Compare And Contrast The Scene In One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

The last big hoorah before Murphy gets lobotomized is the party scene. There are plenty different scenes in the movie that are very different than the book. The scene before the big party is one of those scenes. This scene is important in both the film and the novel because it shows how and why the party started. Both scenes contained candy and her friend coming through the window with bottles of liquor. Mr. Turkle wanted more then just the liquor in both scenes, he wanted a girl as well. Also the two girls that came to the ward came through the window in a loud manner. The ward was lit up in both scenes but not in the same way. Each scene has some similarities form the film and novel, and this scene has very few.
There are so many differences

between the novel and the film, but these are most important ones. In the novel McMurphy, Billy, Harding, Scanlon, Sefelt, Chief, and ome other guys were up by midnight. McMurphy talked to Mr. Turkle about the plan for when Candy comes to the ward. McMurphy kept joking with Billy about sleeping with Candy in the Seclusion room. While waiting for Candy to arrive they all sat in the day room listing to McMurphy and Mr. Turkle tell stories while smoking a joint. Billy was the only one worrying about how late Candy was and wondering if she was even coming at all. Everyone else wasn’t tired at all, they didn’t even wonder where Candy was even when it became two in the morning. They turned on all the lights in the doctor’s office to brighten up the ward so Candy can find it easier. When Candy finally came she brought her friend who in the novel was named Sandy. They were both wearing tight skirts and sweaters and nylons and were bare-foot. Sandy kept blurting out comments about how weird it is that they are in a ward; she couldn’t believe it, “ Whooee, Candy girl, what are we in now? Is this real? Are we in an asylum? Man!” In the novel none of the guys wanted any of the chronic to be up unlike the film. There is a lot more dialogue in the book then there is in the film. The character Sandy is more talkative and loud then in the film. The whole beginning of the party was brought up much different in the novel then it was in the film.

The shaping of this scene in both the film and novel affects the plot and the story in a major way.

In the novel this scene had a ton of dialogue between the guys and McMurphy before the girls got to the ward. McMurphy would be teasing Billy about what he is going to do with Candy once she gets their and how he made a bet that Billy will seduce her and sleep with her by the end of the night. In the novel McMurphy isn’t thinking of himself that night the party isn’t for him it’s for Billy. Before the girls came McMurphy and the guys just sat around the day room and became even closer. McMurphy was shown as a guy who cared about his family. McMurphy didn’t just throw this party to get himself wasted he threw this party because these men needed it. In the film this scene is very short and not shown well from the novel. By changing this scene up and making it shorter, it changed how the rest of the night was going to go. In the film McMurphy threw this party as a going away party for himself, and Billy getting with Candy was a last minuet idea. McMurphy woke everyone up in the ward and made it a real party. I think director/screenwriter Milos Forman and Bo Goldman did this to show the last and final hoorah of one of McMurphys greatest way to not only tick off nurse Ratched but by giving the guys something to remember and look out for when they finally get out. By shortening this scene and making it different, made McMurphy become portrayed a little differently. Even though they

still portrayed him as a guy who cares about these men, he also cares about himself and getting out of there. I think the director/screenwriter made these changes because it went well with the rest of his changes that they made throughout the film. It wasn’t a big scene because they wanted to focus more on the party itself then how it began.