Rationale For One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

Rationale

The ending of the novel ”One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” feels unfulfilling, because McMurphy’s influence over the ward is not conveyed enough after his death. In addition I feel that Miss Ratched did not receive the punishment she deserved. I think these aspects could be developed further with my text.

In the end chapter McMurphy attacks Miss Ratched because she drove Billy Bibbit to suicide. This could be seen as murder and should not be forgiven easily. In my text I will show how McMurphy empowered the patients and how they subsequently revolt against Miss Ratched after his death.

I have chosen to write a news report because it allows me to give an objective perspective and let the readers interpret the facts and have their

own judgement on this situation. The news report will investigate the murder of Bibbit. Through an interview with Scanlon and other inmates they will accuse Miss Ratched of being a control freak.

The news report will show how the outside world enters the confined ward and through this breaks Ratched’s control over her empire. The interview will show the freedom and rebellion McMurphy has encouraged in his fellow inmates. The fact that they are inmates will highlight the social stigmatization to mental illnesses, that their voice is unreliable in the eyes of the public. They might be telling the truth but how reliable are people from a mental hospital?

Word count: 235

Task
Dead man found after a party in mental hospital
Billy Bibbit, 31, found dead early morning in a mental hospital in Salem, Oregon, possible case of manslaughter.

Bibbit’s body was found in an office with his throat teared open and knife beside him. From investigation it has been suggested that the death may have been caused by a senior staff member and not as a result of his mental health.

Detectives initially suspected a case of suicide and was later confirmed when the autopsy report was completed. Studying the cut it is confirmed that Bibbit slit his own throat; however the reason behind it is still uncertain.

A nurse in the ward says:

“Billy Bibbit was a voluntary inmate and has during his stay shown tendencies of self-harm and also has had a past incident of attempted suicide. I think this was the reason behind it. I was late the day it occurred but I was told by our head nurse that he slit his own

throat“.

Upon investigation it was found that there was an unauthorized party held at the night prior to Bibbit’s suicide.

Bottles of alcoholic beverages were found lying around the scene.

The police questioned the head nurse how a party could have occurred under her supervision and she replied:

“I had no involvement with the festivities, this was an act of rebellion by the inmates. Our nightly watchman will be investigated and I will do everything in my power to prevent this from happening again.”

A explanation of the party from one of the inmates states:

“Miss Ratched never lets us have fun, we are constantly under control and whatever enjoyment we find is stripped off. She even turned off our TV once when we all were watching the football game!”

Some of investigators speculate that the death could have occurred because of the alcohol which was found in Bibbit’s blood.

The only witnesses of the death were inmates and staff members.

Interrogation with a witness, Mr. Scanlon an inmate, pointed the blame to the head nurse.

“With her authority she’s controlled the ward in her own hands. She attacked Bibbit’s weakness and blackmailed him, because of that he killed himself. She drove Billy to suicide. She’s done it before and will do it again. She’s a

murderer!”

Other inmates agree with Scanlon’s statement, saying that the head nurse is the reason for the death.

When questioned about the accusations the response is:

“Of course I need control in my ward, if not it would be a cuckoo’s nest. But I would not go to the extent of blackmailing for control. There are no motives for me to blackmail this young man.”

“It is sad that he took his own life, I became good friends with his mother during the war and we both cared a lot for him.”

Police says that Mr. Scanlon demands for legal action and is ready to testify in court.

“It is difficult for this to go through jurisdiction. There is a question of reliability of witnesses, especially ones from a mental hospital. We will need further investigation to confirm if the head nurse is responsible for the death or if Bibbit killed himself for other reasons.”