Similarities Between Hamlet And One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

In William Shakespeare’s play “Hamlet”, and Ken Kesey’s novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, the sanity of the characters Hamlet and Ralph McMurphy is questioned. While circumstances of these characters cause them to look insane, their motives for acting crazy or irrational come from an underlying agenda: Hamlet wants revenge for his father’s death and McMurphy wants to gain control from Nurse Ratched. The death of Hamlet’s father causes Hamlet to fall into a depression leading to suicidal ideation. McMurphy is a criminal brought to a mental hospital on account of his psychopathic tendencies.
Devastated by the news of his father’s death, Hamlet becomes utterly depressed and hopeless, bearing “more grief inside [him] than you could ever see

He is cocky, disruptive, and manipulative. By messing with the ward’s policies he attempts to remain in control of his environment. Miss Ratched (a.k.a The Big Nurse) identifies him as a “manipulator, a man who will use everything and everyone to his own ends” (Kesey 27). At first, it appears that McMurphy is a psychopath. He shows a lack of moral behavior with a disregard for rules and authority. While he understands right from wrong, he pursues his own interests for power and gratification. He “carr[ies] this disdain for rules to the extreme, calculating and scheming ruthlessly” (Kulbarsh 16). McMurphy constantly makes trouble for himself because he doesn’t feel the need to please others unlike the other patients who are so controlled by fear that to step one foot out of line would be a death wish. As a new patient, McMurphy is given the prime opportunity to infiltrate the system. His goal is to turn the patients against Nurse Ratched and remove her from control. McMurphy’s disruptions cease shortly after his arrival because he realizes Miss Ratched can destroy anyone, but her manipulative and demeaning methods cause him to turn against her once and for all. It starts off as a power battle with the patients; who has control. Contrary to his diagnosis, McMurphy actually bonds with the patients and forms friendships. He starts to care about how they

The circumstances surrounding their characterizations of mental illness are attempts by each character to get what they want. They have a common goal to thwart his enemy: Claudius and the Big Nurse. Their plan of action includes violent outbursts and unyielding efforts for justice. Outsiders delt with their crazed behavior through attempted assassination, and incapacitation. While Hamlet more clearly accomplished his goal of avenging his father, McMurphy also accomplished disrupting the mental institution and knocking the Big Nurse off her high horse. While others look at Hamlet and McMurphy as reckless and unconcerned with the feelings of others, their actions legitimize their purpose: justice for