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One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Analysis

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The movie “One flew over the cuckoo’s nest” gives an inside look into the life of a patient living in a mental institution; helping to give a new definition of mental illnesses. From a medical standpoint, determinants of mental illness are considered to be internal; physically and in the mind, while they are seen as external; in the environment or the person’s social situation, from a sociological perspective (Stockton, 2014). Additionally, the movie also explores the idea of power relations that exist between an authorized person (Nurse Ratched) and a patient and further looks into the punishment a deviant actor receives (ie. McMurphy contesting Nurse Ratched). One of the sociological themes that I have observed is conformity. Having conformed to the authoritarian rule of the mental institution, patients were forced to give up their rights and freedom. In addition, there were a few instances where social environment was shown to play a role in how mental illness is defined. This can be seen during a scene of the group sessions, where McMurphy gave a suggestion for the group to take a field trip to the opening of the World Series. Although it took a few sessions and much effort for the majority of the patients to agree but the suggestion was still rejected. Frustrated with Nurse Ratched’s actions of turning the classical musical record on instead of listening to his demands, McMurphy faces the television and begins to imagine that he is watching the World Series as if he

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