Premium Essay

The One Who Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Analysis

Submitted By
Words 611
Pages 3
The proposal of light vs dark has been around since the dawn of time, capturing our subconscious in a continuous game of catch .22. Stories dating back to Cain and Abel illustrates a true personification of evil itself and how far men are willing to go for control. In the story “The One Who Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest” the constant theme of good vs evil is reminded throughout the story. Whether it be nurse Ratchet vs all who will oppose her authority or questioning if the punishment is justifiable. In the story nurse Ratchet (the antagonist) is epitomized as an evil tyrant, wanting every muscle movement to proceed in the manner that she wants you to do. "So [Nurse Ratched] really lets herself go and her painted smile twists, stretches to an …show more content…
Which in effect benefits the other patients’ ego and confidence within themselves. He encourages the men on the ward to laugh, learn, and stand up for each other. Not only does Mcmurphy encourage these men to learn but he shows them respect in all regards to bring back their sanity. The savior of this story responds to these patients as if they are normal people. "While McMurphy laughs. Rocking farther and farther backward against the cabin top, spreading his laugh out across the water- laughing at the girl, at the guys”. Chapter 25, pp. 211-12. Mcmurphy proposes to have a fishing trip to expand their knowledge far beyond the concrete walls of the physic ward. To have the patients explore and view the beauty of the world as it is rather than staying at the hospital and staring at a wall all day. Because he knows you have to just keep yourself in balance, just to keep the world from running you plumb crazy Bromden’s observation about McMurphy on the fishing trip. ” (p. 237). One day Nurse Ratched orders for the patients to be purified. In which the men must line up nude against the tile of the shower room to be cleaned by The Aids. The boys begins tormenting George because he refuses soap and then refuses to bend over but McMurphy defends George. (His

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

One Who Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest: An Analysis

...The majority of individuals in society are often deceived by fallacious beliefs on those suffering with a psychological illness. The novel, One Who Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, written by Ken Kesey, educates readers on the prominence of proper education on mental health, as well as, the severity of the treacherous treatments directed towards the predominantly oppressed group. The renowned tale is narrated by Chief Bromden, who is described as a “deaf and dumb” Native- American, inhabiting the Oregon Psychiatric Institution. Conversely, the protagonist of the novel, Randel McMurphy, is introduced as a polar opposite to the majority of the ward’s patients. McMurphy, distinguished as an American of Irish decent, proclaims to be a well-known gambler,...

Words: 353 - Pages: 2

Free Essay

One Flew over the Cuckoos Nest

...2130 14 April 2013 Film adaptation of the American novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest novel was written by Ken Kesey in 1962. The film adaptation version was directed by Czech Milos Forman in 1975. My goal in this paper is not only to compare the film adaptation to the Novel but to also explain what I think the symbols represent, critic’s analysis, themes presented in this film, and the significance of the Novel. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest film’s setting begins with a police car driving down the road to people sleeping in bunk beds, ending with a glimpse of a drawing taped to the wall with a crazy face centered in it. A nurse enters a locked down facility, while another prepares medicine for the patients. The police car arrives at the facility with a prisoner in handcuffs that is released to the hospital staff. The characters in this film are as follows: Randall P. McMurphy played by Jack Nicholson, a rebellious convict with a loud mouth and a set of sexual playing cards. He’s courageous and challenges the staff/system of the mental hospital. Nurse Ratched played by Louise Fletcher is a calm, cold, well mannered, and soft spoken head nurse of the mental hospital that plays McMurphy’s enemy. Chief Bromdon played by Will Sampson is a big and tall Indian who is described as “deaf and dumb” (according to the character Billy). Billy Bibbit played by Brad Dourif is a young ‘momma’s boy’ who stutters and is a coward with suicidal tendencies. Harding...

Words: 1717 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

...One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Literary analysis How could the text be read and interpreted differently by two different readers? One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest is a book that deals with the struggles of mental illness and conformity. Randle Patrick McMurphy also known as McMurphy has just been out into a hospital for the mentally ill, where he intends to take over and make the head nurse, Nurse Ratched crack under pressure from his shenanigans and wild antics. Next is Chief, Chief has been at the hospital the longest, the story his told through his eyes and schizophrenic thoughts. Though Chief is in the story he can be unreliable because of the schizophrenia and possible ptsd from being in world war two causing hallucinations throughout...

Words: 814 - Pages: 4

Free Essay

Theme Analysis - One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest

...Ms. Latasha Keith HUMN401-1305B-01: Literature and Film Professor Bonnie Ronson January 19, 2014 Unit 2 Individual Project – Canonical Classics of Literature Section 1- Introduction Ken Kesey’s novel “One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest” is set at an Oregon asylum in the 1950s (NovelGuide.com). The book is a study in the institutional process of the human mind, a critique of Behaviorism and a celebration of humanistic principles while exploring themes of individuality and rebellion against socially imposed repression (NovelGuide.com; SparkNotes.com; CliffsNotes.com). These themes and ideas were the topic of discussion during the publication of this novel because the world was introduced to communism and totalitarian regimes. The novel was published in 1962 and received with immediate success (SparkNotes.com). Section 2 – Biographical Information La Junta, Colorado is the birthplace of novelist Ken Kesey. He was born in 1935 and grew up on a small farm in Oregon and Colorado with his family. He married his high school sweetheart in 1956 and they had three children together (Lone Star College). He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Oregon where he participated in wrestling and theater in 1957 (Lone Star College; SparkNotes.com). In 1959, Kesey enrolled in a creative writing program at Stanford University, the same year where he began volunteering with the Stanford Psychology Department (CliffsNotes.com; Lone Star College). The Stanford Psychology...

Words: 2726 - Pages: 11

Premium Essay

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest: An Analysis

...Kesey had close affiliations with the counterculture that dominated the decade. In its own way One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is the twentieth-century Romantic manifesto, a ululation for the death of the individual before this rebellion went out of style and individualism along with it. This book verbalized what many where thinking: that the truly crazy in the world were the ones who wanted power while the truly sane were the ones who sought to be individuals and rebelled against authority. Because of this pronounced effect on society the book was a major contributor to the backlash against the entire psychiatric system in the early 1960s. As a result, state institutions began reducing their resident numbers and granting admitted patients more rights within the institutions. In addition to this change in the system, the book also pushed the development of more effective anti-psychotic drugs, thus allowing more patients to be treated within their own homes and live normal lives. Yet for many health professionals the book also had a profound negative effect, consequently changing the overall...

Words: 1091 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Character Analysis Essay

...The protagonist is usually the main character, the one that tells the story from memory, but in some instances, like in Ken Kesey's One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, the main character is simply the narrator. Bromden is sometimes hard to understand,“Chief Bromden narrates, however, in ways that continually confuse the reader until he comes to appreciate how the logic of storytelling characteristic of a native point of view can manipulate different modes of discourse” The real protagonist was Randle McMurphy. Throughout the story, Chief Bromden describes the ward to the reader, but this only classifies him as the narrator. Randle McMurphy, a main character that came to the ward after pleading insanity, teaches the men how to find themselves. He shows them that they aren’t crazy and they could leave the ward when they were all ready, another lesson McMurphy taught the men. Nurse Ratched, an evil women that intimidates and mistreats the men, runs...

Words: 1193 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Critical Analysis of One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey.

...Critical analysis of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey. In the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Ken Kesey invites his reader into the world of the mental hospital, where everything and everyone is under strict dictatorship of Nurse Ratched. She is the one who decides medications, routine, and the destiny of her patients. She uses all of her power to keep them in fear, so they stay under her full control and obey her rules. Everything runs smoothly on her strict routine, until Randle McMurphy comes into the ward. This free-will rebel starts to question the authority of Nurse Ratched and constantly upsets the routines, which leads to a power struggle between the two of them; a power struggle that becomes a battle between wills, a battle between man and woman, between freedom and control. All the way through the story, McMurphy tries to restore the patient‘s masculinity; he shows them how to live the lives that they are too afraid to live; he attempts to teach them how to laugh, to be brave and, most important, to be free. Although, the power struggle with Nurse Ratched does not finish well for McMurphy-- a lobotomy takes away his freedom and, ultimately, his life--in the battle of wills, he is the conqueror. His free-will changes patients from “rabbits” into men(64). His strong nature teaches them how to stand up for themselves, how to find what they believe in and fight for it. Essentially, he teaches them how to be free men. McMurphy sacrificed himself to...

Words: 1110 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Psychology

...Ken Kesey's, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a work of literature containing the theme of freedom and mental instability in a setting that restricted one's true self expression to evolve, as many of the main characters learn to face society and its norms. Randle McMurphy, is introduced to an insane asylum where Chief is the longest-residing patient. McMurphy is larger than life, intelligent, and observant. He stirs up the ward immediately by introducing friendly competition, gambling, and as well as encouraging the men to rebel against the petty rules created and enforced by Nurse Ratched. Slowly, McMurphy undermines Nurse Ratched’s system of control while remaining Mr. Nice Guy but nurse Ratched knows a little more than anyone. What...

Words: 1335 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Film Analysis: The Compelling Scent Of A Woman

...(IMDb, 1993). Martin Brest both directed and produced this film. Brest is also credited for directing Beverly Hills Cop, Midnight Run, and Gigli (IMDb, 1990). Bo Goldman wrote the screenplay for Scent of a Woman. He also created the screenplays for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, The Rose and Shoot for the Moon (IMDb,1990) (IMDb, 1990). Donald E. Thorin was the cinematographer for the film. Along with this film, he also shot for An Officer and a Gentleman, Bad Boys, and Purple Rain (IMDb, 1990). William Steinkamp and Michael Tronick teamed up to edit this film. The principal...

Words: 2007 - Pages: 9

Free Essay

Mrs. Beeton

...Foucault and the New Historicism Author(s): Geoffrey Galt Harpham Source: American Literary History, Vol. 3, No. 2 (Summer, 1991), pp. 360-375 Published by: Oxford University Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/490057 . Accessed: 18/10/2011 05:25 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org. Oxford University Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to American Literary History. http://www.jstor.org the Foucault and New Historicism GeoffreyGait Harpham "People are always shouting they want to create a better future,"Milan Kundera writes in The Book of Laughterand Forgetting."It's not true. The futureis an apatheticvoid of no interestto anyone. The past is full of life, eager to irritateus, provoke and insult us, tempt us to destroy or repaint it. The AfterFoucault: HumanisticKnowledge, only reasonpeople want to be mastersof the futureis to change PostmodernChallenges the past"(22). Not only is the historicalrecordlargelyan archive Edited by Jonathan of domination and rebellion...

Words: 5701 - Pages: 23

Free Essay

Ghhg

...Дневник читателя READER’S JOURNAL Ernest Hemingway. The Old Man and the Sea (1952). Joseph Heller. Catch-22 (1961). Tennessee Williams. A Streetcar Named Desire (1959). Iris Murdoch. The Black Prince (1973). Jerome David Salinger. The Catcher in the Rye (1951). Michael Ondaatje. The English Patient (1992). Ray Bradbury. Fahrenheit 451 (1953). Ken Kesey. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1962). Edward Albee. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1962). Arthur Miller. Death of a Salesman (1949). ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- Ernest Hemingway. The Old Man and the Sea (1952). ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- FULL TITLE · The Old Man and the Sea ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- AUTHOR · Ernest Hemingway ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- TYPE OF WORK · Novella ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- GENRE · Parable; tragedy ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- LANGUAGE · English ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- TIME AND PLACE WRITTEN · 1951, Cuba ------------------------------------------------- ...

Words: 43588 - Pages: 175

Premium Essay

Psy 1010

...PRINCE GEORGE'S COMMUNITY COLLEGE Welcome to Psychology 1010 Fall 2015 (Tu/Th, ________ – ______ p.m. / Marlboro Hall – Rm. #1104) (August 25 – December 3) INSTRUCTOR: Dr. Janet E. Barber Psychological & Sociological Sciences and Human Svcs. OFFICE/HOURS: Marlboro Hall –M1104/2057 (Tu/Th, 3:25p - 4:25p) The best way to contact the professor is by email. By appointment: Online Office hours via Bb IM: Thursdays 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm PHONE NUMBERS: Professor: (301) 322-0900 x 4143 Social Sciences Office/Phone No.: Marlboro Hall #2054 (301) 546-0525 EMAIL ADDRESS: BarberAJ@pgcc.edu (24 hour response time) The best way to contact the professor is by email. Note: All credit students (with the exception of Howard Community College students enrolled at Laurel College Center) are required to use Owl Mail for all college communication. Students, please be sure to place PSY1010-LD14, 16 or 17 in the subject line so that your email will not be overlooked, confused with another class section, or mistakenly deleted. Thank you. Monday – Friday your emails and phone messages will be returned within 24 hours. Your weekend...

Words: 5920 - Pages: 24

Free Essay

8. Successful Leaders Have a Clear Sense of Purpose. What Is Your Statement of Purpose

...RICHARD DAWKINS-The Selfish Gene. Ebook v1.0. 'Who should read this book? Everyone interested in the universe and their place in it.' Jeffrey R. Baylis, Animal Behaviour Our genes made us. We animals exist for their preservation and are nothing more than their throwaway survival machines. The world of the selfish gene is one of savage competition, ruthless exploitation, and deceit. But what of the acts of apparent altruism found in nature-the bees who commit suicide when they sting to protect the hive, or the birds who risk their lives to warn the flock of an approaching hawk? Do they contravene the fundamental law of gene selfishness? By no means: Dawkins shows that the selfish gene is also the subtle gene. And he holds out the hope that our species-alone on earth-has the power to rebel against the designs of the selfish gene. This book is a call to arms. It is both manual and manifesto, and it grips like a thriller. The Selfish Gene, Richard Dawkins's brilliant first book and still his most famous, is an international bestseller in thirteen languages. For this new edition there are two major new chapters. 'learned, witty, and very well written...exhilaratingly good.' Sir Peter Medawar, Spectator Richard Dawkins is a Lecturer in Zoology at Oxford University and a Fellow of Mew College, and the author of The Blind Watchmaker. Preface to 1976 edition This book should be read almost as though it were science fiction. It is designed to appeal to the imagination. But it is not science...

Words: 118698 - Pages: 475

Premium Essay

Myths

...Contents Preface Acknowledgments Introduction 1 BRAIN POWER Myth #1 Most People Use Only 10% of Their Brain Power Myth #2 Some People Are Left-Brained, Others Are Right-Brained Myth #3 Extrasensory Perception (ESP) Is a Well-Established Scientific Phenomenon Myth #4 Visual Perceptions Are Accompanied by Tiny Emissions from the Eyes Myth #5 Subliminal Messages Can Persuade People to Purchase Products 2 FROM WOMB TO TOMB Myth #6 Playing Mozart’s Music to Infants Boosts Their Intelligence Myth #7 Adolescence Is Inevitably a Time of Psychological Turmoil Myth #8 Most People Experience a Midlife Crisis in | 8 Their 40s or Early 50s Myth #9 Old Age Is Typically Associated with Increased Dissatisfaction and Senility Myth #10 When Dying, People Pass through a Universal Series of Psychological Stages 3 A REMEMBRANCE OF THINGS PAST Myth #11 Human Memory Works like a Tape Recorder or Video Camera, and Accurate Events We’ve Experienced Myth #12 Hypnosis Is Useful for Retrieving Memories of Forgotten Events Myth #13 Individuals Commonly Repress the Memories of Traumatic Experiences Myth #14 Most People with Amnesia Forget All Details of Their Earlier Lives 4 TEACHING OLD DOGS NEW TRICKS Myth #15 Intelligence (IQ) Tests Are Biased against Certain Groups of People My th #16 If You’re Unsure of Your Answer When Taking a Test, It’s Best to Stick with Your Initial Hunch Myth #17 The Defining Feature of Dyslexia Is Reversing Letters Myth #18 Students Learn Best When Teaching Styles Are Matched to...

Words: 130018 - Pages: 521

Free Essay

Asylum

...catch anybody awake at home; at home it’ll be sometime the night before. The desert is cool in the mornings too, or cooler, so that you’ll see the occasional soldier getting his PT in before it gets too hot, but he’s usually far enough away that you don’t have to whisper. I would watch the big black beetles fighting with each other in the dirt (they’re way bigger here than they are at home) while waiting for the call to go through. It always takes so long just to connect that I nearly give up before the static stops and the phone starts to ring. The day I was going home was about the worst: I tried three times and couldn’t get anybody at the apartment to pick up, then tried Felicia’s cell phone four times with no answer. Finally, I called over to Mama’s. Pops picked up after I called the second time. I knew he wouldn’t pick up...

Words: 70850 - Pages: 284