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Examples Of Imagery In One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

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Imagery is a major theme in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.” The narrator of the novel is Chief Bromden, a patient at the ward who pretends to be deaf and dumb. Chief has a mental illness where he relates everything to machines, he believes that everything is one big machine to be controlled by another person. The ward is a dismal place, with two distinct groups separated at the middle. One group is the Acutes, people who have a chance at rehabilitation and release to the outside world. The other group is the Chronics, patients who will never be able to assimilate into the real world and live at the ward to protect themselves and others. The use of imagery in the particular selection helps readers understand the strict separation of ward patients and the grim outlook for the Chronics. Patients at the ward separate themselves, Acutes don’t want to associate with the Chronics because it reminds them what they could …show more content…

He was an ornery man who caused trouble in the ward, and as a result, he was given a “head installation,” an operation known as a lobotomy. When he came back from his treatment, he was no longer causing trouble, but he wasn’t doing anything else either. His life was limited to standing in a corner, turning a worn-out photograph over in his hands endlessly. Chief describes him as burnt out, with clouds over his eyes, staring blankly at the old photograph. Ruckly is an example to the Acutes, they see what they could end up as if they don’t cooperate in the ward. The Acutes are afraid of the Chronics for this reason. This contributes to their division as well. Chief’s description of Ellis also uses imagery that can shed light on how the ward works. He came in as an Acute, but they overloaded him in electroshock therapy. Now he stands nailed to a wall, covered in his own bodily fluids until someone decides to move him and clean him up. He also reminds the Acutes of what could happen to

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Many 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

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“It's like everyone tells a story about themselves inside their own head. Always. All the time. That story makes you what you are. We build ourselves out of that story.

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Quotation Analysis: One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest SETTING Quotation #1: “The Chronics and the Acutes don’t generally mingle. Each stays on his own side of the day room the way the black boys want it. The black boys say it’s more orderly that way and let everybody know that’s the way they’d like it to stay” (Kesey 18). Contribution to Development of SETTING: Within the mental institution, operations are conducted in a smooth, orderly manner.

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Moral 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.

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Due to the structure in place by Nurse Ratched’s orders, all patients must participate in therapeutic meetings, where they have a group discussion with the nurse and Dr. Spivey. These discussions specifically target one patient where the others proceed to humiliate them. When Bromden narrates a meeting of this nature, Harding, another patient, is the one under harsh criticism, “The group is still tearing into Harding when when two o’clock rolls around” (Kesey 53). In the ward, the nurse has created an environment where the patients do not feel safe. She pits them against each other using methods such as the therapeutic meetings, which cause the patients to feel as though they cannot trust one another.

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One 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.

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He has a body that is heavily scarred and tattooed and was sentenced to six months at a prison work farm, and when he was diagnosed as a psychopath and transferred to the hospital to serve his sentence there. “You know, that's the first thing that got me about this place, that there wasn’t anybody laughing. I haven’t heard a real laugh since I came through that door, do you know that? Man, when you lose your laugh you lose your footing. A man go around lettin’ a woman whup him up and down till he can’t laugh any more, and he loses one of the biggest edges he’s got on his side.

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The author uses symbolism and metaphors to emphasize the mechanic nature of the ward

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The ward is not doing anything to help them, it is just making them worse. Billy could have gotten a wife and gone off to college if the insecurity of stutter did not scare him so much. Harding would have had it difficult but he did not even try to live that life he was so afraid of. When McMurphy brought them on the boat trip it was a huge turning point for the characters, mentally. There is still the question if mental institutions really help people with there “insanity” or keep them

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It is obvious that medical treatment can be very helpful for the patient and would provide results. However simple companionship may also help as they could simply talk about their problem. Counselling might actually help more than medical treatment which may have more of a negative effect emotionally on the patient. Medical treatment aims to heal the patients so they can return and function properly in society however this is not the case in ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ written by Ken Kasey. In his novel the mental institution serves as a method to keep the patients away from society and doesn’t function to help the men but to keep them passive.

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The author of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Kesey, presents the ideas about venerability and strength by using his characters and the way they interact with each other to establish whether they are a submissive or a dominant, tamed or leading, venerable or strong. Kesey uses strong personalities to show the drastic difference between someone who is vulnerable and someone who is strong. Nurse Ratchet is a perfect example of how Kasey presents the idea of strength over the venerability of others (the patients). Keys also exhibited vulnerability throughout characters such as Chief Bromden and his extensive habit of hiding himself in all means possible from Nurse Ratchet. Another idea presented by Kesey is a character’s false thought on what

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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.

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The goal of most mental hospitals is rehabilitation of the human psyche. To be cured of a mental disorder is nearly impossible, but the purpose of these hospitals is to attempt to suppress the id of a person’s subconscious. In One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Ken Kesey utilizes the psychoanalytic theory and his own life experiences to depict his dynamic character’s dreams, hidden subconscious thoughts, basic desire of their id, and reality of their ego. Kesey uses his character’s dreams to reveal their subconscious desires, express what they wish they could accomplish but are limited due to society’s rules, and showcase what they secretly desire when their subconscious goes unchecked during their sleep.

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“Paranoia is the belief that people are conspiring against you and deliberately trying to harm you” (Mirowsky, Ross 228). It is only natural for a man who had everything taken away from him to be wary of his surroundings, and find it difficult to trust anyone or anything. However, Chief’s association of the Nurse's station with a control panel that keeps the entire ward running, reveals his deepest layer of paranoia. Chief has always felt as though he was being controlled, and his paranoia regarding those running the ward shows readers that he does not trust them in any way.

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