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One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Character Analysis

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Kesey provides the characterization of our narrator, Chief Bromden, and the other ward patients to intimately display the pain Ratched’s institution causes behind the scenes. When it comes to Bromden, there is no doubt that he is an “unreliable narrator” (Zubizarreta). Regardless of the accuracy of his retellings, Bromden’s account still holds emotional weight, as the events and characteristics of McMurphy and Ratched would still shine through, despite possible inaccuracy in smaller details. One main contributor to his unreliability is “the fog”, which clouded his perceptions during times of stress. As the story progressed, the frequency of “the fog” decreased, due to the actions of McMurphy, as did many other insecure characteristics possessed …show more content…

Bromden views himself as miniscule, while viewing McMurphy as “twice the size” (Kesey, 219) of him. This reveals that Bromden’s comments on his size are based on confidence and will-power, which at the time of this comment he lacks. After hearing Bromden’s argument on his size, McMurphy offers Bromden a “free body-building course” (Kesey, 223), foreshadowing the empowering effect McMurphy will have on Bromden and the other patients. Ultimately, McMurphy proves successful in empowering the patients (what should have been the job of the corrupt institution they are subservient to), as Bromden grows mentally strong enough to lift the control panel and escape the confines of the combine. Also, like Ratched and McMurphy, Bromden and the patients are characterized in the nursery rhyme. The general populous of the hospital are described as “hens” (Kesey, 285), which is an extended metaphor which was mentioned earlier when McMurphy said that Ratched’s group therapy was a “pecking party”, insinuating that the fisherman, Ratched, actively turns the hens, or the patients, against each other to keep them

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One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest: A Psychological Analysis

517 Words | 3 Pages

In order to demonstrate the detrimental impact of societal institutions such as the mental hospital and the federal government on their subordinates, Ken Kesey captures the patients’ endeavor to become whole again as they temporarily escape the Combine’s clutches within his novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. At the beginning of Part 3, it appears Nurse Ratchet’s regime is nearly toppled and that the machinery has lost its control. In fact, McMurphy even draws “[laughs] out of some Acute who’d been scared to grin since he was twelve” and forms a basketball team for the inmates (175). Moreover, Chief Bromden speaks for the first time in years and achieves an erection after his pivotal conversation. Clearly, Kesey indicates the decline of the matriarchy and as a result, portrays the patients as regaining their masculinity.

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Needs In 'One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest'

693 Words | 3 Pages

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

828 Words | 4 Pages

The gift of Nurse Ratched’s tremendous authority in the early stages of the novel is introduced as a desirable power, as it establishes a sense of order and stability within the institution. Nurse Ratched’s authority initially serves her well as it acts as a potent deterrent against one of her rebellious patients, McMurphy, who repeatedly tends to challenge her power. Because of this, McMurphy describes her reputation to the patients as the “wolf of the ward” and themselves as submissive rabbits. This metaphorical scene paints a vivid picture of Nurse Ratched’s power dynamics at play, allowing her to instill a palpable sense of caution within the patient to maintain her high position. Additionally, this cautious environment serves Nurse Ratched well, as it ensures that her directives are followed and disruptions are minimized to reinforce her dominant role within the institution.

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Nurse Ratched Character Analysis

725 Words | 3 Pages

Without a doubt, Nurse Ratched and McMurphy were two of the largest characters in the novel, lying on two opposite sides of the novel’s central conflict regarding institutional authority. In the course of several discussions, various perspectives regarding the relationship of these two forces arouse, ultimately resulting in the realization of how it is eternally and purposefully debatable about whether the Combine or McMurphy truly won the novel’s central conflict and the true meaning of victory. Originally, I went into this discussion believing that the only message the novel could convey was that of McMurphy being successful in liberating the other patients. Throughout the vast majority of the novel, Chief had consistently believed “there is no real help against [Nurse Ratched] or her Combine.”

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Chief Bromden In One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

270 Words | 2 Pages

Chief Bromden, the narrator of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey, is an effective narrator because he narrates from the perspective of a mental patient and is thought to be deaf and dumb. His mental states enhances, rather than detracts, his explanation of the mental hospital as he provides a first-hand perspective on the thoughts of the patients and the impact of society on them. In addition, “[everyone at the hospital doesn’t] bother not talking out loud about their secrets when [Chief] is nearby because they think [he’s] deaf and dumb” (Kesey 11). This puts Chief Bromden in a unique situation where he can narrate both sides of the hospital, the patient and the caretakers, which allows for the development of the conflict. Had

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One Who Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Analysis

396 Words | 2 Pages

In the story One Who Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, characters Mcmurphy and Nurse Ratched are presented with conflict due to their position within the ward. Nurse Ratched is basically playing warden of the ward and McMurphy, an individual that was admitted to the ward as a patient. Throughout this story, the two have a continuing conflict with one another which is supported with hatred and dispute. The topic of social oppression and conformity is depicted by the author through this story. From the beginning of the story, the setting that this story takes place is a place of social oppression and conformity to begin with.

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One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Chapter Summaries

1251 Words | 6 Pages

This was during the height of the Civil Rights Movement and was criticized highly, but yet in the best way possible. The plot of this novel follows the life of “Chief” Bromden and his time at a psychiatric ward located in Oregon during the late 1950s. The novel explored many different topics and happened to be seen as sexist and racist by multiple critics. The story can be seen on two different levels depending on how is it analyzed and by whom. Once analyzed, the multiple layers of Ken Kesey novel reveals how this novel is indeed connected with Ken Kesey’s experiences with drug experimentations and his time working in the psychiatric ward at Veterans Administration Hospital.

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

1485 Words | 6 Pages

He chooses to include graphic details and phrases, such as “moldy face blown up big”, to evoke feelings of fear in the reader and fully embody the horrific scene. Kesey then describes the features of the old man who is dying, “eyes scummed with mute fear”, to show the readers how vulnerable and powerless the man is to the attacks. Kesey recounts this scene because it acts as an extension of Bromden and his feelings of fear and vulnerability of being in the institution. These delusions are directly tied to Bromden's traumatic childhood memories, as evidenced by the parallel between his hallucination and the real-life persecution his tribe faced when practicing their burial customs. In the criticism, ‘The Vanishing American’, the author shows the clash between Bromden's cultural beliefs and the dominant white society's prejudiced reactions which left a lasting imprint on his psyche, manifesting in his paranoid visions of the oppressive "Combine" that controls the hospital.

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One Who Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Analysis

1144 Words | 5 Pages

Additionally, 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).

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The Pros And Cons Of Chief Bromden

1360 Words | 6 Pages

Chief described Nurse Ratched as the head force of a hospital he calls “the nationwide Combine.” (pg.192) With an overarching power to the administration and the patients under her ward, her commands went beyond meetings, medications and trickled down to policy creation, mandating as to how Chief should conduct himself. Bromden is perceived as someone who is diagnosed of being unable to thrive in a society, therefore, made to accept that he is deviant; that he does not follow or have a grasp to social norms that are given by nature. Consequently, Bromden shifts the way he perceives himself, making himself into a conformist who “lose [himself] in the fog.” (pg.42) How others view him becomes how he views himself, and the identity he puts on.

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Authority In One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

1459 Words | 6 Pages

This silence is literally and figuratively represented through Chief Bromden, a longtime patient of a psychiatric ward during the 1960s in the United States. Bromden, along with all the other patients in the ward, religiously abide by the rules and regulations enforced by the ward administration, particularly Nurse Ratched, a strict and abusive manipulator who does anything in order to maintain her power. This power dynamic quickly evolves

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Examples Of Social Justice Issues In One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

729 Words | 3 Pages

In this novel, Chief Bromden narrates his experience in a psychiatric hospital, which has been his home for 10 years. He describes the psychologically manipulative and abusive manner of the program in depth, run by Nurse Ratched in the 1950s. The plot takes place when Randle McMurphy arrives, trying to swindle his way out of going to a prison work farm when he was diagnosed as psychotic. The story follows his rebellion against Nurse Ratched, challenging her cruel ways and rallying the patients against her. While this novel has some mature themes, I believe it is important to introduce mature and realistic themes to young people.

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Character Analysis: One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

916 Words | 4 Pages

Since the other patients held McMurphy in such a high regard for these characteristics, McMurphy takes on a somewhat fatherly responsibility for these patients. Quick to notice Nurse Ratched’s tactic of pitting the other patients against each other during group therapies, he becomes bent on trying to overpower her. Although he has little to no personal gain from this, he is respected by his friends. As Harding points out, “...society’s chastising was [not] the sole force that drove one crazy…” (Kesey, 308); in McMurphy’s case it is the dependence his peers have on him.

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Bromden Symbolism

275 Words | 2 Pages

Because Kesey chose the work to be from the point of view of Bromden, who to the rest of the patients and staff is believed to both dumb and deaf, the readers are left with a story that relies heavily on Bromden’s own observations and perceptions of events. Though Bromden is actually neither dumb nor deaf, he does nothing to attempt to alleviate this facade, and instead, remains a mute spectator. Due to the observing nature of Bromden that Kesey writes, much of the story is comprised of imagery. The readers cannot rely on Bromden’s lack of conversation with others to grasp the story, so much of what Bromden recalls is based off of his senses. Bromden’s faux disability allows him to observe much more than that of other characters, such is portrayed

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One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Character Analysis

993 Words | 4 Pages

Kesey 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.

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