Examples Of Authorial Voice In One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

1016 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Essay comparing Lord of the Flies and The Crucible

‘Compare the techniques that the authors of the two texts use to show disapproval of the society each presents.’

Ken Kesey and Arthur Miller illustrate an analytical opinion on their own society’s inconsistencies and inequality through their texts using various techniques inclusively symbolism, authorial voice, metaphors and points of view, which urges the reader to question their own society. Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is a dramatic novel, which explores the confinements of a psychiatric ward in the 1950’s and the corruption within the system to express the discrimination and prejudice against individuals within the American society. While Miller’s historical drama The Crucible, which is set in 1692 Salem, emphasises on how hysteria …show more content…

In One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, although narrated by Chief Bromden, it is Randle McMurphy the protagonist who carries the authorial voice of Kesey. McMurphy’s actions consistently demonstrate the importance of courage in the fight against tyranny and by choosing to oppose repression, McMurphy also demonstrates freedom of choice a concept important within any society. When McMurphy discovers that the patients have elected to admit themselves to the institution voluntarily, he is infuriated and says “What do you think you are for Christ sake, crazy or something?” which implies that they are not in fact crazy and to have chosen to stay institutionalised is not demonstrating courage. Through McMurphy’s voice against the laws and views within the ward, Kesey is able to express his dissatisfaction and frustration of his own society. Correspondingly, Miller presents Proctor as a voice of reason and truth within a world seemingly gone mad with hysteria. Within the text Proctor is seen as a man of strength and dignity as displayed towards the end of the text when he refuses to lie and taint his good name to satisfy those in charge. Proctor’s distaste for the current laws and rules of Salem are made clear through statements such as, “I like not the smell of this authority”. Proctor’s disgust for his society represents the …show more content…

Kesey utilizes Chief to furnish an insightful and detailed look on the ward and its patients. Chief is the eyes and ears of the ward and despite his schizophrenia, which influenced his mind as he has stated “It’s hard for me to have a clear mind thinking on it ", Chief is trusted as the narrator as throughout the text. Chief also promotes the saviour or Christ like position McMurphy takes on by rebellion against the Big Nurse by illustrating how Chief would stand up for McMurphy. Through Chief, Kesey displays the dissatisfaction he feels on the matters at hand, both within the text and his own

Show More
Related

  • Emotions In One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

    550 Words  | 2 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Examples Of Individualism In One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

    1791 Words  | 4 Pages

    The novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey tells a story of Nurse Ratched, the head nurse of a mental institution, and the way her patients respond to her harsh treatment. The story is told from the perspective of a large, Native-American patient named Bromden; he immediately introduces Randle McMurphy, a recently admitted patient, who is disturbed by the controlling and abusive way Ratched runs her ward. Through these feelings, McMurphy makes it his goal to undermine Ratched’s authority, while convincing the other patients to do the same. McMurphy becomes a symbol of rebellion through talking behind Ratched’s back, illegally playing cards, calling for votes, and leaving the ward for a fishing trip. His shenanigans cause his identity to be completely stolen through a lobotomy that puts him in a vegetative state. Bromden sees McMurphy in this condition and decides that the patients need to remember him as a symbol of individuality, not as a husk of a man destroyed by the

    Read More

  • Comparing One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest and The Crucible

    1927 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Importance Of Individualism In One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

    1210 Words  | 3 Pages

    People often find themselves as part of a collective, following society's norms and may find oneself in places where feeling constrained by the rules and will act out to be unconstrained, as a result people are branded as nuisances or troublemakers. In the novel One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, the author Ken Kesey conveys the attempt McMurphy makes to live unconstrained by the authority of Nurse Ratched. The story is very one sided and helps create an understanding for those troublemakers who are look down on in hopes of shifting ingrained ideals. The Significance of McMurphy's struggles lies in the importance placed on individuality and liberty. If McMurphy had not opposed fear and autocratic authority of Nurse Ratched nothing would have gotten better on the ward the men would still feel fear. and unnerved by a possibility of freedom. “...Then, just as she's rolling along at her biggest and meanest, McMurphy steps out of the latrine ... holding that towel around his hips-stops her dead! ” In the novel McMurphy shows little signs like this to combat thee Nurse. His defiance of her system included

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

    776 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Comparing the the Red Scare and Salem Witch Trials in The Crucible by Arthur Miller

    1800 Words  | 4 Pages

    Arthur Miller’s The Crucible utilizes a fictional account of the Salem Witch Trials to expose the mob mentality associated with the Red Scare of the 1950’s and the sometimes overzealous fight against communism in America. By references to the events that took place in the Witch Trials, the playwright successfully portrays society’s behavior at its tyrannical worst, exposing fraud, faulty logic, vindictiveness, zealotry, and evil (Brater). Arthur Miller creates a parallel between the societal events of mass in the 1600’s and those in the 1950’s. In both instances, leaders use the fear of the masses for their personal gain. Abigail, the lead character in the play, and Senator Joseph McCarthy are both able to generate a groundswell that takes on a life of its own and ruins the lives of others. Arthur Miller created this analogy in order to expose Senator McCarthy and his anti-Communist propaganda by creating an analogy to the ferocity of the Salem Witch Trials. The Salem Witch Trials and the Red Scare fed on the anxiety of the general public. The Salem Witch Trials magnified society’s ability to influence the judicial system. As the hysteria regarding the existence of witches swelled, innocent individuals were executed. McCarthyism also demonstrated society’s ability to influence the judicial system. As the hysteria regarding the threat of communism in America swelled, innocent individuals were jailed, blacklisted, deported, and fired from their jobs. The Crucible first staged in 1953, was meant to raise awareness of the effect that fear can have on human behavior and judgment. The play illustrates how Abigail’s intent to avoid punishment by accusing others of culturally deviant activity led to mass hysteria. Senator McCar...

    Read More

  • An Analytical Essay Explaining Why Arthur Miller Wrote The Crucible

    740 Words  | 2 Pages

    Authors often have underlying reasons for giving their stories certain themes or settings. Arthur Miller’s masterpiece, The Crucible, is a work of art inspired by actual events as a response to political and moral issues. Set in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692, The Crucible proves to have its roots in events of the 1950’s and 1960’s, such as the activities of the House Un-American Committee and the “Red Scare.” Though the play provides an accurate account of the Salem witch trials, its real achievement lies in the many important issues of Miller’s time that it dealswith.

    Read More

  • Character Analysis: One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

    1205 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Ken Kesey’s novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, the reader has the experience to understand what it was like to live in an insane asylum during the 1960’s. Kesey shows the reader the world within the asylum of Portland Oregon and all the relationships and social standings that happen within it. The three major characters’ groups, Nurse Ratched, the Black Boys, and McMurphy show how their level of power effects how they are treated in the asylum. Nurse Ratched is the head of the ward and controls everything that goes on in it, as she has the highest authority in the ward and sabotages the patients with her daily rules and rituals. These rituals include her servants, the Black Boys, doing anything she tells them to do with the patients.

    Read More

  • Discourses of Conformity in One Flew over the Cuckoo’s nest and Advice to Young Ladies

    1209 Words  | 3 Pages

    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...

    Read More

  • McMurphy as Christ in Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

    565 Words  | 2 Pages

    In "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest," McMurphy is successfully perceived as a heroic Christ figure. Kesey uses foreshadowing and images, the fishing trip, actions and feelings of other characters to develop this character.

    Read More

  • Insanity: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Keyse

    1738 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...sage against conformity, it is only fitting that this novel’s significance be challenged. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest strikes a balance between amusing and admonishing examples creates its indisputable literary merit. Ken Kesey’s commentary on the perception of insanity is not only a story, but also a symbol for the beauty in being unconventional.

    Read More

  • One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Transcendentalism

    1791 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” The father of transcendentalism, Emerson believed that people who resist change to be what is most natural, themselves, are the true heroes of the world. Ken Kesey, another popular writer, wrote One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest in a similar spirit. His novel takes place on the ward of a controlling army nurse at an Oregon mental institution in the late 1950s. The storyline mainly follows the interactions between Nurse Ratched, a manipulating representation of society, and Randle Patrick McMurphy, a patient, gambler, and renegade. Kesey echoes the transcendentalists and romantics in his work by

    Read More

  • Style and Setting in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

    915 Words  | 2 Pages

    In this novel Kesey has used narrative structure, foreshadowing and symbolism to create the tragic form and to show he downfall of McMurphy throughout the novel. As the down fall of McMurphy progresses throughout the novel his ideas got stronger and at the end of the novel his death reinforced his ideas even more, defeating the Big Nurse due to patients signing out form the ward for freedom. Her control over the ward was shattered when the Chief used the control panel to escape from the ward. The electroshock therapy table was one of the major reason of McMurphy not able to escape the ward.

    Read More

  • The Crucible Rhetorical Analysis

    549 Words  | 2 Pages

    Playwright and essayist, Arthur Miller, in his play, “The Crucible”, utilizes pathos, symbolism, and irony to convey his purpose of how the events of the Salem Witch Trials had detrimental effects on the society and how far the elites went to protect their reputation . Miller’s reasoning is to expand Parris’ and Danforth purpose for their side of the argument during the witch trials. He adapts a contrasting tone in order to appeal to similar feelings with reasoning in his american readers.

    Read More

  • Symbols In One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

    1685 Words  | 4 Pages

    Ken Kesey’s novel “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” is a story about a band of patients in a mental ward who struggle to find their identity and get away from the wretched Nurse. As audiences read about the tale, many common events and items seen throughout the story actually represent symbols for the bigger themes of the story. Symbols like the fishing trip, Nurse, and electroshock therapy all emphasize the bigger themes of the story. The biggest theme of the story is oppression. Throughout the course of the story, patients are suppressed and fight to find who they really are.

    Read More

More about Examples Of Authorial Voice In One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

Open Document