One flew over the cuckoos nest

There are three major conflicts in the novel, One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, by Ken Kesey. Both internal and external in nature their causes, effects, and resolutions are explored in great detail.

The cause of the conflict between Mac and Ratched begins immediately. As soon as McMurphy enters the ward he shows his individuality. He’s loud, brassy and the chief says, “He sounds big.” McMurphy publicly introduces himself and stands out from the rest of the men. He shows that he wont be controlled. Ratched wants and expects complete control. She refers to Mac as a, “Manipulator,” who will, “…use everyone and everything to his own end. Ironically Ratched is also a Manipulator. Miss Ratched chooses the orderlies to control them, she wants them to hate so they take their anger out on the patients.

Ratched’s first win against McMurphy is when he challenges the ward policies on the music. He demands for the music to be shut off or at least turned down. Knowing that all the men are watching she completely humiliates Mac by telling him that she wont turn the music down further more she treats him like a child when she tells him to take his hands off her glass because he was staining them. “…don’t be so selfish,” says Miss Ratched when Mac asks for the music to be turned down.

Ratched’s second major win against McMurphy on the ward is when she forces the men to ignore him and not to play cards with him. Using the threat of rationed cigarettes the patients are still much too afraid of Miss Ratched to go against her orders. McMurphy is completely left alone by the men and Ratched shows that she maintains control.

Although McMurphy does not get the votes of the men because the fear they hve of Ratched McMurphy still comes out victorious when in the end the men eventually do vote to watch the world series. When the men do vote Ratched looses complete control over her ward and it’s the first time the men defy her as a group. “And we’re sitting there head up in front of that blanked out television set…and she’s screaming behind us.”

McMurphy mocks and taunts Miss Ratched when he runs around with his towel on. He wasn’t assigned a uniform and when Miss Ratched tells him to stop running around in the towel Mac stops and...

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...g because after this Mac has lost three time in a row to Ratched or the combine. Chief sees the trouble Mac has to lift the control panel and finally gives up, the control panel, to chief, is a symbol of the combine and the fact that Mac cant lift it destroys Chief.

One of Chief major wins against the fog is when the men all come together to back up Mac for the world series and the comments that everyone makes to her. Chief say, “…I quit worrying about the BIG NURSE and the combine behind her.” For the first time in his life he saw people clearly and not just the black outline around them.

Another great win for Chief is when he enters the pool with all the other men. This is a big win because the Chief is so afraid of even the ground that to enter a pool is a great progress for him. Also Chief begins to see the ward as “clean and silent” and not humming of machinery. Chief even takes a big step when he stands up and looks out the window of the ward.

The resolution to Chief’s conflict is after he kills Mac and escapes the institution at the end of the novel.