). Jay Gatsby in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby symbolically resembles a Christ figure—sacrificing himself to save Daisy from the law, outstretching his arms towards hope, and coming to West Egg to retrieve Daisy’s unworthy world.
Kesey also uses characterisation to show power. The ‘Big’ Nurse Ratched runs the ward in which the central characters reside in a manner that induces fear in both patients and staff. The Nurse controls almost everything in the men’s lives; their routines, food, entertainment, and for those who are committed, how long they stay in the hospital. Nurse Ratched is the main example of power and control in the novel. The Big Nurse has great self-control; she is not easily flustered and never lets others see what she is feeling. Rather than accusing the men of anything, she ‘insinuates’. Although she isn’t physically larger than the ‘small’ nurses, The Chief describes Nurse Ratched as ‘Big’ because of the power she holds – this presentation of size is used for many characters.
People in the nineteenth century were religious. Sometimes people were able to convince people to do certain things or convince people what they are doing is right by saying it is in the bible. Fitzhugh thinks that “all anti-slavery men should be atheists”(). It is acceptable for a white man to own a slave. On the other hand, Douglas thinks southerners don’t practice what they preach. He was seen how “the man who robs me of my earnings at the end of each week meets as a class leader on Sunday morning, to show me the way of life, and the path of salvation. He who sells my sister, for purposes of prostitution , stands forth as the pious advocate of purity”(135). By mentioning how women are forced into prostitution helps Douglas attain the white northern women. A woman will not let another woman in hell. In addition, he is also able to get the support of christian that are against people that use religion to do bad
Kesey makes a series of simple associations between the events in Jesus' life and McMurphy's to initiate the assertion that the two men's purposes are one in the same. To begin Kesey's story, McMurphy enters the novel by showering upon his admittance into the ward. This showering, demanded by the ward aides, "where they take him into the shower room" (15), is analogous to Jesus' baptism by John the Baptist, and introduces the biblical theme in the novel. McMurphy's purpose in the novel is consistent and similar to that of Jesus. He attempts to unmask truths to the patients on the ward while displaying his true self through his overt behavior, regardless of the repercussions. Similarly, Jesus attempted to spread the word of God while displaying his beliefs freely despite whatever came as a result of not conforming...
In One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, there is much controversy and bias present throughout the characters in the Combine. The patients have been rejected and forgotten about by society and left to rot with the antithesis of femininity: Nurse Ratched. But even Ratched isn’t immune to the scrutiny of the outside world, and she has to claw her way into power and constantly fight to keep it. With his own experiences and the societal ideals of the 1960’s, Ken Kesey displays how society isolates and ostracizes those who do not follow the social norms or viewed as inferior to the white american males.
of children, rising up and teaching them. He says that salvation will come from the people
Many authors use allusion in an effort to give a deeper meaning to a story by referring to another work, which has a similar theme. It can also be a way to further emphasize the main point and help the reader better understand and think more deeply about what they are reading. Throughout the novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey, he incorporates many references to the Christian Faith. Although it isn’t direct, his strong use of allusion and symbolism force us to infer. Randle McMurphy, an intelligent and observant asylum patient, makes his way into the Oregon State Hospital. Kesey utilizes the Christian Faith and Jesus Christ through the characterization and development of the main character, Randle McMurphy. This dominant, yet reformative asylum patient comes to the aid of his fellow men in attempt to change the ways of the ward.
The dominant discourse of conformity is characterised predominantly by influencing to obey rules described by Kesey’ novel ‘One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest’. At the start of the novel, all the acute and the silence chronic conform to Nurse Ratched’s rules before the arrival of McMurphy. Since, she was in complete control over the ward until McMurphy arrived. After he arrived, he begins to take control of the patients. He begins to take the role of leader, a leader that was unexpected. Kesey has foregrounded the character, McMurphy to be different thus creating a binary opposite that is represented in the novel. Kesey shows the binary opposites as being good versus evil. The former represents the con man McMurphy, and the latter represents the head nurse, Nurse Ratched. An example of this would be, “She’s carrying her wicker bag…a bag shape of a tool box with a hemp handle…” (pg.4), showing that Nurse Ratched is a mechanic. McMurphy is portrayed as being a good character by revitalising the hope of the patients by strangling Nurse Ratched. This revitalise the hope for the pa...
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16)
The book of Matthew chapter 5 through 7 was known as, “The Sermon on the Mount”. Which were words spoken by Jesus Christ. The purpose of this Sermon was to show representation of the normative foundation of Christian Morality. For instance, this passage was more so fixated on whole hearted benevolence towards others around you and genuine devotion to God.
While McMurphy tries to bring about equality between the patients and head nurse, she holds onto her self-proclaimed right to exact power over her charges because of her money, education, and, ultimately, sanity. The patients represent the working-class by providing Ratched, the manufacturer, with the “products” from which she profits—their deranged minds. The patients can even be viewed as products themselves after shock therapy treatments and lobotomies leave them without personality. The negative effects of the hospital’s organizational structure are numerous. The men feel worthless, abused, and manipulated, much like the proletariat who endured horrendous working conditions and rarely saw the fruits of their labor during the Industrial Revolution in the United Kingdom and United States in the late eighteenth century and early nineteenth century (“Industrial Revolution” 630).
Kesey’s biblical allusion to Lazarus’s resurrection suggests, that the emotional strength McMurphy gives to the men is the key to overthrowing the combine. As a savior McMurphy supplies the patient’s with the necessary faith and apparatuses to combat their oppression. McMurphy cannot single-handedly liberate each man from the combine rather he inspires and educates the men on how to rise up and free themselves. Moreover, Kesey parallels McMurphy’s last hoorah to Christ’s Last Supper. The Last Supper is the final meal Jesus shared with his disciples before his betrayal and crucifixion. McMurphy’s less dignified Last Supper was an attempt to bring a sample of manly life to the patients. After a wild night full of alcohol, drugs, and prostitutes McMurphy and his disciples fall asleep and the day shifters find them the next morning among the aftermath of the party. Nurse Ratched finds Billy Bibbit with the prostitute; when questioned Billy immediately blames McMurphy and the other men for his doings, “They m-m-made me! Please, M-Miss Ratched, they may-may-MAY—!”
The character analysis of Mary Anne Bell in comparison and contrast to Martha and Elroy Berdahl implores the audience to consider the idea that gender is not inherent.
...Pentecostal’s hold, that “God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
“I have not come to judge the world, but to teach them in humility and to save them, and to create an example for my disciples, so that they will do as I do.”