One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest Essay example - 1619 Words

One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest Sometimes in life people are forced to conform to a certain situation for lack of a better alternative, and this is the case in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. These such people lack the will to stand up for their scruples, and intern are simply guided through their mundane lives by the powers that be. Until someone comes along offering them leadership and the prospect to become â€Å"big again.† The man who does so is no other than R.P. McMurphy. Scanlon, Harding, Bibbit, and Chief Bromden may have become adjusted to the oppressive system in which they lived, but certainly were much better adjusted to the real world and life in general after their experience with McMurphy. Some people may argue†¦show more content†¦Soon McMurphy encourages Harding to break the rules by exposing him to the gambling, which he has known so well from the outside world. â€Å" I am wagering that I can bug her so she comes apart at the neat little seams and shows you guys she ain’t as unbeatable as you think,† McMurphy says about Ratched. Harding gladly takes the bet and even puts odds on it â€Å"fifteen to five.† McMurphy also gets Harding riled when he stages a pretend baseball on the television, Harding exclaims, â€Å" Run, you mother loving turkey, run!† knowing very well that he will anger Nurse Ratched. Just from a few days with McMurphy, Harding has become more independent and confident than he has been for the last dozen years. Towards the end of the play Harding has gained so much confidence and courage that he deliberately says, â€Å"Lady we think you are full of so much bull,† to Nurse Ratchet, the woman whom he had feared for years. Slowly McMurphy is unintentionally building him up to the point where he can become adjusted the every day life and eventually re-enter the outside world. A second person which McMurphy affects is Billy Bibbit, the youngest patient on the ward. When McMurphy first comes to the hospital, Billy is nothing but an innocent boy, afraid to confront other people, and stand up for what he feels and believes. In the beginning of the play he is deathly afraid of MissShow MoreRelatedOne Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest875 Words   |  3 Pages In â€Å"One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest† by Ken Kesey, Nurse Ratched symbolizes the oppression of society through archetypal emasculation. The male patients at the ward are controlled, alienated and forced into submission by the superior female characters. Throughout the novel, there is a constant fear of female superiority; Randle McMurphy, the sexually empowered male protagonist, states how they are essentially being castrated. Castration, in the novel, symbolizes the removal of freedom, sexualRead MoreEssay On One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest1487 Words   |  6 PagesWard Power is defined as the controlling entity that cannot be escaped from those who are less superior. In Ken Kesey’s novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, there is an evident theme shown throughout particular instances of how power can turn into something catastrophic. From this novel, many characters undergo highs and lows of this concept. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest tells a story through the perspective of Chief Bromden. The setting takes place in a mental institution located in Oregon, whereRead More One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest Essay864 Words   |  4 PagesOne Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest Written by Ken Kesey, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest was published in 1967 by Penguin Books. This story was written based on the author’s experience while working in a mental institution. He held long conversations with the inmates in order to gain a better understanding of them. It was during this period that he wrote the first draft of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Most of the characters in the novel are based upon actual patients he met while working atRead MoreOne Flew over the Cuckoos Nest2390 Words   |  10 Pages3 May 2011 One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest In the novel, â€Å"One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest,† by Ken Kesey, the book has a lot of meaning, symbolism, and imagery. This book has been criticized by many around the country and has even been considered to be banned in high schools nationwide. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is seen as obscene, racist, immoral, and sexist to some eyes. It does have some bizarre language, and some obscene scenes, but every great literature attempts to give anRead MoreOne Flew over the Cuckoos Nest by Ken Kesey1137 Words   |  4 Pages In 2010 one in five Americans experienced some sort of mental illness, and only about 60 percent of people with mental illness get treatment each year1. In the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, by Ken Kesey, the wrong people seem to be getting the treatment. The novel is the story of a gambling addictive man, Randle Patrick McMurphy, who is a committed mental patient, serving out his time as an â€Å"Acute† instead of a Prisoner . Ultimately, the story tells of how insanity can be broughtRead MoreTheme Of Women In One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest1766 Words   |  8 Pages One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest In the 1960s the views of women were not as they are today. For centuries women have been objectified and not treated as equals, only being viewed as property or looked at for their physical features. Ken Kesey the author of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, with the character McMurphy, learned towards the superiority of the male sexuality over female authority (123 Helpme). The women in the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest are portrayed as weak, sex objects,Read MoreOne Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey. Essay668 Words   |  3 PagesOne Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is a controversial novel that has left parents and school authorities debating about its influence on students since its publication in 1962. The novel describes the inner workings of a mental institution, how the patients are emasculated and mistreated by the terrifying Nurse Ratched, who will go to any length to control them. But in comes McMurphy, a criminal who chose to go to an asylum rather than serve physical labor; he disrupts the order of the hospital withRead MoreOne Flew over the Cuckoos Nest Research Paper1764 Words   |  8 PagesDrugs and Insanity Against Society The author of the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, Ken Keasey, received his inspiration for the book while volunteering at a veterans hospital. This is where he was first introduced to LSD. The moment he tried it, he became addicted, and began experimenting on himself with the drugs, observing the effects. The novel deals with the tyrannical rule of head Nurse Ratched in a mental hospital somewhere in Oregon. She runs all business and daily life in the asylumRead MoreOne Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey1916 Words   |  8 PagesOne Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Ken Kesey Final One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, written by Ken Kesey, was a very successful novel which was impactful on the world in the past, and still is today. Ken Kesey, a big believer in individuality and the freedom to be oneself, brought new meaning to the world of psychiatry that changed treatments forever. This book didn’t just affect American society, it had a global impact. All around the world there are people that are admitted into mental institutionsRead MoreOne Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest by Ken Kesey580 Words   |  2 PagesOne Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest is an enthralling book which depicts the lives of the insane and their struggles regarding the authority of a healthcare facility ward. The healthcare facility ward develops into a restaurant of disobedience while the wise-guy hero, attempts to reform the establishment while dignifying individuals within. The story is written in the first person perspective by Chief Bromden a big client that is sharing his psychologi cal facility experience. He is a man who has actually