Asylums are known to help people get better…or so we thought. In the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, by Ken Kesey we learn the other side of asylums. In the novel we get to learn the overpowering and damaging effect asylums have on patients. The first asylum, specifically for mentally ill people, was created in 1814. They were created because it was believed that institutionalizing mentally ill people was the correct form of treatment. As the amount of asylums increased, more people needed to be institutionalized there. There were many treatments used to “cure” patients. For example, lobotomy was one of the most common treatments. A lobotomy involves dividing the nerve connections between the frontal lobe and other regions of the brain …show more content…
He was moved from a prison to a mental institution to get evaluated for his erratic behavior. He shocks the patients when he enters the asylum because of his confidence and loud laughter. He soon realizes that the head nurse, Nurse Ratched, has a very strict schedule. The narrator distinctly states, “During the meeting a few days before he asks if it wouldn’t be okay if they did the cleaning work at night, during TV time, and watched the games during the afternoon. The nurse tells him no, which is about what he expected” (Kesey 118). McMurphy thought that he could change the asylum's schedule to watch the ball game. During his time at the asylum he learns that his wants and desires don’t come first. McMahan acknowledges in her essay, “A ratchet is a mechanism that engages the teeth of a wheel permitting motion in one direction only.” Nurse Ratched sticks to her schedule and never goes out of line. Patients are punished if attempted to change the way the ward is …show more content…
He then gets aggravated and has a frenzy, he says “The hell with the schedule. You can get back to the bloody schedule next week, when the Series is over. What do you say, buddies? Let’s take a vote on watching the TV during the afternoon instead of at night. All those in favor?”(Kesey 118). Although he attempts to get the other patients to turn on Nurse Ratched, she still overpowers him. McMurphy refuses to follow the asylum's strict rules which causes tension between him and Nurse Ratched. Robert C. Evans alludes to this in his essay and states, “He also loves to gamble, and, partly to win a bet, he immediately begins to antagonize Nurse Ratched, also known as "the Big Nurse" among the men. Using a combination of humor and insolence, McMurphy continuously defies Ratched in ways both large and small, often making her lose both her temper and her composure.” His personality makes it hard for him to let Nurse Ratched get her way. In the ward, most patients aren’t like McMurphy; he's loud, bold, and has no filter. Other Patients are scared of Nurse Ratched, while he refuses to obey
At the end of the book, after McMurphy has been lobotomized, the acutes in the ward decide that they will no longer be subdued to the cruelty of Nurse Ratched. As Chief says, “Sefelt and Fredrickson signed out together Against Medical Advice, and two days later another three Acutes left, and six more transferred to another ward” (246). Although McMurphy is no longer able to fight the Big Nurse, he has left a lasting impact that motivates the other patients to escape the system. McMurphy inspires change in the ward by showing the acutes that Nurse Ratched is less powerful than they believe, and that they have
He surely became the bull goose loony, as he made a bet that he could bother Nurse Ratched without getting into any real trouble. McMurphy’s antics gave the patients not only a good laugh, but some hope. McMurphy began to really care about the patients, and began to question Ratched in larger
The nurse’s claims are stated when she says, “I’ll admit that my first thought when I began to recognize Mr. McMurphy for the disturbing force that he is was that he should most definitely be sent up to Disturbed.” Until, she contradicts this statement when she adds “We have weeks, or months, or even years if need be. Keep in mind that Mr. McMurphy is committed. The length of time he spends in this hospital is entirely up to us.” Seeing that he is trapped, McMurphy is anxious and struggles to remain calm, cool, and collected with the idea that the nurse may punish him severely with either option she has
Nurse Ratched uses him as an example of “what will happen if someone challenges me”. Chief smothers McMurphy because he refuses to let his friend be an example of Nurse Ratched’s conformity
However, then something happens - Randle McMurphy comes into his life. McMurphy is a very cool guy that does not care for rules. He is not scared of Nurse Ratched and comments on how terrified the men appear when he says “I’ve never seen a scareder-looking bunch in my life than you guys” (70). McMurphy is clearly sane when he arrives at the hospital and is simply trying to avoid another sentence at Pendleton Work Farm. He is free, confident, and determined.
At times, the characters deemed “insane” in the novel appear saner than the “sane” characters who govern the ward. Kesey achieves this effect through the characterization of Randle McMurphy, a loud, clever, and untraditional ward patient. He stirs up the ward as he rebels against the trivial rules enforced by Nurse Ratched (the head of the ward). Similar to McMurphy’s presence in the mental ward, Tesla Motors has stirred up
The hospital often subjects the patients to therapeutic meetings with a qualified doctor, and such meetings are goal-based, focusing on the rehabilitation of a specific patient. However, when McMurphy arrives, he notices how flawed these meetings are, and continually desires to change them. In doing so, he makes greater enemies with Nurse Ratched although the other patients support his every action. He interrupts the meetings with relentless and unnecessary questions and individually attempts to stop the institution from imposing itself on those within the ward. Nurse Ratched tries to get the meetings back on track, but McMurphy forces them in a different direction every time— sometimes just to get a laugh out of his fellow patients.
“I don’t think you fully understand the public my friend; in this country, when something is out of order, then the quickest way to get it fixed is the best way” (Kessey, 2,). All of the men in the ward are there because they were considered to have something wrong with them. Their inability to conform is considered insane, thus they are sent to the asylum. Because the men in the asylum were different, in their society they are looked down upon. “I indulged in certain practices that our society regards as shameful” (Kessey ).
Along with the isolation and neglect of individuals experiencing mental illness, the use of harsh medicines and torturous inhumane methods were present in the 1900s. One of these methods was shock therapy, “insulin shock therapy injected high levels of insulin into patients to cause convulsions and a coma,” (Fabian and Catchings). It was believed that once the patient were revived from this induced coma they would be cured of their “madness” (Fabian and Catchings). In the institutions, which were created with the intent to assist the mentally ill were instead torturing the patients psychologically, often causing more paranoia and insanity. Another treatment used in asylums were lobotomies.
Nurse Ratched’s strongest power is refusal to fancy McMurphy, who has claimed to be the archetypal ‘ladies man’. This makes Nurse Ratched an out of the ordinary nurse or
The patients dont question his violence with Nurse Ratched because no one has ever standed up to her. Nurse ratched is the reason they dont have confidence in themselves. As McMurphy stays longer, the other patients become more aware as to what is happening. Before McMurphy came in the ward the men believed everything that was done to them was for their own good Nurse Ratched was able to manipulate the men and had full power to boss them around. After McMurphy came he was able to show them that Nurse Ratched uses their weakness against them and was just a manipulator.
One normal day everything was going how it was supposed to, the ward was following the schedule, just like Nurse Ratched liked it. The patients were following her rules and did everything she said. But that day R.P. McMurphy was introduced into the ward. He was in there because he committed a crime and said that he was insane, so he got put in there for evaluation. In the movie "One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest" two characters, Randall McMurphy and Nurse Ratched, had this sort of competition going on to gain the allegiance of the patients.
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
His rebellious and free mind makes the patients open their eyes and see how the have been suppressed. His appearance is a breath of fresh air and a look into the outside world for the patients. This clearly weakens Nurse Ratched’s powers, and she sees him as a large threat. One way or another, McMurphy tends to instigate changes of scenery. He manages to move everyone away from her music and watchful eye into the old tube room.
Even of the patients are mentally disable and some cant express clearly, they still manage to form a strong social bond with the regular people. During the 1970’s President Kennedy passed a health reform act in which psychiatry was reevaluated, and insane asylums were shutting down. The given number 160,000 was lowest at the time as more asylums designed to isolate patients were converting to a therapeutic haling centers