One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest By Ken Kesey

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.

Kesey shows us that the men are the victims in the scene with the men talking about fighting back. “He couldn’t continue in his hero role if he was sitting around the day room all the time in a shock stupor” (Kesey 291). This quote shows that the men are victims because the man was put into the EST machine because of some minor thing and after a while destroyed him and his brain. Elaborate more, look for clues in text. Another place where the men are obviously the victims is when the men are up getting examined for the flu season and they are talking about the EST machine and how they cant believe they put people in it for such minor things. Harding is talking with McMurphy about he EST machine when Harding says this, “‘If they were going to knock a man in the head, they needed to use something surer and more accurate than a hammer; they finally settled on electricity.’ ‘Jesus, didn’t they think it might do some damage? Didn’t the public raise Cain about it?’ ‘I don’t think you fully understand the public, my friend; in this country, when something is out of order, then the quickest way to get it fixed is the best way.’ McMurphy shakes his head. ‘Hoo-wee! Electricity through the head. Man, that’s like electrocuting a guy for murder’” (Kesey 190). This quote shows that the “science” around using electroshock therapy wasn’t really there, the nurse knew it too. The reason they settled on EST

This is shown in many parts of the book, one good example is when they throw a party and destroy lots of things in the hospital. The men know they have no power and Harding says, “‘It is our last fling. We are doomed henceforth. Must screw our courage to the sticking point and face up to our impending fate… Miss Ratched shall line us all against the wall, where we’ll shall face the terrible maw of a muzzle-loading shotgun which she has loaded with Miltowns! Thorazines! Libriums! Stelazines!’” (Kesey 304). This quote shows that the men have no power because instead of trying to fight their way through the big nurse, the men decide it would be best to line up on the wall and wait for their death. The men are so fearful of the nurse that they would rather line up and wait for their death then to face her, and try and talk it