The lengths in which Nurse Ratched will go to resume power are astounding.
So when this position of power is threatened by a confident young man named McMurphy, the struggle for power escalates to epic proportions. To an unbiased witness, one would call her persistence in defying the wishes of McMurphy and assuming her position, as obsessive. Ken Kesey, author of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", uses power to symbolize how crucial power is to a person's personality. This idea is enhanced through the novel as we watch the effects of what happens when the authority that was originally given to Nurse Ratched gradually begin to shift from to McMurphy as time continues. This shift in power not only changes Nurse Ratched and McMurphy, but the ward as a whole.
The first stand off between McMurphy and Nurse Ratched takes place the moment that they meet. Upon being informed that a patient is being
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resistant in the idea of partaking in the "admission shower shower" (p.25), and having not been used to a patient refusing to conform to policy, Nurse Ratched employs her usual emotionless but none the less polite demeanor when informing McMurphy that "...you do not understand: everyone...must follow the rules" (p.25) in attempts to maintain her sense of authority, while she takes this opportunity to "gauge this new man" (p.25). As opposed to agreeing to the conditions set as she expected, McMurphy replies with a slick remark, foreshadowing the defiance to come. Nurse Ratched acknowledges the power struggle that is to begin soon, in a conversation with another nurse, stating "I'm afraid that is exactly what the new patient is planning: to take over." (p.27). The lack of emotion in her tone insinuates that she is confident in her position at the ward, and has no fear in McMurphy's intentions. This confidence, and ranking of authority within the ward are crucial elements to who Nurse Ratched is. She employs her status in the ward to her advantage every moment she gets amongst the patients. Nurse Ratched executes her abuse of power throughout the novel in many ways. For example, using the dial on the door Nurse Ratched is able to control the time, ultimately running the lives of patients fully. This form of manipulation keeps her ward orderly and neat- exactly how she wants things. Secondly, Nurse Ratched employs her position in group therapy as well in attempts to sever the image of McMurphy in the patients minds and fill them with doubt. Lastly, and most extremely, Nurse Ratched exhibits her position of authority in the attempts to tarnish McMurphy's image when causing Billy Bibbit to commit suicide when threatening to talk to his mother. Nurse Ratched manipulates the situation to benefit her using Billy Bibbit's insecurities, in attempts to diminish the reputation of Mcmurphy and restore her own. This example on its own shows the extremes that Nurse Ratched will go to in order to ensure her ranking in the ward. Off the bat, McMurphy displays a rebellious and resistant attitude towards the Black Boys who serve as authority figures in the ward. When McMurphy refuses to conform to the "admission shower", it is a clear indication of the future stand-offs soon to come between him and Nurse Ratched. Upon coming to the ward, McMurphy makes it very clear that he is in fact an alpha male. He introduces himself to the patients confidentially, and states "...I'm thinking about taking over this whole show myself, lock, stock and barrel, maybe I better talk with the top man" (p.19). Immediately the reader can foresee that McMurphy's outspoken ways are sure to disrupt the ward. McMurphy immediately takes charge of the card game being played, and further in the novel he begins to take charge of a mass amount of things in the ward. He obtains the men new privileges, a fishing trip, and uses his power to change the men individually as well. While McMurphy's use of power may appear to be completely positive, this doesn't go to say that he did not have his own agenda. Often times McMurphy used his power over the men to gain financial benefit- making bets with them knowing the outcome before hand. As time goes on, McMurphy begins to obtain more and more of the power previously given to Nurse Ratched.
The men begin to not only trust him but assert him as their leader. Although the patients were skeptical in the beginning, towards the middle of the novel it's clear to the reader that McMurphy has a hold over them that is so strong it defies the rules of a Nurse Ratched, something that had never been done before and ultimately steals her power. But Nurse Ratched does not go down without a fight. Throughout the novel the power struggle intensifies between the two leaders as Nurse Ratched does everything in her power to make obtaining the things McMurphy wants- nearly impossible. We see an example of this with the fishing trip facilitated by McMurphy. Despite McMurphy obtaining 10 signatures from men willing to go Nurse Ratched dismisses it, stating the meeting was closed and any songstress obtained is invalid. Despite Nurse Ratched's attempts to delay the trip, it goes on. We see McMurphy bashing his power in this situation too, as he makes a profit off of the boat
trip. While McMurphy gains power Nurse Ratched loses it, and becomes less of herself towards the end of the novel. It is after the suicide of Billy Bibbit when McMurphy loses all control and attempts to strangle Nurse Ratched. When "...he grabbed for her and ripped her uniform all the way down the front, screaming again when the two nipples circles started from her chest and swelled out and out..." (p.319). This event causes Nurse Ratched to lose all power left that she may have possessed, and she opts to leave the ward for a bit. Upon her return she is bruised on her face, powerless, and not at all the woman she once was. Her hand is described to "tremble" (p.320), and flinched when Harding throws a piece of paper at her. Further On, McMurphy undergoes a lobotomy and becomes a vegetable and is later uthenized bypatient a Chief Bromden.Neither Mcmurphy nor Nurse Ratched can be concierge "winners" in this struggle for power as they both lose cruces elements to themselves aside from power. Nurse Ratched loses her patients, respect, and her voice. While McMurphy loses his ability to think and his personality over all. Neither of them gain from their fight for power over the ward and its patients. The value of power placed in the minds of Nurse Ratched and McMurphy ultimately lead to their demise in the novel. Both characters lose crucial parts of their personality, and while a nurse Ratched continued to run the ward it was no longer in the way that she so easily did before. Ken Kesey's choice of fate for these characters enhanced the vitality of power exhibited in the ward as it is originally given the Nurse Ratched, fought for between her and McMurphy, and lost in transition in the end.
In One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, role reversal puts a woman, Nurse Ratched, in control of the ward, which is important in creating a contrast to traditional power. Within the ward Ratched has ultimate power by “merely [insinuating]” (p. 63) a wrongdoing and has control of the doctors. Soon after the first confrontation with Randle McMurphy (Mack), her power is demonstrated through the submissive and obedient manners of all there (152). Ratched is shown as having great power within the ward and outside, despite that time periods constriction of being a women, showing an important contrast to traditional power structures.
From the moment McMurphy enters the ward it is clear to all that he is different and hard to control. He’s seen as a figure the rest of the patients can look up to and he raises their hopes in taking back power from the big nurse. The other patients identify McMurphy as a leader when he first stands up to the nurse at her group therapy, saying that she has manipulated them all to become “a bunch of chickens at a pecking party”(Kesey 55). He tells the patients that they do not have to listen to Nurse Ratched and he confronts her tactics and motives. The patients see him as a leader at this point, but McMurphy does not see the need for him to be leading alone. McMurphy is a strong willed and opinionated man, so when he arrives at the ward he fails to comprehend why the men live in fear, until Harding explains it to him by
The novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey tells a story of Nurse Ratched, the head nurse of a mental institution, and the way her patients respond to her harsh treatment. The story is told from the perspective of a large, Native-American patient named Bromden; he immediately introduces Randle McMurphy, a recently admitted patient, who is disturbed by the controlling and abusive way Ratched runs her ward. Through these feelings, McMurphy makes it his goal to undermine Ratched’s authority, while convincing the other patients to do the same. McMurphy becomes a symbol of rebellion through talking behind Ratched’s back, illegally playing cards, calling for votes, and leaving the ward for a fishing trip. His shenanigans cause his identity to be completely stolen through a lobotomy that puts him in a vegetative state. Bromden sees McMurphy in this condition and decides that the patients need to remember him as a symbol of individuality, not as a husk of a man destroyed by the
Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest explores the dysfunctions and struggles of life for the patients in a matriarch ruled mental hospital. As told by a schizophrenic Native American named Chief Bromden, the novel focuses primarily on Randle McMurphy, a boisterous new patient introduced into the ward, and his constant war with the Big Nurse Ratched, the emasculating authoritarian ruler of the ward. Constricted by the austere ward policy and the callous Big Nurse, the patients are intimidated into passivity. Feeling less like patients and more like inmates of a prison, the men surrender themselves to a life of submissiveness-- until McMurphy arrives. With his defiant, fearless and humorous presence, he instills a certain sense of rebellion within all of the other patients. Before long, McMurphy has the majority of the Acutes on the ward following him and looking to him as though he is a hero. His reputation quickly escalates into something Christ-like as he challenges the nurse repeatedly, showing the other men through his battle and his humor that one must never be afraid to go against an authority that favors conformity and efficiency over individual people and their needs. McMurphy’s ruthless behavior and seemingly unwavering will to protest ward policy and exhaust Nurse Ratched’s placidity not only serves to inspire other characters in the novel, but also brings the Kesey’s central theme into focus: the struggle of the individual against the manipulation of authoritarian conformists. The asylum itself is but a microcosm of society in 1950’s America, therefore the patients represent the individuals within a conformist nation and the Big Nurse is a symbol of the authority and the force of the Combine she represents--all...
In Ken Kesey’s novel, “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”, he engages the reader with Nurse Ratched’s obsession with power, especially against McMurphy. When Nurse Ratched faces multiple altercations with McMurphy, she believes that her significant power is in jeopardy. This commences a battle for power in the ward between these characters. One assumes that the Nurses’ meticulous tendency in the ward is for the benefit of the patients. However, this is simply not the case. The manipulative nurse is unfamiliar with losing control of the ward. Moreover, she is rabid when it comes to sharing her power with anyone, especially McMurphy. Nurse Ratched is overly ambitious when it comes to being in charge, leaving the reader with a poor impression of
Nurse Ratched is portrayed as the authority figure in the hospital. The patients see no choice but to follow her regulations that she had laid down for them. Nurse Ratched's appearance is strong and cold. She has womanly features, but hides them “Her Face is smooth, calculated, and precision-made, like an expensive… A mistake was made somehow in manufacturing putting those big, womanly breasts on what would have otherwise been a prefect work, and you can see how bitter she is about it.” (11) She kept control over the ward without weakness, until McMurphy came. When McMurphy is introduced into the novel he is laughing a lot, and talking with the patients in the ward, he does not seem intimidated by Miss Ratched. McMurphy constantly challenges the control of Nurse Ratched, while she tries to show she remains in control, He succeeds in some ways and lo...
People often find themselves as part of a collective, following society's norms and may find oneself in places where feeling constrained by the rules and will act out to be unconstrained, as a result people are branded as nuisances or troublemakers. In the novel One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, the author Ken Kesey conveys the attempt McMurphy makes to live unconstrained by the authority of Nurse Ratched. The story is very one sided and helps create an understanding for those troublemakers who are look down on in hopes of shifting ingrained ideals. The Significance of McMurphy's struggles lies in the importance placed on individuality and liberty. If McMurphy had not opposed fear and autocratic authority of Nurse Ratched nothing would have gotten better on the ward the men would still feel fear. and unnerved by a possibility of freedom. “...Then, just as she's rolling along at her biggest and meanest, McMurphy steps out of the latrine ... holding that towel around his hips-stops her dead! ” In the novel McMurphy shows little signs like this to combat thee Nurse. His defiance of her system included
Mcmurphy's true character was lost in the writing of the screenplay, his. intelligence and cunning is lowered greatly by changes made by the screen. writers. The.. & nbsp; Ms. Ratched is a powerful woman in both the book and the movie. She knows how to play with people's minds and manipulate groups. She keeps a tight grip on the ward using subtle methods which cannot be ignored.
In the novel, Ms. Ratched just removed the tub room, which was used as a game room, from the patients, this angered McMurphy, so he decided to do something subtle to get revenge on Ms. Ratched. In the novel, it says, “The Big Nurse’s eyes swelled out as he got close . . . He stopped in front of her window and he said in his slowest, deepest drawl how he figured he could use one of the smokes he bought this mornin’, then the ran his hand through the glass . . . He got one of the cartons of cigarettes with his name on it and took out a pack . . . ‘I’m sure sorry ma’am,’ he said ‘Gawd but I am. That window glass was so spick and span I com-pletely forgot it was there’” (201). This quotation demonstrates that, even though Ms. Ratched has more power than McMurphy, she is still frightened of him, and that he might do something to either take away her power, or he might do something to hurt her physically. This also demonstrates how much power McMurphy has gained so far over Ms. Ratched. In the novel, Ms. Ratched tries to take away all of the power that McMurphy has gained over her by blaming McMurphy for making the lives of the hospital patients worse, and that McMurphy was the cause for the deaths of patients William Bibbit and Charles Cheswick. This angers McMurphy, and causes him to choke her with the intent to kill
Control in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey Ken Kesey?s masterpiece novel One Flew over the Cuckoo?s Nest uses many themes, symbols, and imagery to illustrate the reality of the lives of a group of mental patients. The element of control is a central, arguably the largest, and the most important theme in the novel. The element of control revolves around the two main characters of the novel, Randle P. McMurphy, and Nurse Ratched. These two characters are the exact antithesis of each other, and they both seek to get their own way.
In One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) The character McMurphy as played by Jack Nicholson, McMurphy’s is a criminal who is troubled and keeps being defiant. Instead of pleading guilty, McMurphy pleads insanity and then lands inside a mental hospital. Murphy reasons that being imprisoned within the hospital will be just as bad as being locked up in prison until he starts enjoying being within by messing around with other staff and patients. In the staff, McMurphy continuously irritates Nurse Ratched. You can see how it builds up to a control problem between the inmates and staff. Nurse Ratched is seen as the “institution” and it is McMurphy’s whole goal to rebel against that institution that she makes herself out to be.The other inmates view McMurphy like he is god. He gives the inmates reason to
Ken Kesey’s, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, is a novel containing the theme of emotions being played with in order to confine and change people. One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest is about a mental institution where a Nurse named Miss Ratched has total control over its patients. She uses her knowledge of the patients to strike fear in their minds. Chief Bromden a chronic who suffers from schizophrenia and pretends to be deaf and mute narrates the novel. From his perspective we see the rise and fall of a newly admitted patient, RP McMurphy. McMurphy used his knowledge and courage to bring changes in the ward. During his time period in the ward he sought to end the reign of the dictatorship of Nurse Ratched, also to bring the patients back on their feet. McMurphy issue with the ward and the patients on the ward can be better understood when you look at this novel through a psychoanalytic lens. By applying Daniel Goleman’s theory of emotional intelligence to McMurphy’s views, it is can be seen that his ideas can bring change in the patients and they can use their
Gibson and Mika Haritos-Fatouros, they inform readers about psychologist Stanley Milgram’s studies. “Milgram proposed that the reasons people obey or disobey authority fall into three categories. The first is personal history family or school backgrounds that encourage obedience or defiance. The second, which he called “binding,” is made up of ongoing experiences that make people feel comfortable when they obey authority. Strain, the third category, consists of bad feelings from unpleasant experiences connected with obedience,” ( Milgram 247). Although the nurse isn’t harmful the patients still feel obligated to respect and obey her. The complication begins when McMurphy joins the group. First of all, Randle McMurphy is not disturbed, he’s not crazy. He’s just a rebellious man who doesn’t follow any orders. He had the group steal a bus and steal a boat to go fishing and so he could spend time with his old friend Candy. He doesn’t respect Nurse Ratched and always seems to have a problem with her. He causes everyone to speak up, which isn’t a bad thing but causes disorder and the patients act up. For example, the scene where Cheswick starts yelling at the nurse and disobeys her orders doesn’t sit down and pouts about not getting his cigarettes back. From the start of the movie to the middle it seems that they were gaining a new authority figure, McMurphy himself. “The Greek example illustrates how the ability to torture can be taught. Training that increases binding and reduces strain can cause decent people to commit acts, often over long periods of time, that otherwise would be unthinkable for them” (Gibson, Haritos-Fatouros 249). The rebellious Mac has an influence on the rest of the ward to think it is okay to be against the rules. The quote “You bargained your freedom for the comfort of discipline,” (Jones Gibson, Haritos-Fatouros 247) has a similar meaning to McMurphy's actions. Mac gets a bit out of
“Power comes from temperament but enthusiasm kills the switch”. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken kesey reveals how the struggle for power and authority is shown in the psychiatric hospital. Ken kesey expresses this mastery through Nurse Ratched and McMurphy and their effect on the patients in the ward. Nurse Ratched has all the power due to her technically being in charge of the ward. The patients “men” are powerless with their acceptance and obedience to her actions. However, everything changes when McMurphy arrives. His confidence and charisma give him some type of power that challenges and disrupts the Nurse’s drunkening thirst for power. Power in this novel is lost, gained and repossessed.
There were no heroes on the psychiatric ward until McMurphy's arrival. McMurphy gave the patients courage to stand against a truncated concept of masculinity, such as Nurse Ratched. For example, Harding states, "No ones ever dared to come out and say it before, but there is not a man among us that does not think it. That doesn't feel just as you do about her, and the whole business feels it somewhere down deep in his sacred little soul." McMurphy did not only understand his friends/patients, but understood the enemy who portrayed evil, spite, and hatred. McMurphy is the only one who can stand against the Big Nurse's oppressive supreme power. Chief explains this by stating, "To beat her you don't have to whip her two out of three or three out of five, but every time you meet. As soon as you let down your guard, as sson as you loose once, she's won for good. And eventually we all got to lose. Nobody can help that." McMuprhy's struggle for hte patient's free will is a disruption to Nurse Ratched's social order. Though she holds down her guard she yet is incapable of controlling what McMurphy is incontrollable of , such as his friends well being, to the order of Nurse Ratched and the Combine.