Power In One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

In One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Ken Kesey expresses the theme of abusive power, false diagnosis of insanity, heroism and rebellion. Even though the reader is opening a world seemingly out of the true beaten path, set in a mental institution, there are irregular degrees of dysfunction and chaos in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Nurse Ratched, the antagonist, is drunk with her power until McMurphy arrives and upsets it. Much of her power lies in her ability to emasculate the male patients and maintain a sexless frontage. When she is revealed as a woman (McMurphy rips her uniform off, exposing her ample bosom), she loses much of her power. McMurphy is larger than life, a man destined to change the asylum forever. Whether he’s a psychopath or not, we’ll never know. Regardless, he sure is smart, likable, and gives the patients the ability to seize back the power that Nurse Ratched

He had several chances to save himself, but chose instead to stay and help his fellow patients. McMurphy is the hero of this novel because he stood firmly against oppressive powers, showing bravery defending the other patients and ultimately paying with his life. In the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey, there is a power struggle between the protagonist Randle Patrick McMurphy and the antagonist Nurse Ratched, also known as Big Nurse. The story takes place on a mental ward and is narrated in the perspective of a patient named Bromden. Nurse Ratched has complete control of both the ward staff and the patients, but when newly admitted McMurphy arrives, Nurse Ratched's position of power is threatened as he tries to dominate the ward. Even with McMurphy's presence, Nurse Ratched still has the most power and she uses various techniques to maintain and increase it. Nurse Ratched uses intimidating stares, insinuations, and knowledge to make other characters weaker and achieve her goal of being as the most powerful person on the