Ignorance In 'One Flew Over The Cuckoo's'

Ken Kesey’s book titled “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” encapsulates the theme of insanity. The book questions not only the reader, but humanity on “What is insanity?” and therefore “What makes a person insane?”. An example of these moral questions is best displayed in the quote “Tell me why. You gripe, you bitch for weeks on end about how you can’t stand this place, can’t stand the nurse or anything about her, and all the time you ain’t committed. I can understand it with some of those old guys on the ward. They’re nuts. But you, you’re not exactly the everyday man on the street, but you’re not nuts.” [McMurphy pg.195]. Throughout the book, we, as the reader, can see that there is a fine line between normality and insanity. In fact, the

perspective on society is illuminated through Nurse Ratched’s tyrannical ward which has been influenced by the time, place and the culture of 1960s American Society.

"'What worries me, Billy,' she said - I could hear the change in her voice - 'is how your poor mother is going to take

In the short story Norma by Sonia Sanchez, Sonia is in middle school. She does not have a very good math teacher, Mr. Castor, who does not really help his students. Sonia loves french class, but one day Norma snapped at the teacher and left the room. Sonia kind of look up to Norma, so after she did not like french, Sonia started to dislike french class. Which is sad because that was one of Norma’s favorite classes. They have now started high school and and Sonia does not really pay much attention to Norma, until one day in the cafeteria and everyone was talking about how Norma got pregnant and expelled. Years have gone by and Sonia sees Norma for the first time since freshman year. She has four kids, but is also doing drugs.They catch up

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, by Ken Kesey, considers the qualities in which society determines sanity. The label of insanity is given when someone is different from the perceived norm. Conversely, a person is perceived as sane when their behavior is consistent with the beliefs of the majority. Although the characters of this novel are patients of a mental institution, they all show qualities of sanity. The book is narrated by Chief Brodmen, an observant chronic psychiatric patient, who many believe to be deaf and dumb. The question of sanity becomes apparent when McMurphy, a confident gambler, who might have faked psychosis in order to get out of the work farm, is assigned to the mental hospital. He quickly stirs up tension in the ward for Nurse Ratched by encouraging the men to have fun and rebel against her rules.

The 1950s, the context of which One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, a novel by Ken Kesey, was written, was called the Era of Conformity. During this time, the American social atmosphere was quiet conformed, in that everyone was expected to follow the same, fixed format of behavior in society, and the ones who stand out of being not the same would likely be “beaten down” by the social norms. In the novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Kesey argues that it is immoral for society to simply push its beliefs onto the people who are deemed different, as it is unfair and could lead to destructive results.

In the film Sunset Boulevard many characters struggled with wishes, lies and dreams of fame and fortune. The film states the corruption in Hollywood and that people will do anything to get ahead. With hope and delusion each character tries to gain happiness, while only being self-destructive and isolating themselves. The characters ultimately deny their problems and confuse those around them.

Weather in literature is often used to symbolize the mood or mental state in which a character experiences. For example, rain is commonly associated with sadness. As it is commonly identified, fog is a cloudy element of weather that affects one’s ability to see clearly, however, it is also used in literature to represent a character’s lack of clarity. Throughout One Who Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey, the motif of fog is used to represent the mental instability and confusion Bromden experiences under Nurse Ratched’s ward. As the story progresses and Bromden gains confidence, the fog diminishes and he is able to overcome the Big Nurse.

Ken Kesey uses his novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, to describe the lives of patients in a mental institution, and their struggle to overcome the oppressive authority under which they are living. Told from the point of view of a supposedly mute schizophrenic, the novel also shines a light on the many disorders present in the patients, as well as how their illnesses affect their lives during a time when little known about these disorders, and when patients living with these illnesses were seen as an extreme threat. Chief Bromden, the narrator of the novel, has many mental illnesses, but he learns to accept himself and embrace his differences. Through the heroism introduced through Randle McMurphy, Chief becomes confident in himself, and is ultimately able to escape from the toxic environment Nurse Ratched has created on the ward. Chief has many disorders including schizophrenia, paranoia, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder, and, in addition to these illnesses, he pretends to be deaf and dumb. This combination of many mind and life altering diagnoses leads to an interesting point of view, and a deeper look into the lives of people living with the

In her teenage years at George Washington High School, Sonia describes herself as a shy, unobtrusive girl who always keep her head down. With many climactic experiences, the short story “Norma” by Sonia Sanchez describes the author’s own teenage life as a student who works and studies hard.

“Enlighten my ignorance.” This request is sometimes used by a person who is lacking information. In Cry, the Beloved Country, the author Alan Paton describes many situations that show the problems that arise because of unjust conditions in the country of South Africa. One of the major problems is ignorance. Some people are lacking formal educations, some are lacking an understanding of other cultures, and some are lacking understanding of members of their own family. One of the main characters is James Jarvis whose son Arthur has been murdered. After the death of his son, James comes to understand that while he is an educated businessman, he is ignorant in several ways. James Jarvis is an example of the change that can happen when one man realizes he is ignorant of his son’s motivation, of his neighbor’s needs, and of what he can do to make a difference.

In the haunting short story entitled “Norma” written by author Sonia Sanchez, Sonia draws the story to a powerful end by vowing “never to agree again”. At a cursory glance, it appears that she is vowing never to meet Norma again. However, a deeper examination reveals that she makes this promise in order to affirm that she will never again agree to the rigged system that transformed an intelligent and promising young woman into a drug-addled mother of four.

The short story, “Button, Button,” by Richard Matheson, is focused around a married couple facing a difficult decision. The couple is given a button delivered by a mysterious man, Mr. Steward, and if they press the button, somewhere, someone they don 't know dies and they receive a payment of $50,000 dollars. For my adaptation of “Button, Button”, I did scene six, an important scene in the short story as Norma pushes the button, and is later informed that Arthur died. She soon realizes his life-insurance policy is $25,000 with double indemnity. I stayed faithful to characterization and departed from the tone of the short story.

The industrial revolution woke up the sense of humanity in people, yet at the same time It turned it off. To begin with, from the year 1819 through 1901, Great Britain was beginning to face an all new era called the Victorian Era. In fact, this era was named like that, because of queen Victoria. Also, this era was very important because it introduced medical advances, scientific knowledge, and technological knowledge that helped increase work efficiency. However, not all the things that occurred were great. One of the things that were very outrageous, were the working conditions of the employees. As a matter of fact, there were writers, like Charles Dickens with “A Christmas Carol”, Benjamin Disraeli with “Sybil”, and Elizabeth Gaskell with

The preconceived ideas within social classes and races predetermines what people think of others. After reading the story we can draw the conclusion about the dateable young girls and advises the reader to take advantage of the limited knowledge of the girls leading to sexual relations. Although to cover the authors tracks at the end of the publication, Diaz begins to use an educative tone to issue a warning that his advice may not always work and to not follow the rules