In what different ways do the authors of two texts present the idea that suffering can lead to growth? Suffering is often depicted in society as the gateway to growth, whether it be an individual, society, or nation. One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey and Dead Poets Society directed by Peter Weir both engage this universal issue in contrasting ways to explore whether suffering does in fact lead to growth. The two texts utilise allusion, setting, and characterisation in different ways to explore the connection between growth and suffering. Kesey and Weir use allusion through characters in different ways to explore how the suffering of an individual may result in the growth of others. Kesey uses McMurphy as a mean of allusion, whereas, …show more content…
Weir uses Neil. Both draw comparisons to Christ through their role as a martyrdom. Due to the continual rebellion against Ratched, McMurphy suffers through his subjection to electroshock therapy. The electroshock table is cross-shaped resembling a crucifix creating the imagery of Christ’s crucifixion. McMurphy even asks if he will ‘get a crown of thorns’ (Page 269) alluding to Christ. The suffering that McMurphy endures results in his death, but in its place, the growth of Bromdon. Kesey illustrates this by having Bromdon break free of the asylum via the courage that he gains.
Weir, however, has Neil undergo emotional suffering as a result of continual conflict between Neil and his father about life choices. Neil wears a prop from a play atop his head before his suicide creating imagery of a crown …show more content…
of thorns. Neil’s suicide does not, however, lead to the growth of others as life continues normally as shown in the scene where the students continue classes showing this to be the antitheses of the outcome Kesey created. Neils actions may have in fact stunted the growth of his father through the guilt and emotional trauma. Kesey is making a claim that the suffering of a single person can result in the growth of another, whereas, Weir is claiming the opposite in that growth may not result from the suffering of another and may prevent growth altogether. Kesey and Weir make use of their setting in different ways to convey growth of characters through suffering.
Kesey illustrates this through the narrator, Bromdon, and the fog that clouds his mind, on the other hand, Weir makes meaning through the use of the lighting. Kesey issues Bromdon fog as a metaphor for his lack of metal growth which intensifies after treatment from drugs or the electroshock therapy to the point that Bromdon begins to feel that ‘you can slip back in it and feel safe’ (Page 121). Due to the rebellious nature of McMurphy the drugs and electroshock begin to have very little effect if at all on Bromdon’s mental state as his mind was ‘fogging a little, but [he] won’t slip off and hide in it.’ (Page 273), this being a sign that Bromdon has grown as a result. Weir creates dark atmospheres to compliment the gothic style of the movie. This choice, however, was made to express the growth of characters. Weir makes sure to have consistent darkness throughout the film. The only time the lighting seems to change is in the scene of Neil’s suicide where it occurs in the darkness of light. Kesey has made use of the fog to convey the growth of an individual. The clarity improves as the character progresses. However, Weir uses the consistent lighting of the film to show that like the setting, characters have not grown or changed. Kesey is encouraging us to see that through suffering growth follows, whereas, Weir provokes us to see the alternate opinion in that growth and
change may not follow suffering. Kesey and Weir explore how the suffering of an individual leads to their personal growth via the use of characterisation in different ways. Kesey characterises McMurphy and his suffering at the hands of Ratched to explore personal growth. Weir takes a different approach in characterising two characters in conjunction to make meaning. Kesey has McMurphy take a stand against Ratched to create a conflict of suffering for McMurphy. Whilst Kesey made McMurphy’s personality as a rebellious spirit, he gave him a past controlled by women. This made the dynamic between Ratched and himself lethal to his personality. McMurphy at one point gives in to the nurse and makes a temporary end to his suffering for the patients and consequently his growth as he ‘doesn’t stand up for [them] any longer’ (Page 162). It is after the death of a patient that McMurphy grows into his role of martyrdom and fights for the patients till his death. Weir characterises both Neil and his father as a conflicting pair to illustrate the growth of Neil as an individual. Weir has Neil’s father take control over Neil’s life choices to create great strain and displeasure on Neil. Neil is given many opportunities to confront his father, endure greater suffering, in order to fight for his choices. Weir has his father draw conflict and forces Neil into making the decision to confront his father. Weir has Neil instead submit to his father when asked ‘tell me what you feel’ by replying with ‘nothing’ (Dead Poets Society) and in the night commit suicide. Both texts have the chosen characters die as a result of their suffering. Kesey and Weir share the same views towards personal growth and personal suffering. The authors are trying to tell us that in death personal growth is impossible to achieve and that personal suffering can lead to personal growth. Peter Weir and Ken Kesey have polar opposite views in the face of suffering and its relationship with growth. Weir expresses through the use of Neil as an allusion to Christ that the suffering of an individual may not lead to the growth of others, whereas, Kesey uses McMurphy for the same role to encourage the opposite, and that it does in fact lead to the growth of others. Kesey and Weir make use of their setting to portray the growth of characters. Kesey shows growth in Bromdon through the progression of his mental state, where on the other hand, Weir presents a lack of growth in characters through the consistency of darkness in the film. The authors then explore how personal suffering leads to personal growth through the use of characterisation and claim that in death individual growth is impossible.
The novel that Kesey wrote is focused on how Bromden’s past memories should not let him down, but to gather his strength and let go of the past to start anew. Kesey builds up the encouragement through the help on McMurphy in order for Bromden to face reality with the hallucinations, to Nurse Ratched’s authorities, and the use of symbolism.
In the novel Farewell to Manzanar by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and James D. Houston and the novel Maus by Art Spiegelman the theme of suffering has a damaging effect on the human spirit. Suffering in both these stories come in different forms such as emotional, physical, and mental. No matter the form, it is still suffering.
I chose the subject about “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest” written by Ken Kesey in 1962 for my research paper because my mother told me years ago of the accompanying film and how interesting it is. Two years ago a friend of mine came back from his exchange programme in the United States of America. He told me that he and his theatre group there had performed this novel. He was and still is very enthusiastic about the theme and about the way it is written. Although I started reading the novel, I didn’t manage to finish it till the day we had to choose our subjects at school. When I saw this subject on the list, which we were given by our English teacher Mr Schäfer, I was interested immediately. So I chose it.
In the novels, The Help, and Water for Elephants, the authors show the pain and suffering of characters throughout their journey. The characters in the novels suffer through oppression; they suffer through physical and emotional
application of real life situations. In the case of each of the two short stories, suffering has effects on those who are not directly
Suffering is apart of life, just like joy and love is. We can never choose how life treats us but we can always choose how we react and get back up again. Through Fever 1793 we see up close and personal how suffering can affect us, and how sometimes it can affect us in positive ways. How suffering can help turn the page to the next chapter in our lives. How suffering doesn’t always mean losing but also gaining.
Thinkers and philosophers have been pondering misery since the dawn of civilization. At the dawn of humanity, humans existed to survive and reproduce; every day was a struggle. However, with the advent of civilization, humanity has moved further and further away from its original evolutionary drives, and it can be argued by secular thinkers that humans exist now to find happiness. Therefore, misery can be seen as the biggest obstacle to human happiness, yet misery itself is a mystery to many. Karl Marx’s The Communist Manifesto and Sigmund Freud’s Civilization and its Discontents put forth the authors’ opinions on the origins of mortal misery, and suggest methods to solve the problem of misery. Although the two have differing views, both see
Despite its prevalence, suffering is always seen an intrusion, a personal attack on its victims. However, without its presence, there would never be anyway to differentiate between happiness and sadness, nor good and evil. It is encoded into the daily lives people lead, and cannot be avoided, much like the prophecies described in Antigone. Upon finding out that he’d murdered his father and married his mother,
“Women have been taught that, for us, the earth is flat, and that if we venture out, we will fall off the edge,” verbalizes Andrea Dworkin. Gender-roles have been ingrained in the every-day life of people all around the world since the beginnings of civilization. Both One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Hamlet portray typical female stereotypes in different time periods. Due to the representation of women in literature like Hamlet by William Shakespeare and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kessey, and pop-culture, evidence of classic gender-based stereotypes in a consistently patriarchal world are still blatantly obvious in today’s societies.
Everybody wants to be accepted, yet society is not so forgiving. It bends you and changes you until you are like everyone else. Society depends on conformity and it forces it upon people. In Emerson's Self Reliance, he says "Society is a joint stock company, in which the members agree, for the better securing of his bread to each shareholder, to surrender the liberty and culture of the eater." People are willing to sacrifice their own hopes and freedoms just to get the bread to survive. Although the society that we are living in is different than the one the Emerson's essay, the idea of fitting in still exists today. Although society and our minds make us think a certain way, we should always trust our better judgment instead of just conforming to society.
Throughout the sixties , America- involved in the Cold War at this time- suffered from extreme fear of communism. This caused numerous severe changes in society ranging from corrupt political oppression, to the twisted treatment of the minority. Published in 1962, Ken Kesey ’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest , manages to capture these changes in the variety of ways. Kesey’s novel incorporates some of the main issues that affected the United States during the early and mid 60s. The government had no limits and was cruel to those who did not fit into society, including the mentally ill. The wrongful treatment of the people caused an eruption of rebellion and protest- thus the Beatnik era was born. The novel, written during this movement, sheds light on Kesey’s personal opinion on this chaotic period in US history . The treatment of mentally ill patients, the oppressive government, and uprising in the 1960s inspired Kesey while writing his novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.
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!"
A person’s character is developed by the surroundings around them as well as their experiences. The Roman poet Horace quotes “…Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents in which in prosperous circumstances would have lain dormant…” I agree with the Roman poet, Horace, in that adversity has a way of waking talent from slumber. Adversity can encourage people in ways success and wealth cannot, as there is a benefit in the hardship. In Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot, as well as Macbeth, by Shakespeare, adversity has developed the characters. From my observation, I strongly agree that experiences, such as hardship and danger, shape a person.
Suffering can be defined as an experience of discomfort suffered by a person during his life. The New York Times published an article entitled what suffering does, by David Brooks (2014). In this article, Brooks explains how suffering plays an important role in our pursuit of happiness. He explains firstly that happiness is found through experiences and then, suffering can also be a motivation in our pursuit of happiness. In other words, suffering is a fearful but necessary gift to acquire happiness. This paper is related to motivation and emotion, two keys words to the pursuit of happiness (King, 2010).
According to psychologist, Sigmund Freud, there are three main parts that make up a human’s personality: the id, ego, and superego. In the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey, the narrator of the story, Chief Bromden, represents each of these traits. In the beginning, Bromden only thinks of himself as any other crazy man, who no one pays attention to, but throughout the story Bromden develops mentally through all three stages of Freud’s personality analysis, maybe not in Freud’s preferred order, but he still represents them all.