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At the end of the book, after McMurphy has been lobotomized, the acutes in the ward decide that they will no longer be subdued to the cruelty of Nurse Ratched. As Chief says, “Sefelt and Fredrickson signed out together Against Medical Advice, and two days later another three Acutes left, and six more transferred to another ward” (246). Although McMurphy is no longer able to fight the Big Nurse, he has left a lasting impact that motivates the other patients to escape the system. McMurphy inspires change in the ward by showing the acutes that Nurse Ratched is less powerful than they believe, and that they have
The concept of justice is dependent on a character’s view point on a situation. Randel McMurphy is the latest addition to the psychiatric ward, and is able to witness the extent in which the patients are being neglected with fresh eyes. In response to the injustices that McMurphy observes, he takes it upon himself to be the one to stand up to the authority of Nurse Ratched, as Kesey writes, ““Just what I said: any of you sharpies here willing to take my five bucks that says that I can get the best of that woman—before the week’s up—without her getting the best of me?”” (Pg. 66). While it is in McMurphy’s nature to gamble, he is also a man of justice.
• To what extent could the narrator of the novel be considered unreliable? The narrator known as Chief could be considered unreliable because on page 69 Harding says that he heard Chief received over two hundred shock treatments. These shock treatments may have down a great deal of damage to his mind. Multiple times throughout the novel Chief mentions that a fog is forming over his mind and all around him.
The nurse’s claims are stated when she says, “I’ll admit that my first thought when I began to recognize Mr. McMurphy for the disturbing force that he is was that he should most definitely be sent up to Disturbed.” Until, she contradicts this statement when she adds “We have weeks, or months, or even years if need be. Keep in mind that Mr. McMurphy is committed. The length of time he spends in this hospital is entirely up to us.” Seeing that he is trapped, McMurphy is anxious and struggles to remain calm, cool, and collected with the idea that the nurse may punish him severely with either option she has
If McMurphy complies with the Nurse’s demands he can be released
So Can only imagine that when McMurphy arrives and plays the role of resistance against Ratched, she of course isn 't happy. McMurphy hopes to be released from the ward and also break the men from the repression they have become accustomed to due being at the ward. The patients at the ward also play a crucial role to the repressive environment they are exposed to since they allow Ratched to have control over them due to their compliance and obedience to her actions. Nurse Ratched takes notice to McMurphy’s intentions of starting rebellion at the ward. Throughout the book McMurphy is severely punished on many occasions.{need conclusion
If anyone were to disobey her, she would find a solution to the problem using her authoritarian methods. Big Nurse explained to one of the younger nurses what she thought of McMurphy: “He is what we call a 'manipulator,' Miss Flinn, a man who will use everyone and everything to his own ends (Kesey 27).” Alternatively, Big Nurse herself was manipulative; she strived to turn the ward patients against McMurphy by claiming he never did anything for the patients without receiving something in return. Although her plan was unsuccessful, Big Nurse became obsessed with the idea of prevalence over McMurphy. Thus, urged her to use severe methods to “cure” or mentally alter McMurphy’s
Nurse Ratched, known for her strict rules and manipulation to get what she wants, eventually plays into McMurphy’s games which ultimately have a negative effect on her and blind her decisions later on. After Chief and McMurphy get in a scuffle with an orderly, Nurse Ratched suggests electroshock therapy, but gives McMurphy an opportunity to avoid the treatment by “admitting he was wrong” (242). McMurphy arrogantly declines, frustrating Nurse Ratched to the point where she shocks him continually until it’s not safe to do so. By letting Mcmurphy get the best of her emotions, Nurse Ratched’s conscience is blurred by her frustration, a negative impact brought upon by McMurphy’s arrival. However, Nurse Ratched’s sudden distaste for McMurphy didn;t always directly happen to him.
Lobotomies and electroshock therapy are nothing out of the norm for the patients residing in her ward. What Nurse
Both McMurphy and Nurse Ratched demand for power in the ward but some of the things they do and get show exactly how much power they have over one another. The head of the ward is
The more important detail, however, is the fact that one went over it. This is demonstrated as before McMurphy all the men bowed to the Big Nurse and followed her every command. Although, she was sometimes questioned, the men broadly just accepted her rules. The men weren’t seriously mentally ill but moreso insane in their passive way in what power they gave the Big Nurse. McMurphy, however, did not accept the rules and began an epic saga of battles between the two.
McMurphy bets with the other men in the ward that he can make Nurse Ratched lose temper without, getting sent to the disturbed ward, getting treated with electroshock or being lobotomized. Slowly McMurphy undermines Nurse Ratched’s system of control while being
Each man in the hospital is different in some way with imperfections that disrupt the Big Nurse’s picture of a functional society. The patients don’t conform to Nurse Ratched’s idea of normal and as a result she punishes them, using manipulation to convince them that they are unable to function correctly outside the controlling walls of the ward. McMurphy notices this and after finding out that most patients aren’t committed states “Jesus, I mean you guys do nothing but complain about how you can’t stand it in this place here and then you haven’t got the guts just to walk out? What do you think you are for Christ sake, crazy or something? Well, you’re not!
At the beginning of the novel, the rules in the ward are strict, and no one dares to go against them; the workers have the power, and the patients follow what they are told. Nurse Ratched exerts this power over the people by saying, “You’re committed, you realize. You are…under the jurisdiction of me…the staff” (Kesey 144). At the beginning of the novel, the power of Nurse Ratched and the staff is superior, and the patients on the ward do not fight for what they believe in. However, throughout the novel, McMurphy’s compelling and powerful ways transform the ward into a group of individuals who fight together for what they want in the ward.
This shows how little significance they show the ward members. Instead of focusing on their recovery to become apart of society; there is a deeper concern for gaining power and exploiting the ill to become untouchable. The process of manipulating the mentally ill will cause inhibition towards recuperation instead of rehabilitation. McMurphy causes change within men on the ward because of his goal to allow the inmates to pursue happiness. The men don’t change under nurse Ratched’s control because her primary goal is to use manipulation to exert dominance for