One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Essay

One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest tells the story of convicted felon, Randal McMurphy, and his experience entering a mental institution. He rebels against the restrictive environment and challenges the oppressive rules and standards set forth by Nurse Ratched and the hospital staff throughout the novel. He opens the eyes of the other patients to the unethical control and introduces them to their own right of individuality. McMurphy reconstructs the memory and identity of many of the characters throughout the course of the novel by challenging the oppressive environment created by the hospital and its staff through self sacrifice, rebellion, and perception. Mcmurphy's ultimate downfall at the end of the novel is an expression of self-sacrifice.

McMurphy's blatant rebellion against the hospital's domineering rules and standards ultimately aids in the recovery and reconstruction of the mental well-being of the patients. While at first McMurchpy was admitted as just another patient, his acts of rebellion led him to be seen in a heroic light by the rest of the characters. “McMurphy offers the oppressed the possibility of a rebirth. In Bromden's eyes, he is a mythical hero: a boisterous gambler, fighter, lover of wine and women, a robust cowboy of the American West whose iron "boot heels cracked lightning out of the tile" (172), as well as a Christian figure whose strength raises the men from their fear and inertia.” (Safer 134) McMurphy is a hero in the minds of the patients, taking them on boat rides, sneaking girls into the hospital, and planning escape attempts. These thrilling adventures give the patients a taste of real life. His rebellious actions lead the patients to experience the outside world and learn not to fear it. “Bromden attributes this to the day's outing arranged by

They are gradually enabled to laugh at their predicament, at the whole human predicament.” (Safer 136) These experiences of the real world allow the patients to gain a new perception of their environment, teaching them that they don’t have to conform to the conditions they have been putting up with. The patients are influenced by McMurphy, and readers can see a transformation from fearful to rebellious as the novel concludes. This can be observed in the scene where the once timid Cheswick causes a scene when the Big Nurse Mcmurphy's rebellious spirit empowered the patients to challenge the conforms they had been oppressed by and to slowly gather the courage to reclaim their own individuality and dignity. McMurphy’s tendency to challenge the rules provides a new perspective to the hospital patients who have been living a life designed to dehumanize them and strip them of their individual consciousness. The patients truly admired his strength to resist the Big Nurse, inspiring them to do the same. The story I Stand Here Ironing has similar themes and parallels to One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, in the aspect of individuality and the struggle to maintain a sense of self in the face of oppressive