One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Research Paper
Regan Kelley
Mr. Irby
English 3
17 May 2023
Morality in Literature
The definition of morality is the separation of right and wrong to a person or society. Each person and society have their own set of rules that they follow regarding morality. However, some of these rules have become universal. For example, murder is wrong or the golden rule treat people how you want to be treated should be applied to everyone. Although Ken Kesey portrays adequate imagery, similes, and characterization in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s nest it does not make up for the offensive language, generalization, and sexual situations in the book that go against those universal moral rules. That is why the novel should be banned from the school curriculum.
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The books narrator is Chief Bromden who is a Patient there who has been there for many years. He is an interesting narrator because he pretends to be deaf so all the other patients feel like they can say anything around him which gives him access to lots of information. The hospital is run by Nurse Rachet who, at least in the point of view of Bromden, is a dictator type and rules with an iron fist. Then the main character comes in McMurphy who a child rapist is who went to the mental hospital instead of jail. He gets the hospital to change and bend to his will through his charisma and unwillingness to give up. One change he made is getting nurse rachet to allow some of the patients to go on a fishing trip where they drink and have prostitutes. This eventually causes McMurphy to get lobotomized and then killed by the narrator Chief …show more content…
Many people think that Ken Kesey provides great characterization throughout the book. However, the characterization is very demeaning and is not positive growth for the character. The first example is Billy Bibbit and his character growth throughout the whole book Nurse Rachet makes a point of scaring and controlling Billy because he has a deep seeded fear of his mother and all women. This is solved in Ken Kesey’s book by supposedly making a man out of him and convincing him to sleep with a prostitute. Once he caught with the prostitute, he still gets scared of Nurse Rachet and does not just accept what he did and blames it on Mcmurphy, so the character development is being no less scared of women just paying to sleep with one and then getting the rest of the people in the hospital in trouble for his mistake. Not only does he not change he makes horrible acts in the process. This is just part of the book that makes it unfit to be taught in a school. Some school districts have already banned it like Belluve district who banned it for not being decent for school (Sutherland). The next example of the so-called characterization is the fog that chief Bromden specifically talks about. He describes it as a safe place for him and all the other patients when it’s just an addiction. “It is possible to become "addicted" to positive behavior” (APA PsychNet). At first the medicine is a positive behavior and is
Is Mcmurphy Role In One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest
1240 Words | 5 PagesRandle P. McMurphy represents freedom, life, joy, and hope to the patients in Big Nurse's ward. He comes from the Outside, loud, seemingly perfectly sane, and wreaks havoc on the orderly world imposed on the patients. As Kesey’s novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest progresses, McMurphy displays the power of the individual against a repressive establishment. He brings many of the patients in the ward that were self-admitted to the hospital full swing, showing them what life can be like outside of the ward. Chief Bromden, Harding, and even Billy Bibbit end the novel as completely changed men.
Figurative Language In One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest
1066 Words | 5 PagesKeister down and feet up in one’s favorite recliner, one delves into this novel and discovers that it is a captivating read. One should also realize that beneath the surface narrative, Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest contains more nuanced meaning, and that such meaning is better appreciated in light of Thomas Aquinas’s thoughts on Scriptural subtext. According to Aquinas, one may use language to communicate truth and wisdom while also being somewhat duplicitous
One Who Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Should Be Banned Essay
1119 Words | 5 PagesBanned Book Argument Essay on One Who Flew Over the Cuckoo ’s Nest Ken Kesey’s novel, One Who Flew Over the Cukoo’s Nest, has been challenged by people who believe it to be to mature for high school students, however, it can help seniors to understand the flaws in some psychiatric hospitals and understand the type of people all while improving their reading skills.
Impact Of Mcmurphy In One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest
1870 Words | 8 PagesMcMurphy’s Impact on the Ward After two patients commit suicide shortly after McMurphy’s arrival, one may question, did McMurphy have an overall positive impact on the ward? The psychological drama, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, by Ken Kesey is told through the point of view of patient Chief Bromden, a schizophrenic man who has been in the ward for over ten years. Nurse Ratched, the head nurse of the ward, abuses her power by utilizing several therapy techniques which are debilitating to the patients. However, her power is challenged when new patient Randle McMurphy arrives on the ward. McMurphy is loud, talkative, and confident, a direct contrast to the rest of the patients.
Needs In 'One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest'
693 Words | 3 PagesMany of the men in the ward suffer from low self-esteem and self-respect. The orderlies constantly breakdown the patients and demote their individualty through many different ways. Nurse Ratched taking advantage of their vulnerability “‘you men in this hospital’ she would say like she was repeating it for the hundreth time, ‘because of your proven inability to adjust to society’”(Kesey 167) Nurse Ratched repeatedly destructs the patients on the ward and manipulates them to belive they are incapable of ever being able to function as a part of society. This displays the amount of control the orderlies have on the patients and the amount they take advantage of that, as well. This example ties into the self-doubt and uncertainty the men in the book have in
Censorship In One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest
1791 Words | 8 Pages“While the ward remains orderly and on schedule beneath the tyranny of Nurse Ratchet, the men are subdued and drugged beyond any human recognition. The patients are distinguished as either Acute or Chronic, depending on their severity, but within the ward at the very beginning of the novel, they are essentially equal in their actions and humanity” (Maupin-Thomas). This shows that Nurse Rachet is a dictator. The significance of this is in the 1950’s and 60’s is when the cold war was ramping back up. So, this book is a form of anti-Soviet Union propaganda, connecting tyrannical rule of the Soviet Union to nurse rachet.
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Character Analysis
993 Words | 4 PagesKesey has used characterisation to get the idea that in this novel there are aspects of venerability and strength. In Nurse Ratched’s case, Kesey has made it so that she is shown with strength and power over the whole ward, including the black men in white, other nurses, and mainly the patients. An example of Nurse Ratched’s power over the patients is when she says to Billy Bibbit, “What worries me, Billy, ' she said- I could hear the change in her voice- 'is how your mother is going to take this.” This shows how one sentence was able to debilitate Billy into begging Nurse for forgiveness and restraint of telling his mother.
Gender Inequality In One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest
999 Words | 4 PagesKen Kesey’s comic novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, takes place in an all-male psychiatric ward. The head of the ward, Big Nurse Ratched, is female. Kesey explores the power-struggle that takes place when the characters challenge gender dynamics in this environment. One newly-arrived patient, McMurphy, leads the men against the Big Nurse. The story is told through the eyes of Chief Bromden, a patient who learns from McMurphy and fights for his freedom.
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Insanity Essay
755 Words | 4 PagesOne 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.
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Should Be Banned Essay
1669 Words | 7 PagesLiterature, 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
One Who Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Analysis
1144 Words | 5 PagesAdditionally, his ability to have full awareness triggers the newfound sense of confidence in himself that he uses to finally escape from the ward. One night when Bromden is lying awake in the ward, he describes, “I was seeing lots of things different. I figured the fog machine had broke down in the walls when they turned it up too high for that meeting on Friday... For the first time in years I was seeing people with none of that black outline they used to have, and one night I was even able to see out the window” (Kesey 162).
Thesis For One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest
1071 Words | 5 PagesOne Flew Over Society’s Utopia In 1962, Ken Kesey shook Americans across the nation with his book One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest illustrates controversial topics in society as triumphant and was therefore under scrutiny since its publication. The novel expresses material, such as nonconformity, rebellion, freedom of the mind, and the hardships of having a mental illness. It also challenges many levels of reality and social norms, such as glorifying corrupt juveniles, criminal activity, and depicting images of obscenity, all which landed the novel a spot on the banned books list.
Literary Analysis of 'One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest'
1389 Words | 6 PagesMoral Lense Literary Analysis of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest 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. First of all, it is unjust for people who are deemed unalike from others in society to be forced into the preset way of conduct because human tend to have dissimilar nature.
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Analysis Essay
1288 Words | 6 Pages“One flew over the Cuckoo’s nest” is a film directed by Miloš Forman, based on the novel by Ken Kesey. The Film was released in 1975. It is the story of a convicted man, trying to outsmart the American legal system by playing mentally ill. The film starts at the beginning when the main character, Randle McMurphy, enters the mental institution. It won 6 Golden Globes as well as 5 Oscars and many other nominations.
Psychological Issues In One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest
1010 Words | 5 PagesAt the end, the protagonist is surgically operated to make him mentally deranged. The nurse and the department were certain that McMurphy was faking insanity, but they agreed that he was dangerous. The nurse, in spite of discharging him, kept him on the premises to undo the wave of excitement he brought to the asylum
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