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

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Would you ever do something as crazy as volunteering to be a patient at a mental institution even through you’re not crazy at all? Well in the book One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey the main character McMurphy was a criminal and decided to go to a mental ward instead of working on a work farm. He is a rebellious man who did not get along with Nurse Ratched who was head in charge of the ward. Everyone in the institution was scared of big Nurse Ratched, but McMurphy wasn’t and they seemed to clash heads when it came to who really had power in the ward. 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 …show more content…

McMurphy also used the night guard and convinced him to let the girls he invited to the ward in and promised him bottles of liquor and girls which shows that McMurphy has a way with getting what he wants and also getting the guard to go against nurse ratched. McMurphy uses his friend candy to distract the patients and the guard to get a party in the ward and show how easy it is to get around nurse ratched and her rules. The party he threw in the hospital was to show the patients that there is more than the ward and to show nurse ratched how much he has influenced everyone even the guards. McMurphy tells the other men in the ward stories about his life outside the ward and about the parties with girls and also tells them about watching the sports games and just living as an independent person. The battle for ultimate power between nurse ratched and McMurphy was very intense. They both used their power in different ways but also made it very clear of what they were capable of doing despite of the others decisions. Nurse Ratched made it very clear she was in charge of the ward until McMurphy came and cause chaos throughout the ward and turned everything upside down. Both of them used their power in ways to get under each other’s skin and prove that can get what they want no matter who stands in their

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