Most of the time women are used to symbolize life and pureness. Mothers are the literal representation of selflessness. Wives are the caregivers of the family, the foundation of the family. Not in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey. Women are the source of evil and corruptness. Mothers doom their children by abandoning them and wives are selfish. Only a select few females are viewed as positively. Females in this novel are necessary for the plot. The female roles in the novel function to show readers a corrupted society in the asylum, affecting the males, showing how bodies can control and showing Kesey’s messages about a woman’s behavior.
Martrichary is an important theme of this book because it could be one the reason of McMurphy’s
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Her portrayal is vital for the plot of this book. She is generally the opposite of a stereotypical woman who is supposed to submissive, caring and motherly. Normally a female character with power is viewed as powerful or inspiring but Miss Ratched does not have that effect. Literary critic Manuel Muñoz further describes her, “The novel swiftly renders Nurse Ratched not as a powerful woman, but more as a networked monster.” (669). The way she acts is all calculated like she can predict the future of each patients. She can twist even the most motivated and rebellious mind in the asylum, McMurphy, into her control. Her planned actions through letting the men win some battles ultimately lead to her victory of destroying McMurphy. Miss Ratched knows that she will always win. This is shown in her meeting with the other members, “‘No. I don’t agree. Not at all.’ She smiles around at all of the. ‘I don’t agree that he should be sent up to Disturbed,” She nonchalantly smiles and shuts down all of the other members worries of this new patient. She sees him as a new challenge for her and controlling him will be fun. Her current patients are the one most needed of care to improve their situation. Her unmotherly actions is the opposite of what her jobs is asking for. Manuel Muñoz states, “Part of Nurse Ratched’s magnetic presence in this novel is her mystery, her existence in the world as a person willing to display a coldly …show more content…
Kesey uses certain women in the book to stereotype wives. For example, Harding’s wife is the prime example of a wife who is uncommitted. This is shown in this quote, “look here who comes to visit you. I tole her it wun’t visitin’ hours but you know she jus’ sweet-talk me into bringin’ her right on over here anyhow.” He leaves her standing in front of Harding and goes off,...” (157). The way Mrs. Harding casually flirts with the guards show that this is common practice to her. Since Mr. Harding is not with her for the majority of time she does not feel the need to be committed to one man. This one action shows how wives in general are uncommitted to their husbands. Literary expert Sonya Alvarado concurs, “The attitude of the wife and the position and appearance of Harding all set up the idea in advance that she dominates the relationship and cares more for her own pleasures than Harding’s well-being” (355). This representation of wives give the effect that wives only want what they want and will do anything to get what they want. Another example of an antagonistic wife is Mrs. Bromden, Chief’s mother. She is the controlling type of woman who shrinks the men around her to nothing. This is shown when Chief is talking about his mother, “My mother got twice his size” (Kesey 168). Physically this may have been impossible but she accomplished in overwhelming him. Chief’s father, Tee Ah
Kesey through changing the structure of power in a society showed the similarity between the oppressed and the oppressor. This was a demonstration of the corruption of power, and a push back to the era. It symbolized an era of radical thinking of changing the power structure, but he advocated making all equal. In addition it exemplified the communist views of the era and the oppressive regime of those with absolute control. One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest advocates the quest for equality in a time where disparity in power was great.
In Ken Kesey’s novel, “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”, he engages the reader with Nurse Ratched’s obsession with power, especially against McMurphy. When Nurse Ratched faces multiple altercations with McMurphy, she believes that her significant power is in jeopardy. This commences a battle for power in the ward between these characters. One assumes that the Nurses’ meticulous tendency in the ward is for the benefit of the patients. However, this is simply not the case. The manipulative nurse is unfamiliar with losing control of the ward. Moreover, she is rabid when it comes to sharing her power with anyone, especially McMurphy. Nurse Ratched is overly ambitious when it comes to being in charge, leaving the reader with a poor impression of
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
I hated Nurse Ratched before and I sure do now. Her sneaky little schemes to turn the patients on each other make’s me furious. I’m glad McMurphy broke down the window; it’ll remind the patients that her power is limited and changeable. Although, she made McMurphy stronger than ever, even with the countless electroshock treatments. Proving his desire to remain strong in the face of tyranny. “And he'd swell up, aware that every one of those faces on Disturbed had turned toward him and was waiting, and he'd tell the nurse he regretted that he had but one life to give for his country and she could kiss his rosy red ass before he'd give up the goddam ship. Yeh!” (Kesey, 187) I agree to some extent, that without her there wouldn’t be a book, she makes the book exciting even if her methods are all but pure. Her character stands as a symbol of the oppression woman received during that time and in a way, the society in which these characters live are flipped. While on the outside woman have no rights, in the ward they are the all mighty, all knowing, powerful, controllable force. So yah, we need Nurse Ratched but I still hate her. During the course of the short novel she destroyed three men, two of which died and the other was lobotomised. “What worries me, Billy," she said - I could hear the change in her voice - "is how your mother is going to take this.” (Kesey, 231) I can’t say I enjoyed Nurse Ratched being strangled by McMurphy, but I do think she deserved it. Although, it was the end to the battle since the Nurse had won the war. By infuriating McMurphy to that point and her ability to remain calm throughout it all, she proved that McMurphy’s action didn’t faze her. She proved that rebelling is feeblish and by lobot...
Mcmurphy's true character was lost in the writing of the screenplay, his. intelligence and cunning is lowered greatly by changes made by the screen. writers. The.. & nbsp; Ms. Ratched is a powerful woman in both the book and the movie. She knows how to play with people's minds and manipulate groups. She keeps a tight grip on the ward using subtle methods which cannot be ignored.
Within the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey, two of the main themes are borders and marginalization. These themes are found within the various characters within this story, which lead to readers being able to clearly see the effects of this marginalization. Throughout the story, readers see a female-tyrant rule over those below her in a hierarchical setup. This leads to a clear separation of male and female characters. In this novel, the author is able to convey a sense of separation as well as slight misogyny with his use of borders and margins.
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 end, they believe they have control over the other, but they do not realize that they both have lost control until it is too late. They both pay a harsh penalty for their struggle to gain control over the ward. Nurse Ratched forever loses her precious power status and authority over the institution, while McMurphy loses the friends he tired to help, his personality, and eventually his life. Throughout the novel, these two characters relentlessly fight to control each other. They both realize that control can never be absolute.
One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest uses Juvenalian satire to illustrate his message that women were beginning to achieve stature and control as they climbed up the proverbial corporate ladder and were making headway in other facets of society. For Kesey to get his point across, he used sexist language and exaggerated how the male characters in his novel viewed women (Kurkowski).
Nurse Ratched gains much of her power through the manipulation of the patients on the
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!"
Nurse Ratched was head nurse of the ward. She needed to have control over everything. All of the patients feared Nurse Ratched, or as they sometimes call her, “Big Nurse.” That is everyone feared her until McMurphy. Because he refused to listen to Nurse Ratched, the “ruler” of the ward, it showed that there will be dismay between the two throughout the story.
When someone abuses power and takes full control, they can lose all their power and respect quickly. If someone abuses their power, they can impose certain feelings and actions upon other people. In the novel, Ms. Ratched tries to conceal her personality from the hospital patients, so that she can maintain her level of power and control over them. If someone does something to annoy Ms. Ratched while nobody is nearby, she will show her real personality of hatred to get angry at the people who annoyed her, in the novel, Chief Bromden says, “She’s swelling up, swells till her back’s splitting out the white uniform. . .
There were no heroes on the psychiatric ward until McMurphy's arrival. McMurphy gave the patients courage to stand against a truncated concept of masculinity, such as Nurse Ratched. For example, Harding states, "No ones ever dared to come out and say it before, but there is not a man among us that does not think it. That doesn't feel just as you do about her, and the whole business feels it somewhere down deep in his sacred little soul." McMurphy did not only understand his friends/patients, but understood the enemy who portrayed evil, spite, and hatred. McMurphy is the only one who can stand against the Big Nurse's oppressive supreme power. Chief explains this by stating, "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 sson as you loose once, she's won for good. And eventually we all got to lose. Nobody can help that." McMuprhy's struggle for hte patient's free will is a disruption to Nurse Ratched's social order. Though she holds down her guard she yet is incapable of controlling what McMurphy is incontrollable of , such as his friends well being, to the order of Nurse Ratched and the Combine.
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."