Nurse Ratched’s desire for control, in Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, allows her to manipulate the entire hospital ward into believing her work is for the betterment of the patients. Significantly, Nurse Ratched appears doll-like: hair in a tight bun, a neatly pressed uniform, and “too-red” lipstick (48). Traditionally, dolls, like other toys, are made to occupy the unruly minds of young children. By comparing Nurse Ratched to a child’s toy, Kesey implies she is a mere distraction to the patients from their mental impairments.
The Beat Generation of the 1950’s and early 1960’s encouraged a new lifestyle for young Americans striving for individualism and freedom, which included rock and roll music, long hair, relaxed style attire, vegetarianism, and experimenting with drugs (“Beat Movement”). Many young Americans of this era wanted to experiment with new social and cultural concepts, rebelling against “normal” American life. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, written by Ken Kesey, portrays the gruesomeness of conformity through the lives of patients in one of the asylum’s wards. The novel shows how the patients are confined to strict rules and limited freedom because of Nurse Ratched’s power.
In the story One Who Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, characters Mcmurphy and Nurse Ratched are presented with conflict due to their position within the ward. Nurse Ratched is basically playing warden of the ward and McMurphy, an individual that was admitted to the ward as a patient. Throughout this story, the two have a continuing conflict with one another which is supported with hatred and dispute. The topic of social oppression and conformity is depicted by the author through this story. From the beginning of the story, the setting that this story takes place is a place of social oppression and conformity to begin with.
In recent years, many Americans on both sides of the political spectrum have been showing very counter-cultural attitudes via the internet and their choice of president. These attitudes are similar to that of people living in the 1960’s. In that period of counter-cultural ideas, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey, a counter-cultural book, was published. One major theme that frequently appears throughout the book’s entirety is Corruption of power, as the antagonist, Nurse Ratched, displays the tendencies of corrupt, undemocratic leaders throughout the novel, as the novel builds her up as being a very power-hungry individual. Nurse Ratched’s corrupt character, as well as her neglect of democracy in group sessions and neglect for the helpless mental patients shows that the purpose of Nurse Ratched’s character may have been to provoke thought about whether we Americans truly live in a fair and democratic nation.
One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey reveals the insensitive treatment and dehumanization of the mentally ill. The origin of the book is a story of an individual in a mental hospital. Ken Kesey’s character observes the daily life in a psych ward and reveals
Society in the ‘60s was based around the men, and the women could not do much without their husbands, they had very little rights, and were losing more as men came back from war. The book, One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s nest is about a mental ward that just received a new patient, Randle McMurphy, who was previously at a work farm for many crimes committed. McMurphy thought it would be more comfortable for him in a mental hospital. He was quite wrong, the woman in charge of his unit, Nurse Ratched, was very hard on her patents using abuse, medication, and electroshock therapy to keep her patients in fear of her and the outside world. These two are accustomed of being the top dogs and do not get along well, they battle for power throughout the book.
The controversial novel ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,’ written by Ken Kesey (1962) explores many concepts thematically, these being referenced to frequently through the usage of various literary techniques. These explored themes all being widely discussed topics within the communist-ridden, and paranoia instilled period in which the novel was created. The antagonist, Nurse Ratched is metaphorically conveyed through her name via a pun as a device used to force cogs into place whilst also foreshadowing future events, this metaphor shaping the readers understanding of central ideas greatly. Nurse Ratched is also expressed as being the emblem for the Combine by Chief Bromden, this being reinforced with the motif of machinery and mechanical
Nurse Ratched is a harsh, dictatorial woman who manipulates her patients in order to keep her extreme power. “She smiles and closes her eyes again and shakes her head gently. " Of course, you may take the suggestion up with the rest of the staff at some time, but I'm afraid everyone's feelings will correspond with mine” (Kesey). Even though readers do not get to see the Big Nurse outside of the hospital and her strict personality, she uses the mistreatment of the patients as a defense of events from her personal life. Despite her acting as if she has total regulation of the ward, Nurse Ratched is actually unstable in her life, feeling vulnerable by the patients because they bring up the idea that she may not be mentally secure
Monkey Papi Irby English 3 23-May-2023 Be Free Nest of Cuckoo’s Seeing someone abused is hard especially when they are put into an institution that is supposed to help them get better. Patients in mental institutes were tortured and abused for years in the 60’s leading up to the 70’s. Ken Kesey One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s nest is a waste of time debating wether or not it should be banned.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, this role is switched as an oppressive Nurse Ratched dominates a psychiatric ward and imposes her will upon the emasculated men of the ward. The story revolves around the power struggle between Nurse Ratched and boisterous newcomer Randle McMurphy. McMurphy realizes that much of her control comes from her lack of femininity and as
“The problem with is that it prescribes how we should be, rather than how recognizing how we are. Now imagine how much happier we would be, how much freer, to be our true individual selves if we didn 't have the weight gender expectations” (Adichie). Some people go away from stereotypical gender roles, many characters in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s do not follow typical gender roles. In Ken Kesey’s novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest the narrator, Chief Bromden, tells a story of control over a mental ward where he and Randle McMurphy are patients. McMurphy and the head nurse, Nurse Ratched, are the two characters battling for power in the ward.
“ Reclaiming Big Nurse, a Feminist Critique of Ken Kesey’s portrayal of Nurse Ratched in One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest” Monstrous figure- In the novel, Kesey portrays Nurse Ratched as a monstrous figure who intimidates the patients to make them small and take their masculinity away. Translocated ideal- This concept depicts the role of Nurse Ratched.
Meadow Neubauer-Keyes Kozak 2nd Hour - Prompt 1 19 April 2023 Graded Essay #3 Authority and power are some of the most abused concepts in any society, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, by Ken Kesey exhibits this dynamic flawlessly. Kesey portrays a microcosm of American society in a mental institution led by a woman called Nurse Ratched. The administration of the mental institution manipulates the population of the hospital into subordination. Through the lens of a schizophrenic man with a warped sense of reality and his perception of a feisty peer, Kesey communicates the necessity of confrontation and rebellion when there is injustice and the consequences of blind acceptance of biased and ill-intentioned authority.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, by Ken Kesey, considers the qualities in which society determines sanity. The label of insanity is given when someone is different from the perceived norm. Conversely, a person is perceived as sane when their behavior is consistent with the beliefs of the majority. Although the characters of this novel are patients of a mental institution, they all show qualities of sanity. The book is narrated by Chief Brodmen, an observant chronic psychiatric patient, who many believe to be deaf and dumb.
In contrast, the society in One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s nest differs from the society in Catcher In The Rye. The men in the ward in One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s nest live in a rigid military society where they have escaped to due to the neglect and hostility the felt in the real world. They do not feel safe in the outside world so therefore they exclude themselves from it and enters another society, the psychiatric ward that is run by an impassive nurse, Nurse Ratched. Some of the men are there voluntarily, such as the novel’s protagonist, Randle McMurphy who is a diagnosed psychopath but chooses to enter the ward thinking it would be more comfortable there than in the outside world. Other important
