Comparing One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest and The Crucible

Power and control are the central ideas of Ken Kesey’s One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest. There are examples of physical, authoritative and mechanical power in the novel, as well as cases of self-control, and control over others. Nurse Ratched is the ultimate example of authoritative power and control over others but R.P. McMurphy refuses to acknowledge the Nurse’s power, and encourages others to challenge the status quo. The other patients begin powerless, but with McMurphy’s help, learn to control their own lives. Many symbols are also used to represent power and control in the book, such as the ‘Combine’, ‘fog’, and the imagery of machines.

Arthur Miller develops themes of power somewhat differently in his play The Crucible. Because The Crucible is a play, it can be expected that Miller will use dialogue and characterisation to show the reader power.

Miller created Rev Parris, who believes that the church is the authority of all people in the town. Since he is a Reverend, he considers himself an authoritative figure. He believes that “people are not following their obligations to the church”. He comments about the authority of the church. He demands that the people of Salem be obedient to the church and to him. He says that if they are not obedient, then they will burn in hell. He does not leave much room for people to live their lives other than by what the church dictates. Through Parris’s comments, Miller is showing the reader the control the church exerts over its parish.

Kesey also uses characterisation to show power. The ‘Big’ Nurse Ratched runs the ward in which the central characters reside in a manner that induces fear in both patients and staff. The Nurse controls almost everything in the men’s lives; their routines, food, entertainment, and for those who are committed, how long they stay in the hospital. Nurse Ratched is the main example of power and control in the novel. The Big Nurse has great self-control; she is not easily flustered and never lets others see what she is feeling. Rather than accusing the men of anything, she ‘insinuates’. Although she isn’t physically larger than the ‘small’ nurses, The Chief describes Nurse Ratched as ‘Big’ because of the power she holds – this presentation of size is used for many characters.

Once McMurphy attacks the nurse and exposes her breasts and thus her sexuality – which she has always tr...

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...something that he would not dare admit, for it would question the authority of himself as a judge, the court, and the church.

The book One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest provides many examples and symbols of power and control, although these are depicted in different ways. Nurse Ratched’s power is due to the fear she instils in others and she has control because she makes the rules. R.P. McMurphy stands up to the Nurse, and gains power through his defiant ways. The inmates of the hospital gain power and control over their own lives with McMurphy’s help. The symbols that operate include the Chief’s ‘Combine’, the fog he imagines and his imagery of machines. All of these examples contribute to a novel that has a central idea of power and control. Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, shows us power through the actions the characters make, rather than by using symbols as Kesey does. Miller’s use of dialogue and events in the play communicates to the reader a gross exploitation of power.

TASK : Explain how the two authors develop power in the texts. Focus on the significant similar methods and significant differences in making a reading of a theme explicit to readers.

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