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Conformity In One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

1000 Words4 Pages

Conformity is defined in the dictionary as “compliance with standards, rules, or laws.” Is Conformity bad? In some cases it could help calm situations and prevent negative events. In other instances too much Conformity can lead to the lack of individuality. One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest raises the question, where is the balance between too much control and too little? In Ken Kesey’s novel he illustrates a tale about Conformity and the struggle against it. He tells the story through the eyes of a big Native American called Chief Bromden. Kesey uses machinery to display the system of the hospital and the environment that the patients are in. The fog is the representation of conformity in the hospital. The Hospital is divided into two separate …show more content…

Chief Does not want to go swimming as it makes him uncomfortable. Chief recalls that in the past he would hide in the fog so that he would not have to go. The fog makes him feel safe, the conformity provides a place of familiarity and Comfort. This passage brings up a question that has not been entertained earlier in the novel. Is the fog both physical and mental? As the story progresses Chief explains more and more about the fog and how it is a dampener in his life. However until now it seemed it would only affect him and the way he saw the world. If Chief can hide in the fog that would conclude that the fog is a physical thing that affects not only chief but the whole hospital. But given that One Flew Over the Cuckoo 's Nest is based in a mental asylum Chief is most likely hallucinating. In Chiefs mind he is hiding in the fog, however since the story is told through his eyes it is diluted with his perspective. The true events that happened will never be revealed. Chief may go into to catatonic state or some other type of mental event. The fog euphemizes his episodes. The

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