One Flew Over Cuckoo's Nest Essay

586 Words2 Pages

Everybody wants to be accepted, yet society is not so forgiving. It bends you and changes you until you are like everyone else. Society depends on conformity and it forces it upon people. In Emerson's Self Reliance, he says "Society is a joint stock company, in which the members agree, for the better securing of his bread to each shareholder, to surrender the liberty and culture of the eater." People are willing to sacrifice their own hopes and freedoms just to get the bread to survive. Although the society that we are living in is different than the one the Emerson's essay, the idea of fitting in still exists today. Although society and our minds make us think a certain way, we should always trust our better judgment instead of just conforming …show more content…

People will ignore their better judgment. During Milgram's experiment, many the participants had tried to stop early on, but when the experimenter said the experiment must continue, they gave in and keep administering the shocks to the learner. To be like the people who rebelled might not be easy, but it is what people should do. We should follow our better judgment instead of conforming to society. It doesn't mean we shouldn't listen to authority, but we should rebel when it is against our better judgment. In One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, McMurphy is an individual who represents rebellion. He knew conforming to society wouldn't benefit him. He broke Nurse Ratched's rules and although he was becoming weak, he wouldn't conform. He did not try to fit into the image of a patient in a mental ward. I have also seen conformity and rebellion. When I was in middle school, the environment was not like BCA where everyone enjoyed learning and strived to be better. Being surrounded with kids that cared more about their looks than their education was not encouraging. This may have just been a disguise. Although many students were very smart and aspire to be better students, they are afraid to show it since they are afraid that they would be made fun of. I decided I didn't care what they thought of me and showed I loved to learn. I wouldn't let them change who I

Show More
Related

  • Conformity: A Brief Analysis Of Tupac

    84 Words  | 1 Pages

    Conformity can be very crucial, infact a lot of people eventually start hurting themselves or doing drugs just because they don't feel themselves anymore.Why can't society change? why can't that one kid that always follows everyone in the back can turn into the kid that just hangs with the people they really wanna hang with?We need to embrace ourselves so we can stop all this conformity from consuming us.Tupac was a nonconformist, he always did what made him happy and always told the truth.

    Read More

  • Harrison Bergeron Conformity

    669 Words  | 2 Pages

    The world is divided up into numerous things: Countries, states, cities, communities, etc. However, when looking at the big scope of things, one can group the vast amount of people into a society. This society is where the majority lie in the scheme of things - in other words, the common people. Individuals do exist in this society, but they are scarce in a world of conformism. Society’s standards demands an individual to conform, and if the individual refuses they are pushed down by society.

    Read More

  • Sociology Of Leopard Man Essay

    462 Words  | 1 Pages

    Another point I agree with is that it's a lot easier to just fit in and not lead the train and being yourself. I personally know from experience. Growing up I always tried to conform just to fit in with the people that surrounded me. It's not just me that i've seen conform to fit in, i've seen many of my friends conform to fit in with the crowd. All around me, everyday people are conforming and changing to fit in with the society.

    Read More

  • One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Quote Analysis

    3070 Words  | 7 Pages

    From the moment McMurphy enters the ward it is clear to all that he is different and hard to control. He’s seen as a figure the rest of the patients can look up to and he raises their hopes in taking back power from the big nurse. The other patients identify McMurphy as a leader when he first stands up to the nurse at her group therapy, saying that she has manipulated them all to become “a bunch of chickens at a pecking party”(Kesey 55). He tells the patients that they do not have to listen to Nurse Ratched and he confronts her tactics and motives. The patients see him as a leader at this point, but McMurphy does not see the need for him to be leading alone. McMurphy is a strong willed and opinionated man, so when he arrives at the ward he fails to comprehend why the men live in fear, until Harding explains it to him by

    Read More

  • Analysis Of One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

    1521 Words  | 4 Pages

    Throughout society, there are many individuals who influence the growth/development of others. Ones influence on others could either have a positive or negative impact on an individual's life. Throughout Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, McMurphy's arrival on the ward influences the way the patients seek their own freedom. McMurphy sympathizes with the patient, not wanting to see them suffer in this “cuckoo nest” of a hospital. Such oppressive control is too much for McMurphy to bear and therefore he begins to challenge the Nurse’s control over all the patients in the wards, symbolically, all of mankind.

    Read More

  • The Influence Of Conformity To Society

    849 Words  | 2 Pages

    In society, it's difficult to go against the norm. Individuals are compelled to act a specific way, or look a specific way in order to be accepted. For instance, teenagers may encounter pressure from their peers to partake in specific exercises that may not be moral, since they feel the need to fit in. This weight of conformity isn't just present in reality; it can be found in literature as well. The story "St. Lucy’s Home For Girls Raised by Wolves" by Karen Russell depicts that in order to conform to society, individuals abandon their selflessness and compassion and become selfish and apathetic.

    Read More

  • Conformity And Nonconformity

    771 Words  | 2 Pages

    society, there is not only a tolerance of certain kinds of non-conformity, but sometimes uniqueness and individuality are celebrated. For example, in the last presidential election both Bernie Sander and Donald Trump were campaigning “against” the establishment. They were nonconformist candidates whose campaigns gained supporters based almost entirely on the fact that their ideas went against the “mainstream” candidate moderates in their political parties. Also, in the U.S. today, the government doesn’t enforce conformity. In fact, the Supreme Court has made some decisions in recent years on issues like gay marriage that have upheld the right to be a nonconformist. However, although the government doesn’t enforce conformity, there are many ways that individuals encourage others to conform. For example, in schools and other institutions, individuals who “don’t fit in” are often harassed and bullied for being different. People who look different, dress different, or act different, face a lot of hostility. Also, it is common for individuals with differing opinions, particularly, on political issues to shout each other down. Social media is a platform where often people with unpopular ideas or opinions get bullied into being quiet and keeping their opinion to themselves. Therefore, even though, we seemingly live in a society that is tolerant of nonconformity, there are pressures to conform and be like everyone

    Read More

  • Essay On One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

    2040 Words  | 5 Pages

    Fred Wright, Lauren's instructor for EN 132 (Life, Language, Literature), comments, "English 132 is an introduction to English studies, in which students learn about various areas in the discipline from linguistics to the study of popular culture. For the literature and literary criticism section of the course, students read a canonical work of literature and what scholars have said about the work over the years. This year, students read One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, by Ken Kesey, a classic of American literature which dates from the 1960s counterculture. Popularized in a film version starring Jack Nicholson, which the class also watched in order to discuss film studies and adaptation, the novel became notable for its sympathetic portrayal of the mentally ill. For an essay about the novel, students were asked to choose a critical approach (such as feminist, formalist, psychological, and so forth) and interpret the novel using that approach, while also considering how their interpretation fit into the ongoing scholarly dialogue about the work. Lauren chose the challenge of applying a Marxist approach to One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest. Not only did she learn about critical approaches and how to apply one to a text, she wrote an excellent essay, which will help other readers understand the text better. In fact, if John Clark Pratt or another editor ever want to update the 1996 Viking Critical Library edition of the novel, then he or she might want to include Lauren's essay in the next edition!"

    Read More

  • Norm Violation Essay

    1087 Words  | 3 Pages

    Society can be very diminishing and very hurtful. I say hurtful by the way many people criticize one another by the way we walk, talk, and act with others or even alone. As we grow older we fall into different categories such as community, religion, and the list goes on. In between all that there is certain norms and values to follow. There are certain types of norms and values we have to follow in our community to not get harassed. First, before I committed a norm violation and making an observation I had to be able to understand what values, norms, folkways, sanctions, and mores were. “Values are ideas of what is desirable in life. Values underlie our preferences, guide our choices, and indicate what we hold worthwhile in life” (Henslin,

    Read More

  • Change and Conformity

    1871 Words  | 4 Pages

    F. Scott Fitzgerald once said, "The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function." This quote rings true to the 1920s in the fact that Americans were changing their lifestyles while simultaneously being forced into conformity. The post World War One America was changing in ways that it never had before. An economic upturn and new technologies of the day made life easier than ever before. Better pay and an eight hour workday left time and money to be spent, and Americans took the opportunity to be social. New ideas and trends spread like wildfire, and post war Americans, who had seen what it was like abroad, were not so ready to accept the traditions and ideals of the past. The Roaring Twenties created several positive changes towards the movement of women's rights and the improvements of African American acceptance in the US, while at the same time Americans were forced into conformity through laws like the 18th amendment.

    Read More

  • The Fear Of Conformity: The Power Of Conformity

    1241 Words  | 3 Pages

    Conformity, or going along with the crowd, is a unique phenomenon that manifests itself in our thoughts and behaviors. It’s quite simple to identify countless examples of the power of conformity in virtually all aspects of social life. Conformity influences our opinions and relationships with others, often to a higher extent than we realize. It is posited that people generally conform to the group in order to fit in and avoid rejection or because they truly believe the group is more knowledgeable than they are. After analyzing numerous studies and experiments on the nature of conformity, one will find that the motive of social acceptance is the greatest driver of conformity.

    Read More

  • Conformity In Never Let Me Go

    1486 Words  | 3 Pages

    “Social conformity has been practiced in societies around the world since ancient times,” and the reason it is so effective is that humans have an inherent need to be accepted as part of a group (Sadat). Furthermore, Hossna Sadat reports that:

    Read More

  • Conformity and Obedience in Society

    939 Words  | 2 Pages

    Conformity and Obedience in Society The desire to be accepted and belong to a group is an undeniable human need. But how does this need affect an individual? Social psychologists have conducted numerous experiments and concluded that, through various forms of social influence, groups can change their members’ thoughts, feelings, and behavior. In her essay “Group Minds,” Doris Lessing discusses our paradoxical ability to call ourselves individuals and our inability to realize that groups define and influence us.

    Read More

  • Essay On Non Conformity

    686 Words  | 2 Pages

    In every society, there is conformity and nonconformity, although we may not notice it. Conformity is when someone is doing the same thing as others because they do not want to be the only one doing differently. Example, if there was a whole class raising their hands would you want to be the only one with your hand down, no so you would raise it with the rest of the class to not look like you don't know anything. This is called social pressures it when a large group is doing something and you're the only one not then you want to be doing whatever that large group is doing.

    Read More

  • Conformity

    724 Words  | 2 Pages

    Though conformity is a humane feeling, many examples of conformity going wrong can be found throughout history. For example, multiple Germans conformed to follow Nazism and prosecuted millions of innocent Jews. Southern whites conformed to segregate thousands of African-Americans. By looking at multiple sources of literature, one can see conformity becomes unacceptable when innocent people are hurt and/or killed and affects the way one thinks or acts.

    Read More

More about One Flew Over Cuckoo's Nest Essay

Open Document