“People don't want other people to get high, because if you get high, you might see the falsity of the fabric of the society we live in.” This quote by Ken Kesey embodies his view of society in the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s nest. He depicts the modern society through Nurse Ratched, a strong authoritarian figure, who embellishes the nature of society. She is notorious in her endeavors to control the men and pressures them to conform to society that is challenged by McMurphy, who brings the men out of the fog. Through the Combine and the Nurse, Kesey’s highlights several major ideas about society. He illustrates the repressive nature of society that causes men to conform to boundaries. Furthermore, he depicts how society rejects those …show more content…
For instance, when Harding talks to McMurphy about the Combine he explains why the men are in the ward: “All of us in here are rabbits of varying ages and degrees… we’re all in here because we can’t adjust to our rabbithood” (Kesey 64). Describing the nature of society when he says “we can’t adjust to our rabbithood”, Harding explains how society rejects those termed ill or defective. The men are in the ward since they are unable to adjust to society and accept their roles as rabbits. Society has locked these individuals up in the ward to reset them into the “correct” behavior. This quote depicts altogether how society designates roles to men and rejects those who can’t adjust. Likewise, this is also demonstrated when Nurse Ratched states powerfully, “many of you are in here because you could not adjust to the rules of society in the Outside World” (Kesey 199). As demonstrated through this quote, it delineates the nature of society in how it works to reshape the men. This illustrates how society at large, a giant force, exists to oppress people within the system. The Combine is adept at this by coercing individuals to fit into the system by helping them readjust. Ratched, who represents society, works to help the men fit comfortably into society. This essentially means that within the ward, Nurse Ratched rewires the men to help them be able to live in the outside world again. Thus, one aspect …show more content…
This is seen throughout the novel with the men being pecked at for their attributes that make them different. Harding is unable to live in society and he explains his situation by saying, “Guilt. Shame. Fear. Self-belittlement. I discovered at an early age that… I indulged in certain practices that our society regards as shameful” (Kesey 307). Through this quote Harding is so ashamed of his homosexuality that he chooses to lock himself up to escape the critical nature of society. It is very clear that Harding holds himself back from living freely by his fear of how society will perceive him. This shows the great social pressure along with the shame that follows with being in the outside world. The fear of judgment by society causes him to hide from it rather than live in its rejection. Furthermore, this ignominy from society is also seen when Harding talks about the pressure from society, “the great, deadly, pointing forefinger of society was pointing at me - and the great voice of millions chanting, Shame. Shame. Shame.” (Kesey 310). This quote embodies the huge judgment that society constitutes what is normal or abnormal behavior. By this mass “forefinger” Harding propounds how society is a great cause of individual degradation, making the men feel embarrassed. For most of the men on the
In One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, role reversal puts a woman, Nurse Ratched, in control of the ward, which is important in creating a contrast to traditional power. Within the ward Ratched has ultimate power by “merely [insinuating]” (p. 63) a wrongdoing and has control of the doctors. Soon after the first confrontation with Randle McMurphy (Mack), her power is demonstrated through the submissive and obedient manners of all there (152). Ratched is shown as having great power within the ward and outside, despite that time periods constriction of being a women, showing an important contrast to traditional power structures.
In my opinion the main theme of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is conformity. The patients at this mental institution, or at least the one in the Big Nurse’s ward, find themselves on a rough situation where not following standards costs them many privileges being taken away. The standards that the Combine sets are what makes the patients so afraid of a change and simply conform hopelessly to what they have since anything out of the ordinary would get them in trouble. Such conformity is what Mc Murphy can not stand and makes him bring life back to the ward by fighting Miss Ratched and creating a new environment for the patients. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest represents a rebellion against the conformity implied in today’s society.
Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest explores the dysfunctions and struggles of life for the patients in a matriarch ruled mental hospital. As told by a schizophrenic Native American named Chief Bromden, the novel focuses primarily on Randle McMurphy, a boisterous new patient introduced into the ward, and his constant war with the Big Nurse Ratched, the emasculating authoritarian ruler of the ward. Constricted by the austere ward policy and the callous Big Nurse, the patients are intimidated into passivity. Feeling less like patients and more like inmates of a prison, the men surrender themselves to a life of submissiveness-- until McMurphy arrives. With his defiant, fearless and humorous presence, he instills a certain sense of rebellion within all of the other patients. Before long, McMurphy has the majority of the Acutes on the ward following him and looking to him as though he is a hero. His reputation quickly escalates into something Christ-like as he challenges the nurse repeatedly, showing the other men through his battle and his humor that one must never be afraid to go against an authority that favors conformity and efficiency over individual people and their needs. McMurphy’s ruthless behavior and seemingly unwavering will to protest ward policy and exhaust Nurse Ratched’s placidity not only serves to inspire other characters in the novel, but also brings the Kesey’s central theme into focus: the struggle of the individual against the manipulation of authoritarian conformists. The asylum itself is but a microcosm of society in 1950’s America, therefore the patients represent the individuals within a conformist nation and the Big Nurse is a symbol of the authority and the force of the Combine she represents--all...
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
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest takes place in a mental institution in the Pacific Northwest. The narrator of the novel is Chief Bromden, also known as Chief Broom, a catatonic half-Indian man whom everybody thinks is deaf and dumb. He often suffers from hallucinations in which he feels that the room is filled with fog. The institution is dominated by Nurse Ratched (Big Nurse), a cold, precise woman with calculated gestures and a calm, mechanical manner. When the story begins, a new patient, Randall Patrick McMurphy, arrives at the ward. He is a self-professed 'gambling fool' who has just come from a work farm at Pendleton. He introduces himself to the other men on the ward, including Dale Harding, the president of the patient's council, and Billy Bibbit, a thirty-year old man who stutters and appears very young. Nurse Ratched immediately pegs McMurphy as a manipulator.
Ken Kesey presents his masterpiece, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, with popular culture symbolism of the 1960s. This strategy helps paint a vivid picture in the reader's mind. Music and cartoons of the times are often referred to in the novel. These help to exaggerate the characters and the state of the mental institution.
As medical advances are being made, it makes the treating of diseases easier and easier. Mental hospitals have changed the way the treat a patient’s illness considerably compared to the hospital described in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.
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.
In the novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Ken Kesey argued that this presumed model society was actually quite the opposite. Kesey argued this through the use of the characters in the novel. Nurse Ratched was a character who symbolized the communist rule in Russia, and she displayed absolute power over the patients in the ward. She was depicted as what was wrong with society, and the patients feared her as the Americans feared communists. Randle McMurphy retaliated against Nurse Ratched in order to challenge her control, just as the Americans fought against Communism in the Cold War. Although it seemed as though there were some positive aspects of domestic life in the 1950s, Ken Kesey argued that American society at the time was tainted due to the roles of fear, the rejection of those who were different, and t...
Bromden’s mother manipulates her husband until “‘[she] made [Bromden’s father] too little’” (220). Bromden insinuates that by asserting her dominance over her husband, Bromden’s mother striped Millatoona of his masculinity, which leads to his downfall. She made Millatoona weak causing him to turn to alcoholism to cope with his loss of masculinity. After witnessing a lifelong worth of traumatic abuse, Bromden creates a theory called the Combine to help him understand the coercive forces of society. Kesey uses the Combine to create a fictional world which is run by a series of interlaced mechanics and machines that control the whole world. It is like a system or government that uses people’s weaknesses to get them to conform to its establishment. Consequently, Bromden believes that the Combine have got him too but not because of his mother, he believes that the Combine got him through the form of Nurse Ratched. Nurse Ratched is a former Army nurse who served in World War II, which is why she is an advocate for strict order and control. As a result, she runs the hospital on a strict schedule as if it is a military
“Then why? Why? You’re just a young guy! You ought a be out running around in a convertible, bird-dogging girls. All of this” - he sweeps his hand around him again - “why do you stand for it?”(Kesey 31)In One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, a major theme is societal pressure vs self. Ken Kesey captures this classical conflict between expectations and reality through his portrayal of, Billy Bibbit. Questioning society’s definition of sanity, Ken Kesey portrays his disagreement with the norms with his characterization of Billy Bibbit, the influence and legitimacy of society’s views, and the constitution of normal behavior.
In the book One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey the use of Christ imagery is overall effective. One of the first images was the fishing trip planned by McMurphy because only twelve people went and Jesus took twelve disciples with him on a fishing trip. Billy Bibbits turning on McMurphy near the end by admitting that he was involved in McMurphys plan was like Judas admitting he participated with Jesus. Towards the end of the story McMurphy is a martyr just like Jesus because the patients aren’t free until he dies. Those are a few examples of how Kesey uses Christ imagery in his book.
In Ken Kesey's One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, the author refers to the many struggles people individually face in life. Through the conflict between Nurse Ratched and McMurphy, the novel explores the themes of individuality and rebellion against conformity. With these themes, Kesey makes various points which help us understand which situations of repression can lead an individual to insanity. These points include: the effects of sexual repression, woman as castrators, and the pressures we face from society to conform. Through these points, Kesey encourages the reader to consider that people react differently in the face of repression, and makes the reader realize the value of alternative states of perception, rather than simply writing them off as "crazy."
An exceptionally tall, Native American, Chief Bromden, trapped in the Oregon psychiatric ward, suffers from the psychological condition of paranoid schizophrenia. This fictional character in Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest struggles with extreme mental illness, but he also falls victim to the choking grasp of society, which worsens Bromden’s condition. Paranoid schizophrenia is a rare mental illness that leads to heavy delusions and hallucinations among other, less serious, symptoms. Through the love and compassion that Bromden’s inmate, Randle Patrick McMurphy, gives Chief Bromden, he is able to briefly overcome paranoid schizophrenia and escape the dehumanizing psychiatric ward that he is held prisoner in.
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.