ipl-logo

What Is Power In One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

444 Words2 Pages

The text One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest (Kesey, 1962) communicates a unique social hierarchy, but the use of power within this society discusses the idea of gender and preservation of power. The text is set within a mental asylum, and within this society the figure of authority is nurse Ratched. It has been noted that men are commonly seen to be in positions of power and highly respected within society. This text reverses the stereotype, but through this reversal conveys the way in which a female in power is not equal to a male in power. A 2012 study by students at Washington University in St. Louis state that ‘Not all power is created equal’, but rather the level of power a person has is dependent on various elements of society such as cultural …show more content…

The male patients often comment on her womanly figure, speaking about her ‘big, womanly breasts’ (Kesey, 1962), and asking ‘just what was the actual inch-by-inch measurement on them great big ol ' breasts that she did her best to conceal but never could’ (Kesey, 1962). Similarly to Erin Brockovich, Nurse Ratched’s physical features and gender is seen to determine her personal character. Within the novel One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest (Kesey, 1962) the idea of nurse’s sexuality cannot be used to her advantage, but rather is used to undermine her authority. Nurse Ratched is a minority in power within the society operating inside the mental asylum, and in the outside world she is seen as a second classes citizen as a result of her gender. Therefore, the unconventional power displayed by Nurse Ratched is her confidence in her position of power, and her dominant and firm personality. These traits are not deemed attractive to be possessed by a woman, but to earn the respect of the higher power which rule over the ward, she governs in a strict and aggressive

Show More
Related
447 Words | 2 Pages

However, to Nurse Ratched, this window illustrates her dominance over the ward. “The Big Nurse watches all [that the patients do] through her window” (42). Kesey’s glass division between the sane and the insane demonstrates Nurse Ratched’s overall want of authority. Correspondingly, the Big Nurse is a wolf amongst the hospital full of rabbits. As Harding explains to McMurphy that the patients are essentially small rabbits in the forest that is the mental institution, he also notes that Nurse Ratched is the “strong wolf” that teaches the rabbits their place, much like the hierarchy of nature (61).

Read More
718 Words | 3 Pages

The nurse used her calm composure to manipulate the men in the ward. In one part of the novel, Chief, the main character, observes that the nurse’s expression is “smiling, pitying, patient, and disgusting all at once---a trained expression” (Kesey, 176). This shows that Nurse Ratched is deceitful. She isn’t honest with her actions and she put on an act to trick people into trusting her. The quote illustrates Kesey’s hatred for women in power by showing the nurse’s character in such a negative light; it makes light of the fact that he, Kesey, doesn’t believe that a powerful woman would use her influence for good.

Read More
999 Words | 4 Pages

In Ken Kesey’s comic novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, gender is a definer of one's power in the hospital, and this leads to Nurse Ratched hiding her femininity, the patients’ attempts to boost their own masculinity, and both sides trying to expose the other. Kesey uses these examples to explain that men cannot handle a female leader. Nurse Ratched, a female who is head of the ward, attempts to hide her femininity so the men respect her power. At the beginning of the novel, Bromden is describing the Nurse’s appearance. He states, “A mistake was made somehow in manufacturing, putting those big, womanly breasts on what would of otherwise been a perfect work, and you can see how bitter she is about it” (6).

Read More
1124 Words | 5 Pages

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.

Read More
1764 Words | 8 Pages

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.

Read More
1047 Words | 5 Pages

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

Read More
1347 Words | 6 Pages

She derives a great deal of her power from her ability to infantilize, humiliate and emasculate the men - to render them sexless (Vitkus, 77). Later, during their same fight, McMurphy says, “What I want to know is am I safe to try to beat her at her own game” (Kesey, 68)? By saying this, McMurphy implies that he is going to try and go against Nurse Ratched and make some changes to the ward. He is set on making changes and gaining power, therefore, beginning his “conquest” against Nurse

Read More
1006 Words | 5 Pages

Today’s society is one in which women can assume positions of power, without being regarded as bitches or being told that they are for men to take. We usually do not take these women as emasculating, or oppressive towards men; although they can be, generally, they are not. In the book, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest however, the female characters, with the exception of prostitutes and one of the nurses, are often portrayed as castrators or ‘ball cutters’. It becomes quite clear that, as we progress through the story, we see that the patients have been psychologically affected negatively, as a result of dealing with the overpowering and emasculating female characters. Furthermore, the patients seem to agree that the women, especially Nurse

Read More
1459 Words | 6 Pages

These elements keep the nurse in power, as many of the patients fear being the target of one of these meetings and worry that they will again be betrayed by others. By introducing order through these activities, Nurse Ratched undermines the safety of the patients that should be under her care and keeps them silent. Nurse Ratched's oppressive order is not only seen in a literal sense, but also through the attitudes of the patients under her care. Chief Bromden describes the nurse as being “able to set the wall clock at whatever speed she wants just by turning one of those dials“ (Kesey 70). Nurse Ratched’s control over the patients’ lives extends to the point where

Read More
755 Words | 4 Pages

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.

Read More
1040 Words | 5 Pages

Consequently, it was challenging for women to hold a position of power. However, in One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, Nurse Ratched held significant power in the ward and was even feared by many of the patients and staff. This was partially due to the fact that she hid her femininity and was not seen as a sexual figure. Therefore, Ratched’s power came with the sacrifice of her identity as a woman. While women have made many advancements in equality since the 1960s, they still face gender discrimination in the workplace.

Read More
413 Words | 2 Pages

The criticism, “Madness and Misogyny in Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” written by Daniel J. Vitkus, explains the cultural criticism experienced in Ken Kesey’s novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. During the publication of Kesey’s novel, the world was experiencing a rapid social evolution where women were starting to strip away their feminist qualities in order to gain power and authority while society was re-defining “reason against unreason”, and intermingling the opposite meanings of criminal and psychopath (Vitkus, 64).   In the sixties, society had a limited and/or vague understanding about individuality and/or being different; therefore, some were “defined as crazy because they are different” (Vitkus, 69) and as a result, were locked away in a mental institution because that

Read More
993 Words | 4 Pages

There is an obvious idea presented by Kesey that the Nurse is dominant over Billy, who has become very vulnerable. Nurse Ratched is shown as a character of strength by the way the writer has created her character. Nurse Ratched is also seen as a strong figure by the way the other characters talk about her, for example when Chief says “To beat her you don 't have to whip her two out of three or three out of five, but every time you meet. As soon as you let down your guard, as soon as you lose once, she 's won for good.” The writer has used this line to show us how both Chief and the other patient give her the strong and authoritative

Read More
1379 Words | 6 Pages

The movie “One flew over the cuckoo’s nest” gives an inside look into the life of a patient living in a mental institution; helping to give a new definition of mental illnesses. From a medical standpoint, determinants of mental illness are considered to be internal; physically and in the mind, while they are seen as external; in the environment or the person’s social situation, from a sociological perspective (Stockton, 2014). Additionally, the movie also explores the idea of power relations that exist between an authorized person (Nurse Ratched) and a patient and further looks into the punishment a deviant actor receives (ie. McMurphy contesting Nurse Ratched). One of the sociological themes that I have observed is conformity.

Read More
775 Words | 4 Pages

Her clothes “could no longer conceal the fact that she was a women”(320). She tries to hide her femininity throughout the whole novel, again because any sign or femininity shows weakness. Nurse Ratched controls all men on the ward and acts as what Kesey characterizes as “manly”. Kesey promotes sexism in this way because of how he characterizes women to look and act in a masculine

Read More

More about What Is Power In One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

Related Topics

Open Document