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Analysis of one flew over the cuckoo s nest
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Literary analysis the one that flew over the cuckoo's nest
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story is about a young boy, who is tries to cope with having a disabled brother named, Doodle. The brother becomes overwhelmed by pride, and pushes Doodle too hard which ultimately leads to Doodkeś demise.The theme of the story is that when overcome with the feeling of pride, it may cause to make decisions that can follow them throughout life leaving one with constant guilt. In the first two paragraphs the cost of pride is hinted at by symbols that reflect Doodle’s death. These symbols include, the season of an ending summer, an empty oriole nest, and the grindstone.
The author uses the setting to represent death. First, the background of the setting is a dying summer. The narrator’s description of the season,“summer was dead but autumn
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had not yet been born” (Hurst) reflects how the brother is unable to move on from Doodle’s death. The brother is unable experience the of joys and positivity of life, and instead dwells in the past.
The grief of the brother prevents him from reaching a point of acceptance, which the season of autumn is symbolic of. Also, the opening paragraph conveys a melancholic tone that foreshadows the tragic ending of the narrative. In the paragraph death is represented, or symbolized, by the diction the author uses to describe the setting. Examples include the use of the word "rotting," to describe the “brown magnolia petals” that the garden contains, and the last blooming “graveyard flowers” (Hurst). It is also interesting to note that the graveyard flowers were dying out, as indicated by the word last. Despite the fact that the graveyard flowers are dying out, they still have a large presence over the family. The graveyard flower’s “ smell drifted across the cotton field, and through every room of our house, speaking softly the names of our dead.” (Hurst). The flowers serve as a connection to death, and the smell of the flowers is yet …show more content…
another reminder of the deaths that have impacted the family especially, Doodle’s. Overall, by containing a form of a word that is death related, the brown magnolia petals, and graveyard flowers are symbolic of the death of the scarlet ibis, and Doodle. These symbols show the never ending presence of death surrounding brother. The constant presence of death surrounding the brother is what reinforces the feeling of guilt of the brother, that was caused by his honor. Not only does the symbolism behind the setting contribute to the theme, but the references to orioles do as well. The mention of orioles plays an interesting role in reinforcing the theme. For starters, the oriole nest located in the elm is described as “untenanted”, and “rocked back and forth like an empty cradle.”The lack of the oriole is significant because it again shows the lack of life that surrounds the brother. The word empty reinforces the presence of death in the family's life, and the simile of the nest being compared to a cradle can represent the absence of Doodle in particular. Next, even if there any oriole present the song it sings “seems to die up in the leaves.” (Hurst). The oriole and the songs it sings is symbolic of the hope. The lack of potential for the brother to move past the events with Doodle in his childhood is represented by the fact that the population of orioles is decreasing, and the songs sung by the orioles are drowned out. FInally, the oriole can also represent Doodle. The lack of the orioles to fill the nest, being like how Doodle is unable to fill his cradle after his death. In addition to orioles another important symbol in the story is the grindstone. The grindstone is symbolic of both the reminder of the incident, and the brother’s mind.
First, the grindstone is introduced saying that the grindstone “stands where the bleeding tree stood, just outside the kitchen door. “ (Hurst) Although just an introduction to the symbol the quote indicates that the bleeding tree where the ibis is found dies like the ibis, and Doodle. Second, the grindstone is again referenced, as the brother says “...sometimes, as I sit in the cool, green-draped parlor, the grindstone begins to turn, and time with all its changes is ground away – and I remember Doodle.” (Hurst). Since the bleeding tree used to be "just outside the kitchen door" (Hurst) it would have reminded brother of Doodle every time he saw it. This means that the grindstone doesn't only just take the tree's physical place, but it also its function as a reminder of Doodle, because it stands where the tree stood.The second quote also suggests that the brothers mind is like a grindstone. When brother starts thinking, "time with all its changes is ground away."(Hurst). The grindstone of brother’s mind polishes and sharpens his memory. The memories and content in brother’s mind is carefully arranged, sharp,and vivid. There are no moments of confusion, moments where Brother doesn't remember exactly occurred in his childhood. Brother's memory is painted by his grief. Brother’s time with Doodle is viewed in a more sorrowful way, which would have turned out differently if Doodle’s
unfortunate fate was altered. In his mind, brother is reliving his childhood with Doodle. Remembering for the brother is hard work, painful, and is a trigger for the guilt and grief that he feels. If brother wasn’t as hard on Doodle, there is the possibility that Doodle would still be living, and that is the thought that churns through the brother’s mind everyday. FInally, the symbolism used in ¨The Scarlet Ibis” helps reveal the theme. The theme of the story being that pride, can lead to making regrettable choices, leaving one with constant guilt. In the two opening paragraphs clues that lead to the theme are shown by symbols that reflect Doodle’s death. These symbols include, the season, and other elements of setting, orioles, and the grindstone. Overall, through these symbols one can see how pushing Doodle to hard, left brother with a constant feeling of shame.
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.
The imagination is the reader’s most important tool on the path to enjoying a good book. One can only hinder their enjoyment of the story by disregarding the vivid images created by the mind. Nothing can compare to a landscape so exquisite that it would make a cinematographer jealous, or a prison so cold that you can see the inmates’ hot breath. However, some authors offer help for those who are creatively impaired. In One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, the author, Ken Kesey builds such an effective tone, that the shifts in the attitudes of the characters can be detected.
The narrator reflects,”I did not know then that pride is a wonderful, terrible thing, a seed that bears two things life and death,”(Hurst 3).This quote showed that at first the narrator thought pride was good but later he became self centered and ashamed of his disabled brother and pushed him far beyond his limit.The short story called The Scarlet Ibis by James Hurst is a drama where the narrator, or older brother, wishes his younger brother wasn’t disabled. Because he is so fueled by pride, the older brother ends up pushing his brother beyond his capabilities to his death. In this story, we will learn how the narrator’s pride led to the tragic death of Doodle.
Pride of the narrator teaches a physically deprived little boy Doodle how to walk and gives him the same amenities as every other normal child. The pride of the narrator, "I [he] am going to teach Doodle how to walk" (170). Pride, in this instance, gives the narrator enough courage and vigor to help another human being in a positive way. The world needs more people such as the narrator, who is willing to benefit other's lives in a tenderhearted way, to make another's life better and happier. For example, "It's so pretty, so pretty, pretty, pretty" (170). One's pride can truly take the simple pleasures in life and make someone happy. The narrator does a simple task by taking his brother down to the swamp. By that action, Doodle is enthralled in happiness because he sees something he has never seen before. Having pride can be beneficial in many ways; however, having too much pride can be pernicious.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest takes place in a mental institution in the Pacific Northwest. The narrator of the novel is Chief Bromden, also known as Chief Broom, a catatonic half-Indian man whom everybody thinks is deaf and dumb. He often suffers from hallucinations in which he feels that the room is filled with fog. The institution is dominated by Nurse Ratched (Big Nurse), a cold, precise woman with calculated gestures and a calm, mechanical manner. When the story begins, a new patient, Randall Patrick McMurphy, arrives at the ward. He is a self-professed 'gambling fool' who has just come from a work farm at Pendleton. He introduces himself to the other men on the ward, including Dale Harding, the president of the patient's council, and Billy Bibbit, a thirty-year old man who stutters and appears very young. Nurse Ratched immediately pegs McMurphy as a manipulator.
In the story The Scarlet Ibis by James Hurts the two protagonist were Doodle and Doodle’s brother, the narrator. The relationship of Doodle and the narrator is based on pride. Along with pride the narrator was ashamed and embarrassed of Doodle.
“There is a point at which everything becomes simple and there is no longer any question of choice, because all you have staked will be lost if you look back. Life 's point of no return.” - Dag Hammarskjold
Many authors use allusion in an effort to give a deeper meaning to a story by referring to another work, which has a similar theme. It can also be a way to further emphasize the main point and help the reader better understand and think more deeply about what they are reading. Throughout the novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey, he incorporates many references to the Christian Faith. Although it isn’t direct, his strong use of allusion and symbolism force us to infer. Randle McMurphy, an intelligent and observant asylum patient, makes his way into the Oregon State Hospital. Kesey utilizes the Christian Faith and Jesus Christ through the characterization and development of the main character, Randle McMurphy. This dominant, yet reformative asylum patient comes to the aid of his fellow men in attempt to change the ways of the ward.
Each woman in the Dead family is associated with their own wilted flower, which is significant because the flowers exist out of oppression and lack of affection. Before it is clear in the story that Macon and Ruth do not love each other, the flowers that Ruth interacts with beforehand serve as a precursor for the dead romance that is to come. Morrison notes the flower arrangement on Ruth’s dining table, which “once exposed, behaved as though it were itself a plant and flourished into a huge suede-gray flower that throbbed like fever.” The “suede-gray flower” is an artificial fabric flower associated with Ruth reveals that she is deprived of love. By following the life cycle of the “grey-suede flower,” the reader can understand the evolving position that Ruth has had in her home. When the flower was alive, her father was also with her, so she would communicate with her husband and dictate the matters of the household. When the flower was alive, Ruth and Macon were somewhat more in love. Macon was also kept quiet. As the flower weakens and dies, we see Ruth’s strength, independence, and love life dwindling and dying. Thus, it is clear that a
The story is about Doodle, a child born with multiple disabilities and his older brother who, even though he loves him, cannot be proud of him. The older brother gives him the initiative and motivation his younger brother needs to be able to attend school.
Sean O’Casey once said that, “Laughter is wine for the soul - laughter soft, or loud and deep, tinged through with seriousness - the hilarious declaration made by man that life is worth living.” Without laughing, man is not living fully. For the men in the novel, One Who Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, by Ken Kesey, they are in a mental institution and are repressed by their head nurse until a new patient, McMurphy, comes in laughing an changing the way everything is ran, turning the insane sane. In the novel, laughter is a symbol of sanity and it helps a person grow stronger, so when the men laugh they grow more confident and obtain the ability to overcome the Nurses’ power.
An exceptionally tall, Native American, Chief Bromden, trapped in the Oregon psychiatric ward, suffers from the psychological condition of paranoid schizophrenia. This fictional character in Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest struggles with extreme mental illness, but he also falls victim to the choking grasp of society, which worsens Bromden’s condition. Paranoid schizophrenia is a rare mental illness that leads to heavy delusions and hallucinations among other, less serious, symptoms. Through the love and compassion that Bromden’s inmate, Randle Patrick McMurphy, gives Chief Bromden, he is able to briefly overcome paranoid schizophrenia and escape the dehumanizing psychiatric ward that he is held prisoner in.
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!"
In “The Scarlet Ibis,” a short story by James Hurst, Hurst writes about a boy who remembers how his pride resulted in the loss of his brother named Doodle. Hurst suggests pride can be a destructive force. He adopts a regretful tone in order to allow his audience to feel remorse for both characters and therefore what pride can destroy.
In “Home Burial,” Robert Frost uses language and imagery to show how differently a man and a women deal with grief. The poem not only describes the grief the two feel for the loss of their child but also the impending death of a marriage. Frost shows this by using a dramatic style set in New England.