Theme Of Corruption In One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

Absolute power corrupts absolutely. In the psychological novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey, this statement is not just a cliche but a prominent theme throughout the novel. Kesey uses a tyrannical nurse and savior like patient to prove that the corruption of power has an effect on others oneself. In the mental ward there are immoral and illegal things going on. Nurse Ratched employs men whose exposure to social injustice and racism on the Outside has created in them an unfocused hate that is a constant source of energy” (“henryPorter”). The three “black boys” who essentially “work” for Nurse Ratched do horrible things to the men and she knows about it. Nurse Ratched gives the boys the thermometer to use on the new patients

The men in the ward are weak under Nurse Ratched's spell. Chief Bromden believes that the fog is a form of “temporary protection” but he also knows that it is a form of “nonexistence” (“henryPorter”). In this fog it is hard to tell reality from fantasy, but the Chief feels safer there. McMurphy tries to pull the men out of the fog they are constantly under but they have been in it for so long that pulling them away from Nurse Ratched's spell is easier said than done. When McMurphy confronts the men about whom Nurse Ratched really is they are shocked believing that it is most unlikely. It is impossible for them to see their “tender angel of mercy, Mother Ratched, [as] a ball-cutter?” (Kesey 54). The men want to believe that Nurse Ratched is honestly there to help them, not harm them. Soon enough the men catch on to who Nurse Ratched is under the facade she shows. The men know that they, including the other staff, are powerless against Nurse Ratched. As Nurse Ratched runs around doing all these horrible things, no one is there to stop her. Doctor Spivey, while his title is higher than Nurse Ratched's, is not able to stop her because he is “frightened,... [and] totally incapable of running this ward without our Miss Ratched’s help, and he knows it,” (Kesey 56). She is protected by her connections so there has been no one to stop her until McMurphy. Not only does McMurphy open the

Nurse Ratched believes getting rid of McMurphy would fix the “problem” but it only made the men see him as more of a hero. When McMurphy first came into the ward he did so to escape work, he did not think that he was going to end up helping these men, let alone fighting a person who abuses the power that they have. McMurphy didn't ask for all this to happen, but he sacrifices himself because he believes he is standing up for something with purpose. To control McMurphy, Nurse Ratched starts sending him to the Shock Shop. Although McMurphy endures unimaginable torture, he still would not submit to Nurse Ratched's manipulation. As soon as the effects of the electroshock therapy would wear off and McMurphy would get the “click back in his wink, Miss Ratched would arrive… and [would] ask him if he felt like he was ready to come around and face up to his problem,” (Kesey 249). McMurphy tried to stay nonchalant about the whole ordeal while “[he] insisted it wasn’t hurting him,” (Kesey 249) but Chief Bromden along with the other men knew that he is just trying to stay strong. McMurphy is the hope the men need, he is “a savior without being a saint” (“Fick”). McMurphy could handle pain being inflicted on him the pain of someone else just would not do. Billy Bibbit's death is the needle that broke the camel's, McMurphy's, back. McMurphy tries to do a good thing for the men by bringing in booze and a girl for Billy Bibbit to hook up with. Needless to