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Essay On One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

454 Words2 Pages

In novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, by Ken Kesey, a leader organizes a group of mental patients and rebels against the figurehead of the broken institutional system of the mental hospital. McMurphy pushes The institutions rules of order, bringing out the evil in the situation. Bromden, due to his bias narration, misconstrues Nurse Ratched as the antagonist where, in truth, she falsifies this by trying to maintain order and by ultimately seeking the best for her patients. Kesey chooses Bromden as the narrator, by doing this, he introduces an element of skepticism for the audience as Brombden opposes the institution. He only associates negative things to the institution because of what they did to him. They stripped him of his past life, …show more content…

Her strict rules, though a reflection of the broken institution’s methods, serve to maintain order in the most efficient way possible as she believes “its best to stick to our daily routine” (Kesey 92). She acts in an extreme fashion for two reasons, because she must follow the policy of the institution and because she works with patients who possess mental illnesses and have an unpredictable nature. She continues to justify her means of order by saying, “Please understand: We do not impose certain rules and restrictions on you without a great deal of thought about their therapeutic value,” later elaborating that “it is entirely for your own good that we enforce discipline and order” (Kesey 155). She uses her care for her patients as the main justification of her methods of treatment, showing that she puts their improvement above all other concerns. By wishing the ultimate best for her patients, She shows that she does not wish to harm them or degrade them directly like an antagonist would. Bromden’s bias perspective, and Nurse Ratched’s caring intent prove that Kesey did not make her the antagonist of the story. Broaden turns to McMurphy for help and he brings more chaos than Nurse Ratched ever intended to endure. The nurse left after seeing her lack of control and order of the

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