Billy Bibbit In One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

In One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey, there are many characters who feel trapped or scared. Billy Bibbit is one of them. Billy was voluntarily put into the mental health ward, but feels he can never leave due to what the people in the ward made him think of the outside world. Billy’s fear of the world stems from how he is treated inside the ward by his peers. In One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey, Billy shows it is necessary to have control over life to be happy. This is shown through Billy’s interactions with Nurse Ratched, his mother, and the men in the ward.
Billy constantly feels bad about the choices he makes. While Billy is in the ward, he is surrounded by many strong women who are all in charge. The main nurse, Nurse Ratched, is constantly watching over him due to her relationship with his mother, who doesn’t want him to grow up. With these expectations from his mother and Nurse Ratched, Billy conforms into a thirty year old man who is afraid to think for himself. Billy is still a virgin when he enters the ward, due to his mother not letting him think for himself. This causes Billy to constantly feel guilty and unhappy when he makes choices for himself, because those around him made him believe that he does not deserve to make his own choices. When Billy finally did something for himself

despite what the nurse would think, he was happy with his life until Nurse Ratched controls him again and tells his mother.
Billy also receives some emotional support while he is in the ward, though it is not from the nurses, it’s from the men in the ward with him.

McMurphy, the new man in the ward shows Billy how to speak his mind and how to do what makes him happy. McMurphy is also the man that encourages Billy to go sleep with the woman who snuck into the ward at night. The men’s support in the ward encourages Billy unlike his mother or Nurse Ratched. Their support shapes Billy into a man who is less afraid, and happier with his choices. Billy’s happiness after finally doing what he wants shows that that small amount of control he had over his life made him

happy.
In One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey, Billy Bibbit becomes a new man who is slightly less miserable and happier with his choices. He becomes happier by getting support from others in the ward, and ignoring his mother’s wishes. Billy having control over his own life makes him much happier and confident about himself.