To navigate your way through life trying to identify what makes you insane or not will simply drive you into insanity. But, what measures the level to which you are considered sane? Throughout the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey, this very question is explored and challenged consistently. Through the characters and their experiences within a psych ward in the 1960s, Kesey presents us with one simple question: how do you define insanity?
The novel is narrated by Chief Bromden, who had pretended to be a deaf and dumb man for majority of his life. One re-occurring concept throughout the novel, that is presented by Chief, is the Combine. The Combine is the name given to the entirety of society and how it automatically declines
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anyone that does not fit the standards of society (or the so called Combine). “Ken Kesey shows that the line which is drawn between sanity (health) and insanity (illness) is based entirely on individual perception, and as such it is difficult to determine exactly where that line should be drawn.” (UKEssays.com, lines 10-12). Majority of the characters that are introduced to the readers could easily not fit under the standards of being mentally insane, but because they did not wish to conform to the standards of society and in result did not fit into society, they were declared insane in order to be thrown into a psych ward. One example of this is Billy Bibbit and his constant struggle with stuttering. His entire life his mother has both babied him and underestimated him simply because of his stutter. He was never one to take control of a situation and did not conform to the ideal of being a strong and assertive man, but was rather really passive and shy. Because of this, his mother had put him in a psych ward. Slightly extreme right? But all in all, Billy’s mom may have thought Billy’s troubles were not completely “sane” based on her definition of insanity and based on the standards that were put on men at the time. The use of the Combine throughout the novel is Chief’s way of putting a name to one of the most prominent antagonists of the novel. Rather than the patients fighting back to prove they are more than what is expected of them, a lot of the patients within the ward succumb to the label that has been put on them. The daunting presence of the Combine imprints the idea of their insanity and how it defines them rather than them ever questioning what their sanity means or if they even get to choose what insanity means to them, like all the other “sane” members of society. For example, “The members of the ward in Cuckoo’s Nest are willing participants in their insanity, accepting it with all of its inherent limitations and disparaging notions... Insanity has usurped them of their voices, their decision making process, even their ability to think.” (Shafer, 45). The patients within the ward have let the effects of society take hold of them and because they have been undermined their entire lives, they cannot think of themselves as anything more than an object, until McMurphy arrives. Randle McMurphy arrived into the ward on the account of statutory rape and being a crazy, drunken mess that likes to party a little too hard. Nurse Ratched, one of the antagonists of the novel, is the daunting presence in the ward that keeps everything organized to make the process of becoming sane, more sane. McMurphy begins testing his boundaries as soon as he enters the psych ward. All the daily proceedings and expectations that the patients are supposed to follow are turned upside down. McMurphy represents so much more than what is presented to the reader. He represents someone who is willing to challenge the ideals of what society considers insane, but “While McMurphy is arguably driven by his own mischievous instinct at the start of the text, he later continues his resistance out of empathy for his fellow patients, even though he knows this will affect himself negatively” (Bom, 12) The boundaries that McMurphy pushes for the other patients may be seen as simply rebellious, but it was about pushing the patients beyond the labels that were smacked on them.
Majority of the patients in the ward have been underestimated and undermined their entire lives, giving them absolutely no willpower to ever push boundaries of what they can accomplish. When you have someone like Nurse Ratched constantly watching you and judging you, it takes away a lot of self esteem, if any of them had in the first place. McMurphy pushed these patients to finally pave their own path rather than travelling one that was already made for them. But, in many ways McMurphy tried to use the idea of insanity to his and the other patients’ …show more content…
advantage. The lengths that McMurphy went to in order to prove the patients sanity may have been considered extreme, but “If society is the cause of insanity through a maddening demand for conformity and normalization, then One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest clearly shows that resistance and deviancy are the only sane answers.” (Bom, 14). Sometimes you have to fight fire with fire. McMurphy throughout his time spent in the ward is trying to convince the men of their sanity, but it is very difficult to accomplish something to that extent when you have the overruling power of Nurse Ratched and the constant presence of the Combine. Whether it be smashing through her perfectly clean window or sneaking in prostitutes to the ward, the smaller acts of rebellion slowly empowered the men to choose their own path in life. The purpose of protesting is for it to be at the most inconvenient times so people will pay attention, which is simply what McMurphy is trying to do. The idea of trying to fit into a cookie cutter type of society is difficult for many to handle. Throughout the novel we see how the patients couldn’t fit into the ways of society and may have also used the convoluted idea of insanity in order to escape the confrontation of the Combine. Although the psych ward, in many ways, is considered a jail to the patients, it is also their safe haven for most. For example, Dale Harding was a college educated and completely sane man, but he was a homosexual. Although he is married to a woman, he would rather keep himself within the ward in order to not face the detrimental effects that society puts on someone who is gay. Back then, if you were gay, it was automatically seen as a mental illness, but that definition of insanity is completely based off the standards of society at the time. Although there are still varying opinions today, being gay has become widely accepted in today’s society. In comparison to the 1960s, the ideals of society when it comes to homosexuality have changed drastically. Harding would go through ECT and mind numbing medications all in order to escape the actual insanity of society. By time we reach the end of the novel, Ratched feels as if she has succeeded because McMurphy is now lobotomized and the suicide of Billy has taught the patients a lesson, but the actions of McMurphy, and all the outcomes that followed, basically have thrown a wrench into her well oiled machine.
She will never gain the cooperation of the patients again (Bom, 14). In her pursuit to silence the patients, she only gave them more of a voice. Chief Bromden has spent his entire life in the shadows of his ethnicity and his accused insanity. Through Bromden’s narration and point of view in the novel, “His character causes us to doubt the validity of claims that declare men to be mad for their experience of the system, and presents madness as the possible result of our own society.” (Bom, 10). With the powerful ending of Chief putting McMurphy out of his misery and finally running away was very symbolic. Yes, through the novel McMurphy was always a scheming man, but him showing Chief the control panel and his ability to pick it up was not only foreshadowing but also heavily
symbolic. McMurphy not being able to pick up the control panel was a physical way of showing that although he could lead and show the patients the right direction of realizing the insanities of society, he could not carry the weight of that by himself. With the full 360 of Chief’s life and character development, he is able to recognize that McMurphy did his job in showing how it is up to you to define what insanity means, not society. By taking the control panel, throwing it through the window, and running into the unknown shows that it is now Chiefs turn to live his life the way he wants to. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is more than just a novel, it is a statement. The detrimental standards that society puts on people are wrong, and frankly, disturbing. Underneath the exposition of the horrid events that took place in psych wards in the 1960s, there is a larger picture that is being painted. Insanity is something that, as a society, we can never come to terms with. The definition of the word will always have different meanings and it will always be four syllables that could change someone’s life forever. Sometimes you have to live within your insanity to fully come to terms with it and that is what McMurphy, even through the scamming and sarcasm, was trying to show to the patients; that it is okay to be insane, but you should be the one to decide that. In that pursuit, you may end up dead or numb, but hopefully you end up running into the unknown to find your known.
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.
This is showing the aftermath of how McMurphy's actions affect others as well as that McMurphy's desires are outweighed by the desires of those around him.Realization was made by McMurphy he noticed that the patients looked at him for guidance, they expected McMurphy to put up a fight to keep them from unfair circumstances.
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
In the control panel scene, McMurphy bets with the other men that he can lift the control panel even though it is too heavy for him. He is teaching Chief and the other inmates that even if you think you can't do something, you have to try. If you try and you fail that will be okay, but if you never try, you don't know what you can do. The other men and Chief have never tried to rebel against Nurse Ratched and the institution. They have watched others fail so they are afraid to try; but they are different. If they try, they might be able to defeat Nurse Ratched. They do not know about their own abilities. They lack the self-confidence and courage to do it for themselves. So McMurphy shows them how to try. "But I tried, though,' he says. Goddammit, I sure as hell did that much, now, didn't I?"(111)
McMurphy learns that he is commited in the hospital and cannot leave until the nurse says he can, he becomes despaired and distances himself from the rest of the patients in an attempt to reduce the time that he will be required to stay in the hospital. He soon realises that no one can leave the hospital because they have become so powerless and dependant, that they do not have the courage to leave. This is another turning point of McMurphy’s determination. He soon discovers that, in order to help out the others, he will have to risk his length of time staying at the hospital. Even with this threat on his shoulders, he does not hesitate to help them realise their true potential. McMurphy’s plan is first to set out to prove that the patients and Nurse Ratched are humans, they can be broken. He also decides to help Chief Bromden realise his own true potential. In everyone else’s eyes, the Chief is viewed as irrelevant and small since he is muted. In Truth, the Chief is not mute and when McMurphy finds this out he is excited since he saw the Chief as a tall and strong man, stronger than almost any man that McMurphy has ever encountered. McMurphy later on promises the Chief that he will help him feel “big” again. McMurphy decides to take the patients out fishing, as an opportunity for them to feel like they are human again. During the trip, McMurphy shows the men how they their mental disabilities against others, like the man at the gas pump. When the men stand up to the man at the gas pump, they feel as if they are not weaklings like they were in the hospital. Nonetheless, the patients seem to be unable to stand up the men at the dock that are hollering at Candy. Out on the sea, McMurphy does not help the men when they yell for his assistance at catching the fish, when the patients caught a large fish out of the sea, they felt like the were humans. When
Bromden is nothing more than a crazy Indian who doesn't want to talk so. pretends to be deaf and dumb. Much of the understanding and respect is lost in the transition between book and movie. In the book, Bromden has flashbacks to his childhood, lighting on significant points in his childhood. His background is never even brushed upon in the movie. Of course it would have been nearly impossible to tell of Bromdens life in a movie, much less show the world from his point of view as in the book. Bromden is still a very interesting character but the real puzzle to his problems are lost in the process. & nbsp; McMurphy is a very sly, cunning man. He knows how to play his game. and does it well.
Unable to see McMurphy imprisoned in a body that will go on living (under Nurse Ratched’s control) even though his spirit is gone, Chief smothers him to death that night. Then he escapes the hospital and leaves for Canada and a new life. We begin to see the different situations in which the patients struggle to overcome. Whether insane or not, the hospital is undeniably in control of the fates of its
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
Although the novel depicts an extreme scenario of a society with rigid norms, there is some degree of a Combine in every society. The Combine is a great force that?s hard to overcome but can be broken down with determination from a strong group of opinionated individuals. It takes a leader to influence the passive to fight to obtain their rights. When enough people feel stifled by unfair treatment they need to band together as pack of wolves to try to change the system.
In Ken Kesey's One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, the author refers to the many struggles people individually face in life. Through the conflict between Nurse Ratched and McMurphy, the novel explores the themes of individuality and rebellion against conformity. With these themes, Kesey makes various points which help us understand which situations of repression can lead an individual to insanity. These points include: the effects of sexual repression, woman as castrators, and the pressures we face from society to conform. Through these points, Kesey encourages the reader to consider that people react differently in the face of repression, and makes the reader realize the value of alternative states of perception, rather than simply writing them off as "crazy."
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
Insanity is a blurred line in the eyes of Ken Kesey. He reveals a hidden microcosm of mental illness, debauchery, and tyranny in his novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. The remarkable account of a con man’s ill-fated journey inside a psychiatric hospital exposes the horrors of troubling malpractices and mistreatments. Through a sane man’s time within a crazy man’s definition of a madhouse, there is exploration and insight for the consequences of submission and aberration from societal norm. While some of the novel’s concerns are now anachronous, some are more vital today than before. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is a compelling tale that brings a warning of the results of an overly conformist and repressive institution.
The biggest theme of the story is oppression. Throughout the course of the story, patients are suppressed and fight to find who they really are. One particular symbol that represents the struggle is the control panel. McMurphy makes a valiant effort to lift the control panel, but it ends with “Then his breath
This idea of society as a system of oppression is what the narrator of the novel, Chief Bromden, is attempting to explain to McMurphy the whole time. Chief, being a mentally ill man, refers to this system as “the combine” which to him is “a big machine room down in the bowels of a dam” (153). This use of mechanical imagery in describing the entity that controls the men feeds into Kesey’s commentary on how inhumanely mental patients are treated by society. McMurphy is first seen to understand this idea when sitting outside an X-ray room with the other patients. The patients sit discussing the evils of Nurse Ratched, this is seen when Kesey writes, “They talk for a while about whether she’s the root of all the trouble here or not, and Harding says she’s the most of it” (192). Following this moment, instead of having him agree, Kesey provides McMurphy with a contrasting opinion when he writes, “McMurphy isn’t so sure anymore,” which implies he is coming to the realization,“It’s the whole combine, the nationwide combine that’s really the big force,” that has power over the men (192). McMurphy finally becomes certain of his assumption in the first conversation he has with Chief. Chief, for the first time explains his idea of the combine to McMurphy when he says, “‘they
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.