One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Dialectical Journal

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Journal #1 One main event that occurs in the first third of One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest is the first group meeting Mr. McMurphy joined on the ward. Nurse Ratched begins to talk about another patient named Harding, and his issues with his wife. After listening to what the nurse had to say, McMurphy made an inappropriate joke concerning the matter of Harding’s wife. Everyone was amused with his joke, except for Nurse Ratched. She retaliates by reading Mr. McMurphy’s file out loud for everyone to hear. This was the first time as a reader I got to hear about McMurphy’s history and why he was put on the ward. She reads how Mr. McMurphy is 35, never married, was dishonorably discharged from war in Korea, has a prolonged history of street …show more content…

At some time-- perhaps in your childhood-- you may have been allowed to get away with flouting the rules of society” (Kesey171). Nurse Ratched said this to all the patients at the ward one day regarding them rebelling against the rules. This quote really showed how manipulative and mean Nurse Ratched could be. Ever since McMurphy came to the ward, everyone there decided to start a rebellion against Nurse Ratched and the ward policy. Many examples such as when McMurphy was carousing around the halls in his underwear, people not doing their chores, asking to change the schedule to watch the baseball game and breaking the nurse’s window to take back their cigarettes show there is a difference in the air at the ward. One example is “ Then, just as she's rolling along at her biggest and meanest, McMurphy steps out of the latrine door right in front of her, holding that towel around his hips—stops her dead! She shrinks to about head-high to where that towel covers him, and he's grinning down on her. Her own grin is giving way, sagging at the edges. Good morning, Miss Rat-shed! How's things on the outside? You can't run around here—in a towel! No? He looks down at the part of the towel she's eye …show more content…

Nurse Ratched was very controlling and wanted complete power. This caused many of the patients to rebel and break loose from her control. McMurphy lead the ward in this uprising. From brushing his teeth too early to sneaking prostitutes into the ward, he shows Nurse Ratched that she cannot rule him. This story reminded me of Malala Yousafzai and her retaliation against the Taliban. Malala Yousafzai was born on July 12, 1997, in Mingora, Pakistan. Ever since she was a little girl, she knew that their was more to her life than being an everyday housewife. She wanted to go to school. The Taliban feels that women should not have the right to go to school. She became an advocate for young women to have a right for an education which then resulted in the Taliban issuing a death threat against her. No one thought the Taliban would hurt a child but one day a man shot Malala in the head in her school bus while she was coming home from school. Thankfully she survived, and continued to speak out about her the right for girls to have access to an education. After the Taliban started attacking young girls, Malala decided to give a speech. She named her speech, "How dare the Taliban take away my basic right to education?" Malala did not stand for such cruelty from the Taliban. She wrote blogs about her life, gave speeches, she did whatever she had to do to be heard. Just like many