Conformity In One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

In the 1950’s, conformity was common to the world, and nonconformists would often feel shunned and oppressed by their society (Edmund 69). In Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, the Oregon Psychiatric Institution depicts a microcosmic variation of the society in which he lived, as each character in the novel represents a specific societal role. Nurse Ratched, the head administrative nurse of the ward, represents the oppressive force or government; the Acutes represent the average society, the fighters and followers, and the Chronics represent those who have fought, but lost to conformity and oppression. Alongside this, “there is a certain sigma not only attached to being a patient in a mental hospital, but the whole field of mental

health to begin with” (O’Brien). However, each of the ward’s patients insinuate sanity, despite them suffering from a certain disorder. While examining Kesey’s novel through various critical lenses, the most prominent being historical and psychoanalytical, it is evident that the psychiatric ward depicts a microcosmic connection to the societal oppression and conformity of Kesey’s time, alongside the shocking sanity of the hospital’s so called “insane” patients.
Nurse Ratched is the head administrative nurse of the ward, and is known as “The Big Nurse” by many of her patients. Nurse Ratched’s name ultimately has an unwelcoming feel to it, as it seems to be a combination of the words “wretched” and “ratchet”. Nurse Ratched is clearly the antagonist of the novel, as Chief Bromden introduces her as “slid[ing] through the door with a gust of cold” (Kesey 4). Immediately, Nurse Ratched is depicted as a dark and cold character, which she later proves herself to be through her corrupt power and slick manipulative acts. Alongside this, Nurse Ratched is described in mechanical terms, but still acts as the human face of the Combine. Chief Bromden describes her as “sit[ting] in the center of [the ward’s] web of wires like a watchful robot, tend[ing] her network with mechanical insect skill, know[ing] every second which wire runs where and just what current she needs to send up to get the results she wants” (Kesey 29). Bromden’s description of Nurse Ratched further emphasizes her reflected societal role, as the government possesses the overall power in their country (Dictionary.com). Alongside this, Nurse Ratched tortures her patients mentally rather than physically. Mental tormenting can be seen as subtler, and less obvious to the public eye than physical acts. During the patients’ “therapeutic” meeting, Chief Bromden describes how Nurse Ratched is able to “trigger something, some acoustic device in the walls, rigged to turn on at just the sound of those words coming from her mouth. The Acutes stiffen. Their mouths open in unison” (Kesey 50, 51). “It [is] better than she’d dreamed. They… all shout to outdo one another, going further and further, no way of stopping, telling things that wouldn’t ever let them look one another in the eye again. The nurse nodding at each confession and saying Yes, yes, yes” (Kesey 51). This scene depicts how easily the government can get information out of its people, and the fact that Nurse Ratched is hearing confessions can be seen as an emphasis on governmental blackmail, as she can use these confessions to her advantage. Furthermore, according to Chief Bromden, Nurse Ratched “is able to set the wall clock at whatever speed she wants by just turning one of those dials in the steel door” (Kesey 76). The idea that Nurse Ratched can control time inside the ward is an exaggeration to prove how much control the government truly has in their country. However, despite everything she is doing, or has done to the patients, Nurse Ratched can still be seen as a “sweet, smiling, tender angel of mercy”, as described by Harding (Kesey 60). No matter their actions, the government is often still seen as a positive societal figure, as clearly reflected in Nurse Ratched. Given the above, it is evident that Nurse Ratched represents the oppressive and confirmative government of Kesey’s time.
The Acutes are those who are considered “fixable” in the eyes of the hospital, and represent the average society, as they are each different in terms of personality and choice of action.

The Acutes primarily display the categories of “followers”, such as Harding, who do not defy the oppressive force, and “fighters”, such as McMurphy or Cheswick, who do all they can to argue with or go against this figure of power. To begin, Chief Bromden describes McMurphy as “the cowboy out of the TV set walking down the middle of the street to meet a dare” (Kesey 201). McMurphy represents a coming change, and can be seen as the archetypal hero as he saves the patients from the wretched Nurse Ratched and the conformity of the Combine. Also, McMurphy’s initials, RPM, can be seen as a representation of this change as they stand for “revolutions per minute” in mechanical terms. Furthermore, McMurphy introduces the idea of democracy into the totalitarian institution around him. During a group discussion, McMurphy insists that the patients “take a vote on watching the TV during the afternoon instead of at night” (Kesey 118). The idea that McMurphy tries to change his “society’s” government type all by himself ultimately emphasizes his societal role as the “fighter” in the microcosmic institution. Additionally, McMurphy believes that the patients “have to laugh at the things that hurt [them] just to keep [themselves] in balance. Just to keep the world from running [them] plumb crazy” (Kesey

250). Laughter represents a moment of freedom from the Combine and its conformity, and is ultimately a defense tactic to the oppression. Next, those who are caught defying the rules are shunned. When Billy is caught with a prostitute, Nurse Ratched says “what worries [her]… [after] a change in her voice- is how [Billy’s] poor mother is going to take [the situation]” (Kesey 314). Nurse Ratched knows how to get to Billy, so she introduces his mother into their conversation in order to mentally torture and shun him. Billy ultimately attempts to save himself by insisting “the-the-the rest… teased [him], called [him] things”, and Nurse Ratched later returns to say that Billy “opened the doctor’s desk and found some instruments and cut his throat. The poor misunderstood boy killed himself” (Kesey 315, 317). This scene depicts what oppression and conformity can do to society, and those who defy it. Overall, the Acutes symbolize the fighters and followers of the average community, and the death of Billy ultimately makes the reader question whether or not the patients are insane in anything but society’s eyes.
The Chronics are considered those who are “unfixable”, and are separated into three categories, “Walkers… Wheelers, and Vegetables” (Kesey 16). Walkers are those who can still move around, and Wheelers are patients in wheelchairs. However, the Vegetables are those who are fully paralyzed and can hardly, if not, move at all. Chief Bromden is an Indian man who remains a Walker throughout the novel. He introduces the idea and theme that size equals power. Chief Bromden sees those who are not Chronics as larger than him. When first talking to McMurphy, Chief Bromden explains that he “used to be big, but not no more, [and that McMurphy is] twice the size as [him]” (Kesey 219). Chief Bromden calls Nurse Ratched “The Big Nurse” specifically because she has the most power in the novel, and at one point, McMurphy was considered the “same size” as Nurse Ratched, considering he was stealing her power in order to break her down. Chief Bromden’s physical size makes his philosophy more obvious in the novel, as he is very tall and large. Alongside this, Chief Bromden pretends to be deaf and dumb. However, he explains to the reader “it wasn’t [him] who started acting deaf; it was people that first started acting like [he] was too dumb to hear or see or say anything at all” (Kesey 210). Ironically, Chief Bromden is the most insightful character in the novel, and his act of deafness and stupidity can also be seen as his defense from the Combine and its conformity. Next, Chief Bromden hallucinates a cartoon-like fog in which he hides from reality and the Combine. He explains that “as bad as it is, you can slip back in it and feel safe” (Kesey 128). The hallucination of the fog represents those who have been consumed by the oppression and conformity due to their preceding loss against the oppressive power. Eventually, McMurphy becomes a Chronic, as he loses his own battle against Nurse Ratched. At the end of the novel, the workers “push [McMurphy’s gurney] into the day room and le[ave] it standing against the wall, next to the Vegetables… [the patients] look up to the other end at the head dented into the pillow, a swirl of red hair over a face milk-white except for the heavy purple bruises around the eyes… nothing like him” (Kesey 321). McMurphy’s lobotomy ultimately shows what the government can do to those who defy it. Chief Bromden eventually kills McMurphy; he “lay[s] there on top of the body for what seem[s] days. Until the thrashing stop[s]” (Kesey 323). Chief Bromden knows the pain of being the fallen, and does not want McMurphy to live as what he had become, a lobotomized Vegetable. Overall, the Chronics represent those who have lost their battle with conformity and oppression, and the story of McMurphy ultimately causes the reader to question the torturous “therapeutic” treatments from the hospital, and his so called “insanity” to begin with.
Through the different characters, it is evident that the Oregon Psychiatric Institution is a microcosm of the larger society in Kesey’s life, and that the patients within it are “not crazy… [or] nuts.

They… [are] perfectly normal, functioning members of society with jobs, families, friends, and a positive future” (O’Brien). Overall, the microcosmic institution in One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest ultimately illustrates oppression and its concomitant destruction of society in the 1950’s, and possibly a call to

action.