Journal #1 One main event that occurs in the first third of One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest is the first group meeting Mr. McMurphy joined on the ward. Nurse Ratched begins to talk about another patient named Harding, and his issues with his wife. After listening to what the nurse had to say, McMurphy made an inappropriate joke concerning the matter of Harding’s wife. Everyone was amused with his joke, except for Nurse Ratched. She retaliates by reading Mr. McMurphy’s file out loud for everyone to hear. This was the first time as a reader I got to hear about McMurphy’s history and why he was put on the ward. She reads how Mr. McMurphy is 35, never married, was dishonorably discharged from war in Korea, has a prolonged history of street …show more content…
At some time-- perhaps in your childhood-- you may have been allowed to get away with flouting the rules of society” (Kesey171). Nurse Ratched said this to all the patients at the ward one day regarding them rebelling against the rules. This quote really showed how manipulative and mean Nurse Ratched could be. Ever since McMurphy came to the ward, everyone there decided to start a rebellion against Nurse Ratched and the ward policy. Many examples such as when McMurphy was carousing around the halls in his underwear, people not doing their chores, asking to change the schedule to watch the baseball game and breaking the nurse’s window to take back their cigarettes show there is a difference in the air at the ward. One example is “ Then, just as she's rolling along at her biggest and meanest, McMurphy steps out of the latrine door right in front of her, holding that towel around his hips—stops her dead! She shrinks to about head-high to where that towel covers him, and he's grinning down on her. Her own grin is giving way, sagging at the edges. Good morning, Miss Rat-shed! How's things on the outside? You can't run around here—in a towel! No? He looks down at the part of the towel she's eye …show more content…
Nurse Ratched was very controlling and wanted complete power. This caused many of the patients to rebel and break loose from her control. McMurphy lead the ward in this uprising. From brushing his teeth too early to sneaking prostitutes into the ward, he shows Nurse Ratched that she cannot rule him. This story reminded me of Malala Yousafzai and her retaliation against the Taliban. Malala Yousafzai was born on July 12, 1997, in Mingora, Pakistan. Ever since she was a little girl, she knew that their was more to her life than being an everyday housewife. She wanted to go to school. The Taliban feels that women should not have the right to go to school. She became an advocate for young women to have a right for an education which then resulted in the Taliban issuing a death threat against her. No one thought the Taliban would hurt a child but one day a man shot Malala in the head in her school bus while she was coming home from school. Thankfully she survived, and continued to speak out about her the right for girls to have access to an education. After the Taliban started attacking young girls, Malala decided to give a speech. She named her speech, "How dare the Taliban take away my basic right to education?" Malala did not stand for such cruelty from the Taliban. She wrote blogs about her life, gave speeches, she did whatever she had to do to be heard. Just like many
The Chief and McMurphy are inmates of a mental institution. In what sense are they also heroes? How should we understand “heroism” in the context of this novel? According to the context of “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest”, Kesey defines a hero a person as average as others but able to see a problem that requires courage, determination and kindness to be solved, and takes it upon oneself to fix it.
In Kesey’s novel One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest the character R. P. McMurphy is an anti-hero. Kesey portrays him as an anti-hero by his behaviour and motives. When McMurphy first enters the ward its all a gamble, he fakes his way in trying to escape working. When he first arrives its all for himself and he doesn’t have much care for the other patients. McMurphy immediately decides he wants to be the bull goose loony in charge.
Randle McMurphy goes against everything that the ward stands for, all its rules and guidelines, it is with this attitude that McMurphy changes many of the rules that the ward has in place. In one scene he makes an attempt to separate the acutes and chronics, so that the acutes can play cards in peace in a different room, although he has a rough time getting through Nurse Ratched, he still manages to get his wish to come true after using some manipulation against Dr Spivey, that’s one point for McMurphy against Nurse Ratched. Although this may seem like a simple request, it starts making the other patients think about the rules and if they really are fair and just. This is the first step in getting the patients to stop conforming to the wards rules, and starts bringing about other conformists in the groups of acutes. The next act against Nurse Ratched and her power to control everyone was McMurphy’s plan to change the schedule so that the acutes can watch the World Series, although it fails after Nurse Ratched turns off the TV, McMurphy and the acutes all get together to watch the blank screen.
Kesey has created Nurse Ratched as a representation of how the ward works. Nurse Ratched works the ward like a combine, when something goes in; broken pieces become the end result. When Nurse Ratched loses her first battle with McMurphy, she ends up “hollering and squealing” about the “discipline and order” she has instilled throughout her years working in the ward (128). Here, Kesey presents how this small act of rebellion affects Ratched system she has perfected over the years. Even though she is screaming about discipline and order, the patients continue to ignore her pleas and sit in front of the television watching nothing.
Author Ken Kesey, in his novel One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, exemplifies that people can be both mentally and psychically manipulated. He supports his claim by first using examples, then using analysis, and finally using rhetorical questions. Kesey’s purpose is to enlighten the reader in order to exemplify the idea that everything is not always what it seems. He adopts a dark tone for the reader.
In the drama film, One Flew Over the Cuckoo 's Nest, Patrick McMurphy was moved from a prison farm to a mental institution to get evaluated for his erratic behavior. Upon being transported to the institution, all his assumptions about his new home were completely wrong. The head nurse, Nurse Ratched, has the whole hospital under her control with little to no freedom for the patients. All the inmates at the institution go through rigorous training to become obedient to Nurse Ratched and her strict schedule and rules. The institution was a very controlled environment with the patients having no control over their own life’s while there.
Michael Gugliotta English 3 Honors 10/22/15 Mrs. English Savior of the Patients Who would have thought the new patient, McMurphy, would be the person who saves the other patients? In Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, McMurphy’s impact on the patients is evident. Before his arrival, the patients were under the strict rule of Nurse Ratched. They did not know how to stop her anger.
Due to McMurphy’s attempts to break down the villainous Nurse Ratched with his particularly disruptive antics despite his selfish motives, and Bromden’s quiet progression to courage, the two are heroes to those in the ward. A former army nurse, Nurse Ratched has the entire ward under her control, going by her schedule and her rules. Everything in the ward has gone by her plan, even the staff was chosen
“ I didn’t think the nurse had the say-so on this kind of thing”. “She does indeed” ( Kesey, pg 191). So, McMurphy understands that nurse Ratched has a say in when he can leave the ward. After learning this he becomes quiet and nice towards nurse Ratched. But before learning that she had say in when he could get out he used to go against her orders and laws.
The conflict between the two main character's Nurse Ratched and McMurphy serves as a bridge for the overarching theme of sexuality. Or to be more specific the battle of sexuality. In the book the two main characters represent both sides of the spectrum when it comes to sexuality concerning genders. Nurse Ratched represents feminism and McMurphy represents masculinity. With the two conflicting views of how the character’s believe the institution for the mentally ill should be run you can see more of the juxtaposition between the two.
Literature, old or modern, has always been subject to criticism and judgement due to the issues that exist within classic novels. Whether the issue contains profanity, violence, or content too mature for young readers, award-winning books’ existences receive threats to be banned and forgotten. Unfortunately for Ken Kesey’s classic, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, this may be the only course of action. While the novel displays violence unsuitable for high-school curriculums, Ken Kesey’s classic should be in every library for adult readers. Although the novel teaches valuable life lessons about individuality and is mild compared to modern media, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest should be banned in all high school curriculums because it incorporates
By weakening McMurphy’s power in the ward, she creates an environment where can continue to thrive in her power through the systems she has set in place. However, Nurse Ratched’s plan does not succeed and McMurphy is allowed to proceed with his fishing trip. He continues to undermine the nurse’s authority to the point where he physically assults her after she blames Billy’s death on him. His actions give Nurse Ratched an opportunity to give him the ultimate punishment, a
The movie was mostly focused on the feud between the warden/nurse Ms. Ratched and McMurphy. McMurphy tried to go against the hard-set plan set by the institution. More he tried to establish dominance and leadership within the group. This threatened the nurse’s ways of subduing patients, and they felt of less importance in their own institution. This led to a bitter rivalry and because of it the nurse tried to subdue, with same techniques as with other patients, McMurphy even after realizing that he was not a mentally unstable person.
Malala was born on July 12, 1997 in Swat Valley, Pakistan (Yousafzai 226). She grew up going to Khushal
Yousafzai first started to speak up for her rights when a mafti wanted her father’s school to close. The mafti had tried to close the school because the school allowed girls to go to school and because he considered it “a disgrace to the community”(Yousafzai 90) Malala Yousafzai was afraid that once she spoke out, she would be silenced by the Taliban just like how the mafti had tried to close her father’s school down. Even though Yousafzai was doubting herself, she continued to fight for