Innate nature can be defined as ‘existing at the time of birth’, thus it comes as no surprise that authors like Iain Banks and Ken Kesey explore the idea that either we, as human beings, are inclined to cruelty and violence due to this or that we’re influenced by the society that surrounds us and the actions of other individuals in said society. To some extent the theory of determinism; which suggests that all events, including human action, are all determined by causes external to the will, and as a result we cannot be morally held responsible for our actions, links in with the argument of innate nature. Both ‘The Wasp Factory’ and ‘One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ provide prominent examples of this, for example the fact that Frank, the protagonist …show more content…
Frank finds comfort in releasing his aggression and worry through his rituals in his Wasp Factory and Sacrifice Poles, which could be argued to stop him committing murder again because his aggression has been drained off through these violent rituals. However, Berkowitz’s study demonstrates that we are likely to become more violent after such participations, concluding that “Engaging in aggressive play just strengthens the disposition to react aggressively.” Indeed, it could be suggested that Banks is speculating on both theories and in turn challenging them throughout his …show more content…
Set on a remote, unnamed Scottish peninsula, Frank is isolated from the rest of society and rarely interacts with other people, especially his own age: “I didn’t grow up with anybody of my own age […]” and thus lacks being socially educated due to his Father’s choice of educating Frank himself, giving him the opportunity to manipulate his understanding of the world in which he lives: “For years I believed Pathos was one of the Three Musketeers, Fellatio was a character in Hamlet […]” In society’s eyes, Frank doesn’t exist: “I was never registered. […] nothing to say I’m alive or ever existed.” And constantly hides from Diggs, who can be seen as a representation of society. Due to his non-existence, Frank can never have aspirations outside of the island, thus making his life hopeless. The few people that are aware he exists are either related to him, disabled or have been lied to and believe his cover story. Another example of how Banks uses hope throughout the novel is using victims as a representation. In this novel’s case, the victims are utterly innocent, so when Frank kills the children, he is actually killing symbols of hope. The murder of his younger brother, Paul, shows the destruction of innocence due to Banks’ use of language, describing him as having “a podgy hand.” Emphasising how undefined and young he is. Through being chemically wounded by his father, Frank “naturally”
The author Ken Kesey was born in La Junta, Colorado and went to Stanford University. He volunteered to be used for an experiment in the hospital because he would get paid. In the book “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”, Kesey brings up the past memories to show how Bromden is trying to be more confident by using those thoughts to make him be himself. He uses Bromden’s hallucinations, Nurse Ratched’s authority, and symbolism to reveal how he’s weak, but he builds up more courage after each memory.
In this paper I will be comparing the visit to the State Mental Institution and the
Freud proposes that the primal instinct of humans is to act aggressively towards each other. In civilized society, we have restrained our inclination to aggression through law and authority. Repeatedly, in The Lake of the Woods, John Wade either acted aggressively
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.
Throughout the past centuries, the concept of instinctive morality has been debated back and forth. One philosophy with a strong viewpoint on this subject is Puritanism, because they believe that since the beginning of the world, people have been born sinners. Puritans felt that Adam and Eve’s temptation by Satan had cursed all of humanity to be born evil. A few decades later, Deists shifted their ideas away from religion and believed that every person could choose whether they were good or bad. Then, Transcendental ideas began the thought that humans were born innately good, and that God and Satan had nothing to do with people’s morality. Throughout the major literary philosophies in the United States, one can see how the innate character of a human progresses from being evil to being innately good.
''One that flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest'' can much relate to something we have discussed during the marking period.Much like with The Scarlet Letter, this book has symbols which help deepen the understanding of the work. Nonetheless, ''One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'' brings a few sorts of symbolism, one being the hydro-console. It was an enormously heavy device that was impossible to move anywhere, which was a great representation of the situation going on in this novel. Much like the men in the mental ward, they were in the same position as the console. They were being weighed down on and wouldn't be allowed to leave thanks to the system that was crushing on their confidence like a ball and chain.
In today’s society, one is constantly surrounded by individuals with different behaviors. Some will sacrifice his or her life for a complete stranger. However, there is some individuals who would take advantage of the weak and poor for his or her own personal gain. Now the question arises, what makes human beings behave the way they do? Being the topic of conflict of psychology for years, one usually turns to the nature verses nurture theory for the answer to that question. Some believes that a person is born with a certain personality, others believe it is an individual’s atmosphere that determines his or her attitude, and some even trusts the idea that it is a combination of genes and environment that dictates the conduct of an individual.
The constraints society has for people were already determined, and with their influences it may also cause a person to have a determined future. Therefore leading me to believe determinism is the cause of people’s events. Although this argument doesn’t explain how intuition was created, natural laws from a chain of causes gave me a reason to believe how our intuition was formed in the first place. The importance of this topic is overlooked by the majority of society. Having a choice of determinism over free will can help our society in a number of ways like, deciding what punishments should be made for people.
Human nature is the most debated topic to date. Many people think that mankind is programmed to be evil; on the other hand people argue that it is naturally good. Nathaniel Hawthorne gave his argument with the novel, The Scarlet Letter. The Scarlet Letter showed that mankind is innately good by Chillingworth’s measures, Hester’s capitulates and Dimmesdale’s noble qualities.
Mankind is innately evil. The allegorical novel, The Lord of the Flies, allows for little interpretation about human nature. William Golding depicts the idea, “evil is an inborn trait of man” (Golding). Throughout the novel the children who have crash landed on the island begin to uncover their savage nature. Although all of the children somehow succumb to a heinous behaviour, Jack, Ralph, and Roger become most noticeably corrupt. Ultimately, it becomes clear that malicious intent is intrinsic in mankind.
Whereas Catcher in The Rye by J.D. Salinger and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey have a very similar theme of Coming of Age. The two novels differ by having the characters Holden Caulfield in J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in The Rye and Chief Bromden in Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest fight within themselves over Alienation vs. Isolation and Illusion vs. Reality.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Dead Poet Society explore the struggle for independence through characters who are subject to an environment in which they are rewarded for their conformity. Dead Poet Society outlines the complications of young students at Welton Academy after a respected English teacher named Mr. Keating inspires them to seize the day. However, One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest explore the events that transpire in a mental institute after an exceedingly ‘difficult’ patient arrives and the impact this has on Chief Bromden. Both texts critically explore the struggle for independence.
As all movies are created based on a book, there always seems to be changes and conflicting ideas. However, they still have the same main idea to the story line. The novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey and the movie directed by Miloš Forman deal with the main idea of society's control of natural impulses. The author/director want to prove that this control can be overcome. Although the movie and the book are very different from each other, they still have their similarities.
Throughout the sixties , America- involved in the Cold War at this time- suffered from extreme fear of communism. This caused numerous severe changes in society ranging from corrupt political oppression, to the twisted treatment of the minority. Published in 1962, Ken Kesey ’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest , manages to capture these changes in the variety of ways. Kesey’s novel incorporates some of the main issues that affected the United States during the early and mid 60s. The government had no limits and was cruel to those who did not fit into society, including the mentally ill. The wrongful treatment of the people caused an eruption of rebellion and protest- thus the Beatnik era was born. The novel, written during this movement, sheds light on Kesey’s personal opinion on this chaotic period in US history . The treatment of mentally ill patients, the oppressive government, and uprising in the 1960s inspired Kesey while writing his novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.
Freud believes that aggression is a primal instinct, and civilization thwarts this instinct, making man unhappy. Civilized society controls man's tendency toward aggression through rules and laws and the presence of authority. These mechanisms are put in place to guarantee safety and happiness for all individuals in a society. However, the necessity of suppressing the aggressive drive in m...