Good Life In Cuckoo's Nest By Ken Kesey

He is sent away for three weeks as a result, but when he returns, he is wheeled in on a gurney and is left over by the Vegetables, as he had been lobotomized. In lieu of his seeming defeat, his memory stayed with the patients while he was absent and provoked them to change things for the better at the ward. Nurse Ratched does not have the same power over the hospital that she used to given that she temporarily loses her voice, as “she tried to get her ward back into shape, but it was difficult with McMurphy’s presence still tromping up and down the halls...” (321). The patients learned to grow out of their fear and used the spirit of McMurphy as reassurance of their actions; Nurse Ratched’s little written commands could not effectively control the patients anymore.

In the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, the mental patients were not able to view Nurse Ratched as a woman, despite her physical features. This was because of her ruthless demonstrations of authority, and strength. Nurse Ratched is the all-powerful nurse in the ward of a mental hospital, during the years of the 50s and 60s. The men are fearful of her and always complied with her rules accordingly until Randall McMurphy swaggered in. Nonetheless his power was still minor to Nurse Ratched’s.

In One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest the patients are the powerless, forced to undergo the same routine daily, dictated by Nurse Ratched. Kesey shows the patients’ lack of power by often contrasting them against people with power like McMurphy, or Nurse Ratched. When McMurphy first enters the ward “he’s got iron on his heels and he rings it on the floor like horseshoes” (p. 10). He is presented as a cowboy-like character bursting with confidence, a direct juxtaposition against the meek and submissive patients on the ward.

(Kesey, 140). Fortunately, for McMurphy a surprise voter brings the number of votes to a total of twenty one which wins the majority to change ward policy. The significance the vote holds is that it allows McMurphy and the others patients to obtain dominance over Nurse Ratched. By McMurphy winning the vote, it shows the political power that he has won over Nurse Ratched and this makes McMurphy feel that he is able to make decisions within the ward just as Nurse Ratched does. McMurphy also views this win as a major victory in his efforts to rehabilitate the patients and give them the confidence they need to reach the goal of controlling the

Many of the rules Nurse Ratched has in place are petty; the only point of most rules is for Nurse Ratched to display her control over the patients’ lives. Rules range from music constantly remaining on in the main hangout room,to eat their medicines, if they do something wrong they get electroshock therapy and the toothpaste being locked away as if it could be used as a weapon or a way of escaping the ward. Ratched Approaching the power that she has to do whatever she wants with them; Like, Lord Acton an English Catholic historian, politician, and writer once said; “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority, still more when you superadd the tendency or the certainty of corruption by authority”(Lord Acton).Acton saying that, demonstrates how people by more power they have, they feel more capable of doing whatever they want to; For example, The fights between Nurse Ratched and McMurphy, where McMurphy hates the way that Nurse Ratched manipulates all the patients. McMurphy is so tired and angry that he once strangled her, because he was feeling mcmurphy was feeling helpless trying to help all the patients

By the end of the session, Nurse Ratched has not revealed anything and therefore retains power, while the “pecked” patients are left with little to none. This is an example of capitalism at play, the vulnerable and weak are targeted while those in power remain unscathed, creating an imbalance of

There is an obvious idea presented by Kesey that the Nurse is dominant over Billy, who has become very vulnerable. Nurse Ratched is shown as a character of strength by the way the writer has created her character. Nurse Ratched is also seen as a strong figure by the way the other characters talk about her, for example when Chief says “To beat her you don 't have to whip her two out of three or three out of five, but every time you meet. As soon as you let down your guard, as soon as you lose once, she 's won for good.” The writer has used this line to show us how both Chief and the other patient give her the strong and authoritative

This part is very significant because through the breaking of the window, McMurphy is trying to tell the other patients that even though Nurse Ratched has control and power over them that they can try and break that power. Basically what it is saying is yes Nurse Ratched does have power over them but if they know that some things can upset her then they can try and break her power which means her power would be overtaken by the patients. We also see that McMurphy does all these things to bother Ratched but this also exhausts himself too. His humanity is a good thing but it can make him very run down and become weak, letting Ratched get the power back. I think this is significant because it means just because someone has power over you doesn’t mean you don’t have an opinion.

However, to Nurse Ratched, this window illustrates her dominance over the ward. “The Big Nurse watches all [that the patients do] through her window” (42). Kesey’s glass division between the sane and the insane demonstrates Nurse Ratched’s overall want of authority. Correspondingly, the Big Nurse is a wolf amongst the hospital full of rabbits. As Harding explains to McMurphy that the patients are essentially small rabbits in the forest that is the mental institution, he also notes that Nurse Ratched is the “strong wolf” that teaches the rabbits their place, much like the hierarchy of nature (61).

One normal day everything was going how it was supposed to, the ward was following the schedule, just like Nurse Ratched liked it. The patients were following her rules and did everything she said. But that day R.P. McMurphy was introduced into the ward. He was in there because he committed a crime and said that he was insane, so he got put in there for evaluation. In the movie "One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest" two characters, Randall McMurphy and Nurse Ratched, had this sort of competition going on to gain the allegiance of the patients.

Not only does he begin to realize how much control Nurse Ratched truly has over the ward and the patients, but he notices that she emasculates them. This irritates him and he wants to make changes to the ward; he wants to be in control. McMurphy first notices Nurse Ratched’s power at the first group therapy meeting that he attends, which he calls a “pecking party” (Kesey, 55). During the meeting, they focus on one man at a time and essentially humiliate him. After the meeting, McMurphy and Harding get in a fight over what happens during the group therapy meetings.

Due to McMurphy’s attempts to break down the villainous Nurse Ratched with his particularly disruptive antics despite his selfish motives, and Bromden’s quiet progression to courage, the two are heroes to those in the ward. A former army nurse, Nurse Ratched has the entire ward under her control, going by her schedule and her rules. Everything in the ward has gone by her plan, even the staff was chosen

Nurse Ratched is the power and authority and she makes sure the “machine”, the ward, is running perfect. She set rules for all of the

His rebellious and free mind makes the patients open their eyes and see how the have been suppressed. His appearance is a breath of fresh air and a look into the outside world for the patients. This clearly weakens Nurse Ratched’s powers, and she sees him as a large threat. One way or another, McMurphy tends to instigate changes of scenery. He manages to move everyone away from her music and watchful eye into the old tube room.

The concept of social alienation and various methods of subduing patients like electric shocks and lobotomy were prevalent which further alienated the patients rather than curing them. The movie highlights the strong bond between the patients. The human condition of friendship and bonding is highlighted. During the last quarter of the movie, the protagonist McMurphy had a chance to escape the institution, but he hesitated and stayed to support his friend ‘Billy’. The strong bond that he created with the patients led him to risk his escape plan to stay behind for his friend (Kesey).