To propel our forum, type 300+ words in the form of a "Worst ________" or "Best ________" list (or another form of superlative like "Most...") about the novel. You must also dis/agree with one other student's list. Mention the student's name and the specific idea you dis/agree with in your post.
For example, create the four-item list "Best/Most Bizarre Mental Images Described by Bromden" and disagree with a classmate's "Instances When Bromden Grows the Most" six-item list.
Include page numbers in your lists, punctuated properly like this: "Kesey's words go inside quotation marks, and the period goes after the page number" (303).
The student who posts first will have to post again later, once a classmate has added a list to dis/agree with. Enjoy the discussions!
88 comments:
Best view on women as less developed characters than men in this novel.
1. The women seem hopelessly imprisoned throughout the entire novel. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is very sexist. A literary critic Leslie Horst said, we may not notice it because we are absorbing a very negative view on women and our attention is focused on McMurphy’s heroic struggle. I thought that was very interesting because I never look at the novel through a feminist lens.
2. In the novel, Kesey portrays Ratched as anti-sexual. She represents not only an anti-feminine figure but also all the social forces of conformity. Her one feminine attribute disturbs her: “A mistake was made somehow in manufacturing, putting those big womanly breasts on what would’ve otherwise been a perfect work and you can see how bitter she is about it (6).” A “gust of cold” (3) enters a room with her. Her name Ratched even sounds like a machine part. McMurphy tries to attack Big Nurse to make her vulnerable as a woman, asking her bra size and making lewd remarks. By remaining invulnerable most of the time and by treating the men like bad little boys, Nurse Ratched usually retains her power. She becomes the ultimate evil women in the novel.
3. In the novel, Harding’s wife is portrayed as evil. Billy Bibbit’s mother hinders all of Billy’s impulses to grow up. Chief Bromden’s mother a white woman who felt superior to her Indian husband. The views of all these women are negative. They are all powerful in the sense that they make the characters who they are.
4. Sex is often seen as a performance in the novel. It is oriented toward the male’s pleasure; the female’s enjoyment is not for her own sake. Women are sexual objects. McMurphy talks about Chief Bromden’s future sexual achievements, “Stomping’ through town, stops just long enough for virgins, the rest of you twitches might’s well not even line up less you got tits like muskmelons, nice strong white legs long enough to lock around his mighty back, and a little cup of poozle warm and juicy and sweet as butter and honey (212).”
I agree with your statement, that your view of women in the novel are portrayed as sexist and the inferior gender.
1. The social role of the prostitute is, of course, to serve men, to be available, and to make no demands for anything other than. The word prostitute is always followed by the thought of a woman. These expected behaviors are based on the idea of a traditional life. Many men wish for freedom, when a guy get “tied down” its a joke among friends. Being tied down is a joke, and an insult. A man can’t be tied down, he must go out and live his life, and doesn’t want to be held back by someone that wants a family, children, and a home.
2. Although, there is a woman in the book, the Japanese Nurse, that does contradict what Nurse Ratched and the rest of the women. The Japanese Nurse shows that not all women in the book are misogynistic, although, the majority are in the book.
3. There is a literary critic, Leslie Horst, who says that such an anti-woman view in a male-oriented nobel seems to be as American as apple pie. She finds Kesey’s view of women in the novel to be quite negative, along with the idea that women throughout American history have been treated inferior to men. For centuries in the past women were known as just housewives taking care of the children and doing chores around the house, while the man of the house brings home the money.
4.When you talked about how McMurphy basically sexually attacked Big Nurse, she stood still and never cracked to his remarks. He was defeated in that way, because naturally he feels he has the ability to make any woman crack. He uses his charm and humor to make women feel inferior. Women are seen as the just roles that are needed to be filled.
Burch
Pd. 3
4 Excellent Examples of McMurphy Winning Against Nurse Ratched
1. “‘My horses ain’t hungry, they won’t eat your hay-ay-aeee.’ He holds the note and plays with it, then swoops down with the rest of the verse to finish it off. ‘So fare-thee-well, darlin’, I’m gone on my way.’ Singing! Everybody’s thunderstruck. They haven’t heard such a thing in years, not on this ward” (91). By bringing back laughter and singing and other sounds of life and happiness, McMurphy is rebelling. Instead of sinking into a silent life of mechanical routine, he is vibrantly joyful, something that Nurse Ratched isn’t a proponent of.
2. McMurphy flaunts his sexuality unabashedly, to the chagrin of Nurse Ratched. The men mention numerous times that the powerful women on the ward plan to castrate them; by wearing Moby Dick boxers, having a deck of playing cards that are plastered with graphic content, and by requesting a day pass to visit a prostitute, McMurphy continues to prove to Nurse Ratched that she cannot break him.
3. When Nurse Ratched tells the men that she will not allow them to watch the World Series, McMurphy “sits that way, with his hands crossed behind his head and his feet stuck out in a chair, a smoking cigarette sticking out from under his hatbrim-- watching the TV screen” (144). The other men ignore their duties and follow suit. Nurse Ratched loses her cool because the men are becoming unsubmissive and unobedient. McMurphy has successfully led a silent rebellion.
4. McMurphy proves he is dominant again when he shatters Nurse Ratched’s window. After a silent few weeks, McMurphy realized that even though he is committed, he needs to stand up for the men and for what is right. Smashing the window marks the turn-around point. He tells Ratched that it was so clean that he forgot it was there and he leaves her fuming. “He turned and left her sitting there with her face shifting and jerking and walked back across the day room to his chair, lighting up a cigarette” (201).
I agree with your examples of McMurphy winning against Nurse Ratched Eden. McMurphy is always trying to provoke Nurse Ratched. All of your statements were very insightful. McMurphy is always trying to prove he is dominant over Nurse Ratched. McMurphy’s boxer shorts are black satin with a pattern of white whales with red eyes, they are symbolic. The white whales symbolize Moby-Dick. One interpretation of Moby-Dick is that the whale is a phallic symbol. This suggests McMurphy’s blatant sexuality. The little white whales cover McMurphy’s underwear which he gleefully reveals to Ratched. McMurphy leads the other patients to rebel against conformity. I agree fully with Eden's statements
Four Best Allusions/Symbols in the novel
The Allusion of McMurphy to Jesus is created through multiple events throughout the novel. When McMurphy is receiving his EST treatment: “Put on those things like headphones, a crown of silver thorns over the graphite at his temples” 285. This is an obvious reference to the crown of thorns Jesus had to wear before he died on the cross.
Another great allusion is to the book Moby Dick by Herman Melville. When McMurphy first comes to the ward he is trying to get under Nurse Ratched’s skin. An example is when he comes out of the shower with only a towel and takes it off showing off his whale underwear. The allusion is that the sperm whale is Moby Dick, a symbol of sexuality, as is McMurphy.
The allusion of the acutes and Candy as the 12 apostles of Christ. When McMurphy takes them on the fishing trip, he is like Jesus leading his disciples to catch fish. Also Mary Magdalene is a prostitute, just like Candy. McMurphy doesn’t care that she is a prostitute just like Jesus didn’t care.
The symbol of the whole hospital as a combine is a great symbol. It sucks you in different and spits you out “normal” as society would put it. Nurse Ratched is the operator of the combine. Randle P. McMurphy is the RPMs that the machine can’t handle. With too many RPMs, the engine will break. The same is true with NR and the combine.
I agree with Eden that McMurphy dominates Nurse Ratched sexually. He wears those underwear and uses the playing cards with profanities. He also asks her multiple times how big her breasts are, and she has no remark. He also rips her white uniform at the end of the book. Her breasts are exposed, thus showing she is a woman and she loses.
After reading Pete’s list of the four most effective allusions in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, I must disagree with number two on his list. I found the Moby Dick allusion less obvious and effective than the allusion to American society. Chief talked of all the same houses and same children, besides one child that was an outsider. The mass of children that were living the same-old American life would walk into others houses not even knowing it. Our narrator spoke of one child that was not like the other boys, like McMurphy, who wanted to be different and stand out. This child represents what Kesey wants Americans to be like: outspoken, special, original.
My list is the four techniques the Big Nurse Ratched uses that are most effective at creating subservient patients.
Nurse Ratched’s most effective action that creates fear in the patients is her glare. Her eyes pierce the patients brains, freezing their thoughts and actions. She appears understanding, but she forces the patients to be understanding.
Her second most useful tactic to control the patients is her calm demeanor. Nurse Ratched acts as though her skin is tough as metal, until McMurphy puts a chink in her armor. The Big Nurse is so used to the patients behaviors, besides Mac, that she can assume their responses and emotions. Days go on how she wants them to when her emotions are not tested.
Nurse Ratched uses the same daily schedule to turn her patients into pawns for her chess game that she has been winning for years. She deters McMurphy’s desire to watch the World Series by asking Harding if he would like to watch his news channel or baseball. She knew Harding would respond that he would rather watch the news. Nurse Ratched has instilled herself into the minds of the insane men.
Ms. Ratttttched also uses the power of guilt to influence the patients lives and choices. I see this perfectly when Nurse Ratched talks to Billy the last time. She asks him what his mother will think of his intercourse with Candy. Billy commits suicide because his mother, Nurse Ratched, and others have held him down and treated him as worthless.
Breitzman 3
My list is the four most important symbols within the book and how they relate to the book’s plot and ending.
1. The game of monopoly that the patients are playing on pages 114-116 symbolizes the ward in general. The definition of a monopoly is one business that has control over all other businesses. In this case, it is one individual, Nurse Ratched who is controlling the daily lives of all of the other patients. This is significant because, at this time in the book, the patients have no freedom and no mental strength to potentially rebel against her ways. McMurphy’s influence has not rubbed off on the patients just yet.
2. The scene on page 164 when McMurphy is looking out the window at the stars in the night sky. “The stars up close to the moon were pale; they got brighter and braver the farther they got out of the circle of light ruled by the giant moon” (164). This sentence is a symbol to the patients situation. The stars are the patients; the circle of light is the ward; and the giant moon is Nurse Ratched. The more the other patients defend themselves and rebel against Nurse Ratched, the brighter and braver they get. This is significant for the ending of the book, when we learn what activities the patients participate in .
3. Scanlon breaking the replacement glass protecting the Nurse’s office symbolizes that the power that Nurse Ratched has over the patients not named McMurphy has been broken. By breaking the glass, they are gaining their freedom and not worrying about following her strict schedule and rules. This ties to the end of the book because many of the patients decide to leave the ward because they have the strength and courage to do so without the Nurse influencing them that they are not mentally stable enough to do so.
4. On page 319, after Billy’s death when the Nurse blames McMurphy for his death, McMurphy rips her shirt open and McMurphy lets out a scream that symbolizes he has lost his power and he only cares about dying. McMurphy ripping open the Nurse’s shirt symbolizes that her power has OFFICIALLY ended. I feel like that and McMurphy’s death combine to give the other patients, including Bromden, the extra strength and motivation to finally leave the ward.
I agree with Eden’s points about McMurphy winning or defeating Nurse Ratched. McMurphy is trying to show that he can be, and is more powerful than Nurse Ratched. I felt Eden’s first point about him singing in the latrine is the perfect symbol for this. By him bringing noise and laughter back to the ward with his singing (something the patients have not heard in years) this is giving the patients joy and, at the time, is giving them a small, silent sense of freedom. All of her other points were also very valid, and I fully agree with her assessment.
Burch
Pd. 3
I agree with many of the items on Carley Kueter’s list, besides the a single sentence in her first point. Although I do agree that One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest is a sexist book, I do not believe that the women are imprisoned throughout the novel. On the contrary, I think that the women are in positions of authority the entire time. McMurphy does prove to have more control and influence over the patients than Nurse Ratched, but she is hardly imprisoned. Nurse Ratched is in a high position and is well-respected as the finest nurse in the entire hospital. In the staff meetings, the sun rises and falls on her time. Final decisions are hers. Nobody questions her dominance in the business portion of the hospital, which is extremely progressive for the era that this novel was written in. Likewise, Billy Bibbit’s mother is working and functioning in society while her son is stuck in the mental ward. In that way, the women in the book are not imprisoned. However, this book is extremely sexist. Like Leslie Horst pointed out, disaster ensues when the women are in charge. “The results of their violation of the order of things are clearly disastrous.” Whether or not Kesey was sexist, his book certainly is. Beyoncé may not be a literary theorist, but she knows what women are capable of. In one of her songs, she sings, “We’re smart enough to make these millions, strong enough to bear the children, then get back to business.” The novel by Kesey completely overlooks the powerful abilities of women and slams our strengths while urging us to cheer for McMurphy and his valiant battle against the evil females in the book. Informed readers will remain aware of this flaw and analyze the book in an appropriate manner.
Greatest moments in Kesey’s mind blowing thoughts.
1.
In One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest Kesey is making the fact prominent that Ratched is a female that is not feminine in any way. This is only because she covers her breast and is empowering over everyone else in the ward. Kesey writes, “A mistake was made somehow made 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). I find it interesting that Kesey seems to think that the only way to be feminine is to show off your body and submit to males--the way Candy and Sandy do. I think Ratched was simply doing her job and wearing her uniform according to dress code. If she was not feminine, I do not think she would take the time to paint her nails and apply lipstick. Women only do this to enhance their figure.
2.
What I find completely genius in this novel is that Kesey has the characters set up so that every man mentioned in the ward is somehow damaged by a woman. Bromden has mommy issues, Harding has a sex addict wife, and Billy has, perhaps, an over crowding mother. You can tell Billy’s mother is a strong authority figure in his life when Ratched says, “What worries me, Billy, is how your poor mother is going to take this” (314). Billy reacts by first flinching and then soon after, slitting his throat. This is so interesting to me because they all have been dominated their whole lives by overpowering women and these men still cannot escape this fate at the ward. Every single women that works the ward floor is portrayed at a threatening figure--with the exception of the Japanese woman on disturbed, and the prostitutes.
3.
“When I asked him how he was going to get me big again he shushed me with a finger to his lips” (223)”’...cleared my bed covers, and left me lying there naked. “Look Chief. Haw. What’d I tell ya? You growed a half a foot already’” (224). A prime example of how Kesey is completely blowing your mind and making you think with a different part of your brain you have not used since middle school. As a reader I was initially thinking that McMurphy would help make Chief bigger muscle wise. As a reader I was wrong. McMurphy gave Chief a boner. Slow claps for you mister Ken Kesey for making my brain swirl in circles.
I agree with Eden that McMurphy constantly is winning against Nurse Ratched. McMurphy, although dead, is still triumphant against the Nurse.
Four fabulous examples of McMurphy proving his dominance over Nurse Ratchet.
“And we’re all sitting there lined up in front of that blanked-out TV set, watching the gray screen just like we could see the baseball game clear as day, and she’s ranting and screaming behind us” (144). McMurphy has now encouraged the others to join in in his games. Not only does the nurse not have control over McMurphy, but she is also losing control over the other guys. If she cannot keep McMurphy contained she is risking losing total control over her ward. By losing her cool in front of the men she is showing her weak spot.
‘“I’m sure sorry, ma’am,” he said. “Gawd but I am. That window glass was so spick and span I com-pletely forgot it was there”(201). McMurphy is now complying to her because he does not want to be stuck on her ward for the rest of his life but he is not going to let her win. He breaks the glass on a few occasions and claims that he forgot because he couldn’t see it-- he knows he cannot act out but since he is supposedly crazy, he knows he will get away with this. Every time he breaks the window it causes the nurse to jump and jerk her neck; this proves that although she is not publicly losing her cool, on the inside she is irate.
McMurphy proves his dominance over the nurse in his sexuality as well. McMurphy struts around in his Moby Dick boxer shorts and makes the nurse feel more than uncomfortable. She immediately starts yelling at the aids for not giving McMurphy his clothes right away so he could even have an excuse for not having them on. This happens again towards the end of the novel in a more extreme case when he rips the front of the nurses uniform off and reveals the nurses sexuality through her voluminous chest. There is no hiding them behind her tight starched white uniform-- she is a woman and McMurphy makes sure she knows there is no hiding it.
McMurphy also proves his rule in a less flamboyant way like when he gets the doctor to rule on his side vs. the nurse’s. Towards the beginning of the novel McMurphy wants to use the tub room to play cards, the nurse rules absolutely not and the doctor swoops in to say we would have enough aids to cover both, why don’t we give it a test run? On page 205 Kesey has the doctor rule on McMurphy’s side once again when the doctor sees “therapeutic value” it starting a basketball team and letting them play against the aids. When McMurphy doesn’t have enough drivers for the fishing trip and it seems as though the nurse will win after all the doctor swoops in and offers up his car and will drive them himself.
I agree with all of the items on Eden’s list I enjoy her thought of that since McMurphy is bringing back laughter to the ward he is rebelling because he isn’t falling to the combine to be silent like the others. I would have never thought of this in that way but it is totally accurate.
The Four Best Moments When We See Nurse Ratched Losing Her Control and Her Cool
1. From the very beginning of McMurphy's arrival, he immediately starts to defy Ratcheds rules. He makes jokes, makes some of the other men laugh, and breaks many of the rules that no one has thought about breaking before. When he arrives you can instantly tell that he will push Ratched to her limits. McMurphy challenges Ratched right away to the rules she has set for the men.
2. McMurphy wanting to watch the World Series and fighting with Ratched to get it is one of the biggest moments you can see her losing her control. When McMurphy starts to actually watch it, that's what really sets her off. “And were all sitting there lined up in front of the blanked out TV set, watching the gray screen just like we could see the baseball game clear as day, and she ranting and screaming behind us” (page 144). Seeing that no one is listening to her at that point shows that she is losing her control.
3. Breaking the glass window of the nurses station pushes her even further. “He stopped in front of her window and he said in his slowest, deepest drawl how he figured he could use one of the smokes he bought this morning, then ran his hand through the glass” (page 201). When McMurphy does this, it stuns Ratched so bad that she freezes like a statue. Never would she think that one of her patients would push her like this. This puts Ratched in a state of mind that involves nothing else but figuring out the ways and games of McMurphy and trying to change him.
4. The part that Ratched has lost all control and is the most vulnerable is when Billy Bibbit kills himself, Ratched blames it on McMurphy, and he attacks her very viciously. “...screaming when he grabbed for her and ripped her uniform all the way down the front, screaming again when the two nippled circles started from her chest and swelled out and out, bigger than anybody had ever even imagined…” (page 318-319). When McMurphy exposes the one thing that she wants to hide, she is exposed and is completely vulnerable to the world. Once her true self is shown to the world, her power dwindles away.
I agree with everything Carley said about women being less developed characters than men. We see women being powerful in the book, but at the same time men are overflowing in the character list and in the end its the men that take control.
Four phenomenal events in which McMurphy’s personality achieves a goal.
1. At the very beginning of the novel, a new man arrives at the ward. Chief notices that he is different right away. As he said in part one of the novel, “Nobody can tell exactly why he laughs; there’s nothing funny going on. But it’s not the way that Public Relation laughs, it’s free and loud and it comes out of his wide grinning mouth and spreads in rings bigger and bigger till it’s lapping against the walls all over the ward. Not like that fat Public Relation laugh. This sounds real. I realize all of a sudden it’s the first laugh I’ve heard in years” (12). McMurphy has achieved the entrance in which he has wanted. He is a man who needs attention and that is what he got.
2. McMurphy accomplishes to help those on the fishing trip to see the good in things. “Because he knows you have to laugh at the things that hurt you just to keep yourself in balance, just to keep the world from running you plumb crazy…. I notice Harding is collapsed beside McMurphy and is laughing too. And Scanlon from the bottom of the boat. At their own selves as well as at the rest of us. And the girl, with her eyes still smarting as she looks from her white breast to her red one, she starts laughing. And Sefelt and the doctor, and all” (250). I also think that McMurphy accomplishes the fact that the men are beginning to realize that the conformity and structure of the ward aren’t helping them after all. At this point, I believe that they are all beginning to grasp the fact that they aren’t abnormal from society and they can live among those who aren’t cooped up in the ward. As Chief says, “I could see some good in life around me” (256). After reading that, I knew things were going to begin to change drastically--for the better.
3. At the beginning of the fishing trip when they had just arrived at the bait shop, the men didn’t know what to think. They didn’t know how to stand up for Candy because for the first time, they were not in the ward and the environment in which they were taught to obey and not object. Although, by the end of the trip, the men had changed. They arrived back to the bait shop different. “...these weren’t the same bunch of weak-knees from a nut-house that they’d watched take their insults on the dock this morning” (254). I think McMurphy didn’t just go on the fishing trip for fun and games. He knew that the men needed to have some freedom to see that they were capable of sticking up for themselves and being their own person rather than following Miss Ratched’s commands daily and living in such a strict environment.
4. At the very end of the book, when McMurphy is shocked, lobotomized, and tortured so much to the point that he is a vegetable, I believe he accomplished more than he ever had before. I think Chief did the right thing by killing McMurphy because I remember earlier in the book Miss Ratched had said she was going to keep him on display and McMurphy wouldn’t have wanted that. Chief killing him prevented him from being on display and showcased to the crazies to come. McMurphy, in a sense, has completely defeated Ratched at this point because her goal was to display him so those in the future could see how they would end up if they misbehaved. Instead, he died, and a large portion of the men left the ward. McMurphy standing up for what he believed in all along gave the men hope. They say how strong he was and wanted to be like that. McMurphy freed these men. He died for a good reason--and he died on the cross.
I agree with Carley on her view that the women of the book are seen as the weaker character. Also, I like the point that you brought up about sex being seen as an achievement and women being used as sexual objects.
Chmela 2
Best moments where Ms. Ratched is perceived as a masculine character.
“She starts moving, and I get back against the wall, and when she rumbles past she’s already big as a truck, trailing that wicker bag behind in her exhaust like a semi behind a Jimmy Diesel” (96). This is a prime example that although she is in fact a woman some of the wards inmates do look at her as a very masculine character. Sometimes even Bromden wonders whether she is actually a man until he remembers her giant breasts she keeps hidden.
During McMurphy’s and Harding’s talk about rabbits and wolves, Harding explains that they in fact are all rabbits and Nurse Ratched is a wolf. Although this does not come off very masculine, it is not of common nature for the regular person to compare a woman to a wolf. This shows that she is in fact an aggressive, manly beast.
“She’s going to tear the black bastards limb from limb, she’s so furious. She’s swelling up, swells till her back’s splitting out the white uniform and she’s let her arms section out long enough to wrap around the three of them five, six times… So she really lets herself go and her painted smile twists, stretches to an open snarl, and she blows up bigger and bigger, big as a tractor, so big I can smell the machinery inside the way you smell a motor pulling too big a load” (5). It is not normal to compare women to tractors, machinery, or motors. This achieves its purpose in making me feel that she is both the antagonist and a very masculine creature.
The whole book plays out in such a manner that she looks manly. She is in a fight the whole time against McMurphy and as an arrogant man she cannot lose and will continue until she wins. If it involves sitting staring at cardboard where the broken glass should have been. Her character throughout the book with her pushiness, arrogance, authority, and asperity give her a masculine appearance throughout the book that cannot be looked past.
I agree with Peter’s point that the combine is one of the greatest allusions in the book. I like the fact that Kesey at times puts the combine in reverse and we start to see contrast in the way people act, but for the most part it stays going forward at sporadic speeds.
Four Important and Interesting Symbols
1. The Fog Machine is talked about within the novel multiple times by Bromden. Although this machine is not seen by anyone else, it takes over his life and his thoughts in seconds after Nurse Ratched “turns it on”. Having the power to fog Chief’s mind makes nurse Ratched seem powerful, but McMurphy has the power to pull him out of the fog which in my opinion, show that McMurphy is that much stronger than Ratched. It seems like it would be a burden on a “normal” person’s mind, but Chief Bromden uses it as an escape from reality and all of the nonsense that occurs within the ward.
2. The Electroshock Therapy table is in the shape of a cross. A majority of the population knows the general story of Jesus. He was crucified on a cross. The men that lay on this table are in essence, crucified. Not literally, but figuratively. They are punished and become brain dead for being themselves and believing what they choose to believe in. When the therapy table is described, it paints a very descriptive and detailed picture in my mind: “The table shaped like a cross, with shadows of a thousand murdered men printed on it, silhouette wrists and ankles running under leather straps sweated green with use, a silhouette neck and head running up to a silver band goes across the forehead.” (132).
3. The Combine is used to describe the machine-like system of the ward. If you do not conform to the combine like Nurse Ratched wishes, you will be punished. Not only is the asylum run by this combine, but the outside world is too. That is the whole reason that these men are in the ward. They do not conform with the rest of society so the combine filters them out. Bromden can hear this humming in the walls throughout the whole book.
4. Pecking Parties are what R. P. McMurphy refers to Nurse Ratched’s therapeutic meets as. A pecking party is defined as a situation where one chicken sees blood on another. When the chicken sees this blood, they start pecking at that chicken until they are all bloody. All of the chickens continue to peck at each other until they eventually kill one another. This symbolizes the way that the men and the staff all interact. Once Ratched sees “blood” or a fault in a patient, she pecks at them causing this patient to peck at others and creates a big bloody mess. But it could also refer to the way that McMurphy changes the mindset of the patients. It causes them to go against the combine and slowly peck at society’s norms, creating the pecking party.
I agree with Andrew’s fourth point. I too believe that when McMurphy rips Nurse Ratched’s shirt open, it shows that her power has ended because she is now vulnerable. Her vulnerability gives the other patients the ability to control their own lives. They can finally breathe because they are no longer being suffocated by the power of Nurse Ratched.
4 best ways that show Nurse Ratched trying to use physiological ways to get to McMurphy
“You seem upset, Mr. McMurphy. Doesn't he seem upset, Doctor? I want you to note this.”
“Don’t give me that noise, lady. When a guy’s getting screwed he’s got a right to holler. And we’ve been damn well screwed” (141).
Nurse Ratched is trying to make a rise out of McMurphy by not allowing him to watch the baseball world series. She knows that he really enjoys this sport and these specific games. She wants him to suffer psychologically because he will not suffer physically. While he is trying to get the others to vote she says the meeting is dismissed causing him to get even more mad. She is breaking him down more and more and it is starting to work for her.
“First Charles Cheswick and now William Babbitt! I hope you're finally satisfied. Playing with human lives--gambling with human lives--as if you thought yourself to be a God” (318).
Nurse Ratched is trying to pin their suicides on McMurphy to make him break down and to feel like it is his fault for the reason they took their lives, even though it is not. McMurphy I believe is affected by this majorly but he can't show it. Ratched is using this against him to again break him down psychologically.
Nurse Ratched started a little rumor that would get the guys talking so that she could bring it up at the group meeting that McMurphy is not at. Nurse Ratched tries to make the patients believe that McMurphy is conning them out of their money and he is doing it for his own good. This gets the men thinking that he could possible be doing this for his own good; however, they still think he is a good guy and do not know what to believe. This is affecting the patients psychologically because they do not know weather to believe he is a good man or a greedy man. An example that Ratched uses to catch their attention is when they are in the tub room and McMurphy wins $300. This gets the patients into deep thinking. Here are a few quotes from the meeting that Ratched says and that the men say in defense of McMurphy.
“Some of the guys wondered if maybe that tale of him faking fights at the work farm to get sent here wasn't just more of his spoofing, and that maybe he was crazies than people thought. The Big Nurse smiled at this and raised her hand” (263).
Nurse Ratched, “Crazy like a fox” she said. “I believe that is what you're trying to say about Mr. McMurphy” (264).
Bromden thinking, “...I just wonder, the guys were beginning to ask, what’s in it for ol’ Mack” (263).
Nurse Ratched knows that in order to get the guys to go against Mack is to mess with their thinking and in this situation she did just that.
With McMurphy getting all this attention from the patients Ratched has to think of a quick plan in order for him not gain any more power. She does this by giving him electric shock therapy and later escalating it to a lobotomy. This is her biggest physiological defense that she uses and this is what causes her to win the game with him. While giving McMurphy EST he becomes very tired and this is affecting him majorly but he does not let it show because he still has to help the others. She see’s this is affecting him and whenever she sees him getting better she gives it to him again. Her final technique used to beat him psychologically is to give him a lobotomy and make him a vegetable so the others look at him as a symbol of failure instead of a symbol of a god. After the lobotomy of McMurphy this has a physiological effect on everyone. This causes people to leave the ward and for Bromden to Kill McMurphy. Ratched did her final job of a psychological defense and she won, causing her to win the battle of the mind and soul, not the strength and power.
I agree with your post Eden that McMurphy uses his gender to dominate Nurse Ratchet. But I believe that Nurse Ratched wins the psychological part of the fight. She shows him that he may be able to out beat her physically but she can and will over power him and beat him by her logic and her psychological smarts. In Edens 3rd point she says that McMurphy went on watching the game even without the TV working or on and all the others joined him. He did this in retaliation after he had a melt down in front of the whole ward. She beat him first in this battle, in my opinion.
I made a list of the most disturbing images in the book according to me. There were many images that can be considered disturbing but to me, these four are the most.
1. One of the images from the book I found most disturbing was the scene when Billy kills himself. I always liked Billy because he seemed younger and when Ratched starts yelling at him and scaring him I felt so bad for him. When he kills himself it’s so sudden and sad and I just found it to be slightly disturbing.
2. Another image that was disturbing to me is the whole fog scene during the meeting. When he’s in the fog he’s so lost and yet everyone carries about their business and even talks about he’s fallen asleep. I found it disturbing and sad because it’s so true to how mental illness works, no one knows what he’s going through and that makes him feel alone and the fear of the fog is disturbing.
3. The image of Howler killing himself by castration was really disturbing, especially, from what I’ve heard, for the men in our class. Every time this scene was brought up the boys would shudder and grimace. The fact that even mentioning this scene causes that reaction tells you just how disturbing this scene is.
4. The final image that is disturbing is another death, the death of Cheswick. Cheswick has gotten more and more strength but when he realizes he’s being abandoned by McMurphy he loses all hope and kills himself. This is disturbing to me because it’s another preventable death that happens because McMurphy gives up on him.
Best examples of McMurphy being portrayed as a Christ figure.
1. Throughout the novel, there are many examples of McMurphy being compared to Jesus. One example of this is when the patients go on the fishing trip. “As McMurphy led the twelve of us toward the ocean” (239). Just like Jesus has 12 disciples, McMurphy leads the 12 people on the fishing trip. Through the fishing trip, McMurphy teaches the patients how to fish; when they ask for help, he makes them fend for themselves so they can learn to do things by themselves.
2. In the bible Jesus heals many people, just like in the novel McMurphy heals Bromden of his deaf and dumbness. Technically Bromden has always been able to talk, but McMurphy makes Bromden feel like he is important so he is not afraid to talk. McMurphy also makes Bromden think he growing big and strong again. “He’d done what he said; my arms were big again,big as they were back in high school, back at the village, and my chest and shoulders were broad and hard” (269).
3. Just like Jesus sacrificed himself to save everyone else, McMurphy sacrificed his life in order to help the patients. He know that the only way to get out of the ward was by Nurse Ratched’s decision, yet he still tried to take her down. At the end of the book, McMurphy attacked Nurse Ratched. He know that he would be punished harshly, but he still attacked her to make sure the ward never went back to the way it was.
4. In part 4 of the book, McMurphy and Bromden were sent up to the disturbed ward to receive electroshock treatment. The way the treatment was given was a clear allusion to Jesus dying on the cross. While McMurphy received electroshock treatment, he laid on a table shaped like a cross and he had a crown of thorns on his head. Before the treatment, McMurphy directly compared himself to Jesus. “Do I get a crown of thorns” (283)? This part of the book shows another way that Kesey compares McMurphy to Jesus.
I agree with the items on Andrew’s list; however, I would add a very important symbol to the list, the fog machine. Throughout the novel, the fog machine is mentioned numerous times. The fog represents the state of mind Nurse Ratched imposes on all the patients; she makes them feel powerless and weak. At first Bromden is caught in the fog, but throughout the novel McMurphy pulls Bromden out of the fog.
Ken Kesey did a marvelous job with description and using symbolism in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. My list includes four symbols within the book that I believe are the most important and help shape the plot.
1.Throughout the book Chief Bromden explains the fog that he experiences and makes the reader interested. In the beginning of the book, Chief experiences the fog quite frequently and refers to Nurse Ratched as being a Combine. The fog is significant because Chief says that the fog is made and controlled by Nurse Ratched. Throughout the book I realized that this fog was not real and was actually Bromden’s mental state. Chief says that the men and himself hide behind the fog for protection from the ward. The fog is significant in the end of the book because Bromden realizes that he doesn't have to go into the fog and can control his mental state.
2. “I realized I still had my eyes shut. I had shut them when I put my face to the screen, like I was scared to look out- side. Now I had to open them. I looked out the window and saw for the first time how the hospital was out in the country” (163). The window scene that occurs on this page is significant. The window symbolizes freedom for Bromden because he finally realizes there is a life outside the Ward. Bromden realizes for the first time that he doesn't need to be the ward and can become a regular person again.
3. McMurphy and Nurse Ratched had a constant battle throughout the book. A significant part in the book occurred on page 201. McMurphey broke the glass. The glass symbolizes Nurse Ratched's power over the men. McMurphy claims it was an accident, but the reader thinks otherwise. This event shows the constant battle between McMurphy and the Nurse.
4. Billy Bibbit's death was a major event in the book. Nurse Ratched blames McMurphy for his and Cheswick’s death. In retaliation, McMurphey ripped off Nurse Ratched's gown and exposes her chest (319). This symbolizes that she has lost all power in the Ward. This final act and McMurphy's death gave Bromden the motivation to leave the Ward and start a different life.
4 Extraordinary Examples of Mcmurphy winning against Nurse Ratched.
I agree with Eden on her choices where Mcmurphy won against Nurse Ratched. I believe in many ways he won most of the battles against her until the very end where she finally won by giving him a lobotomy. Although she may have won in that way Mcmurphy used his force to win in the end when Bromden leaves the ward.
1. “A number of the players, Miss Ratched, have shown marked progress since that basketball team was organized; I think it has proven its therapeutic value” (205). This part of the novel shows how Mcmurphy has used his hooks in the Doctor to help control Miss Ratched and to get what he wants out the ward.
2.Another part where Mcmurphy wins against Nurse Ratched by using the Doctor is when they go on the fishing trip. She thinks she has won when no-one else can go, but Mcmurphy influences the Doctor into going. Once again winning the fight with Nurse Ratched.
3. “Harding began flirting with with all the student nurses, and Billy Bibbit completely quit writing what he used to call his “observations” in the log book, and when the window in front of her desk got replaced again, with a big X across it in whitewash paint to make sure Mcmurphy didn’t have any excuse for not knowing it was there, Scanlon did it in by accidently bouncing our basketball through it before the whitewashed X was even dry” (208). This shows how without him really doing anything at all he has influenced the other patients so much that they are rebelling as well and this helps him try and win his battle without having to lift a finger.
4. Lastly, is the point in which Bromen escapes from the ward. Mcmurphy did not force him to leave, but gave him the idea instead. Once the Nurse “killed” Mcmurphy and thought she had won, Bromden escapes and wins the final battle against the Nurse. She has no more control over him and a lot of the other patients who have already left and gone home or to other hospitals.
I agree with your blog, Greg. Kesey creates symbolism throughout the novel that is unmatched to many other Authors. He uses vivid imagery and great dialogue in order to get his symbolism into discussion. I feel as though all of these symbolic elements Kesey had intended for!
Ken Kesey developed many themes throughout the novel. All of which, can shed a reflection of American Society at that given time. Here are the 4 best themes Kesey integrated into One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest:
Madness: Each character has their own mild or severe insanity. Kesey is suggesting that each person “mentally-ill” or not has a little madness within them. As Billy Bibbit states in the novel, he could live in the outside world if he had guts. Unfortunately, he doesn’t which is why he is in the asylum. There’s a very thin line between “normal” and “abnormal”.
Power: Nurse Ratched has clear authority until Mr. McMurphy shows up to test that. Her power is due to the fact she has the ability to emasculate the male patients into how she would like them to act. She isn’t seen as much of a human. Now, when McMurphy exposes her breasts, everything within the asylum goes wrong. The patients see her now as a woman, and she loses much if not all of her power.
Law and Order: Nurse Ratched is able to keep all of the patients in line by keeping to a strict schedule. Once patients are removed from the schedule, or the conformity, they have the ability to start seeing what is wrong with the asylum. McMurphy, yet again, challenges this in Part II, when he encourages the patients to watch the World Series with them. The patients fall out of the law and order, and Nurse Ratched loses some power.
Manipulation: Nurse Ratched maintains all of her power through manipulation. She manipulates the mens fears and desires. When McMurphy is uncontrollable, she attempts to turn the patients against her by suggesting he has been taking advantage of them and their money. Another example is with Billy Bibbit. Nurse Ratched knows how terrified Billy is to get in trouble or let down his mother which is why she uses this when Billy is caught sleeping with Candy. This ultimately leads to his suicide.
The four best examples of McMurphy winning his battle against Miss Ratched/ taking leadership.
1. After losing the battle of votes concerning changing the daily schedule to watch the World Series, McMurphy takes a stance and encourages the men to “watch” the game with him anyways. Although the TV screen is not turned on, he pretends to narrate each play and excites the men, therefore defying Miss Ratched and her authority. “When a guy’s getting screwed he’s got a right to holler. And we’ve been damn well screwed” (141).
2. I agree with Eden when she stated that McMurphy shows dominance against Miss Ratched when he punches the glass on several different instances. He often uses violence towards her but not directly at her to prove that although she has authority through manipulation and insinuations, he has the ability to be the leader through infliction of fear. “I’m sure sorry ma’am,” he said. “Gawd but I am. That window glass was so spick and span that I completely forgot it was there” (201).
3. During the first portion of his stay, McMurphy asks Nurse Ratched if it would be possible to open the vacant tub room so some of the men could escape the loud music and play cards or board games in a quieter place. When denied this request, McMurphy convinced Dr. Spivey that his idea was a great one. By doing this, McMurphy refused obedience, defying Nurse Ratched’s rule.
4. McMurphy’s persistence throughout the book shows the reader that he will not succumb to Nurse Ratched’s power. For example, each time he is given electro-shock therapy he pretends as if his battery is being recharged which fuels his rebellion even more. He refuses to be weak like the other men have in the past which irks Nurse Ratched, lowering her strong and masculine image.
I fully agree with both Callie and Eden in each moment they described. I feel as if we all had a similar thought process regarding McMurphy and his strong moments.
Four best times when the men showed individuality and defiance
The scene where some of the men threw a party with Candy and Sandy is probably the most rebelliousness. They snuck in women, drank alcohol, stole cough syrup, and stayed out of bed all night. Billy lost his virginity that night also which defies his mother. He gets so upset that his mother would find out that he takes his own life.
20 out of 40 men vote to change the schedule and watch the world series instead of cleaning in the afternoon. Chief Bromden is the deciding factor because he will be 21, making it a majority. Bromden realizes that he is “... raising not just for watching TV, but against the Big Nurse, against her trying to send McMurphy to Disturbed, against the way she’s talked and acted and beat them down for years” (140). Even when Nurse Ratched says they can’t watch the world series because only 20 people vote they quit cleaning and sit in front of the blank tv.
All but 3 of the men leave at the end of the novel. After McMurphy gets a lobotomy, the men start to leave. Only Scanlon and Martini are there after Bromden escapes in the night. Harding has his wife pick him up, Sefelt and Frederickson left Against Medical Advice, six more transfered to another ward, and 3 acutes left. After McMurphy wasn’t there to support the men and try to get them to think for themselves, they left and went into the world on their own. “I felt like I was flying. Free” (324).
McMurphy defies the nurse when he punches through the glass saying he didn’t see it there. The glass is a symbol of Ratched’s power over the men and he shatters it. The Nurse is always uptight about the glass being spotless and then McMurphy goes and totally destroys it.
Greg also states that the glass is a symbol of the nurse’s power over the men. I agree with Greg. The glass breaking also shows that the men are aware of her power over the men. But the men had power knowing of her power.
Best examples of McMurphy making a change in Cuckoo’s Nest:
“Well, hey; what do you say to us taking the card game someplace else? Some other room? Like, say, that room you people put the tables in during that meeting. There’s nothing in there all the rest of the day. You could unlock that room and let the card-players go in there…” (pg. 106). McMurphy is doing something that none of the other patients dare to do: try to reason with Nurse Ratched. The other patients would usually be willing to accept that there is a problem instead of speaking out to make things better. However, the fact that McMurphy is suggesting something reasonable to Ratched makes the other men believe that they too can speak out.
“I haven’t missed a World Series in years. Even when I was in the cooler one September they let us bring in a TV and watch the Series...” (pg. 121). McMurphy wants to watch the World Series at the institute so he has the other men vote whether or not they want to watch it. By having the men vote, the other men feel like their opinions matter. They suddenly believe that they are not just crazy fools living in an institute; they are actual human beings.
“But I tried, though...Goddammit, I sure as hell did that much, now, didn’t I?” (pg. 125). McMurphy trying to lift the control panel makes the other patients realize that they’ll never know whether or not something can be accomplished unless they try. He gives them motivation to step out of their comfort zones and venture into the unknown because they know they may have a chance of succeeding in the real world.
“it looks to me like everybody spends their whole life tearing everybody else down. I know what you want me to think; you want me to feel sorry for you, to think she’s a real bitch. Well, you didn’t make her feel like any queen either” (pg. 185). When Harding’s wife comes to visit McMurphy gives Harding and the other patients a dose of the truth. He tells them to stop feeling sorry for themselves and to stop hating on other people who judge them when they themselves judge others.
I agree with Kendra that McMurphy’s personality helps to achieve several goals within the story. Specifically I agree with her point about how the fishing trip changed the men because they got a chance to be their own people. They did not have someone telling them what to do anymore. It can be compared to when young adults go off to college. Some of their routines or habits may change because they no longer have to live by the rules of their parents.
Three Most Successful Moments of Nurse Ratched
1. Nurse Ratched was successful at the meeting after they went to the pool because McMurphy finally becomes silent, for a little while. He is silent because he is worried that she will lengthen his stay at the ward because he is committed and she chooses when he gets to be released or not. The following excerpt shows how shocked McMurphy is after he finds out where his destiny actually lies. “He swam over to the steps at the shallow end of the pool and sat there the rest of the period, tugging that little tuft of wool at his throat and frowning” (171). Nurse Ratched is also successful because this causes Cheswicks’ death. It may not seem like a “score” but she got rid of one of her most outspoken patients and is one step closer to regaining full control of the ward.
2. Nurse Ratched was also successful when she put up clippings of wrecked ships. This scares most of the patients from signing up for the fishing trip McMurphy is having. She is so successful that McMurphy has to wake up early the day of the trip to find one last patient to join them. McMurphy had to do a lot of convincing to get any of the men to join the excursion: “The clippings scared them more than McMurphy’d figured. He’d figured there would be a rush to sign up, but he’d had to talk and wheedle to get the guys he did” (209).
3. Nurse Ratched’s most successful moment was obviously when she had had a lobotomy given to McMurphy. This completely changed McMurphy and silenced him forever. The other patients did not even believe that it was McMurphy after the procedure, they thought that it was a dummy. All of his power was gone as he was the equivalent of a vegetable now. She even caused Chief Bromden to kill “it” (322) because her power had changed McMurphy to the point of no return.
I agree with Carley’s “Best view on women as less developed characters than men in this novel”. She completely hit it on the dot when she said, “they (the women) are all powerful in the sense that they make the characters who they are.” She is right that the women are powerful. They do not really impact the story line as much as they impact the initial characteristics of the men.
Bromden’s four most expressive moments in Cuckoo’s Nest where he did something important.
I enjoyed reading Lucas Chmela’s post on how Nurse Ratched was expressed as a man many times in the novel. I missed the part of her being compared to the truck and the comparison of her to being a wolf. After reading Lucas’ post I went back to reread these sections of the book having missed them.
First off Bromden’s first defiant moment. Bromden was sick and tired of how she had treated the men over the years and defied her rule. In the scene Bromden is in the meeting where McMurphy had brought up a vote for watching the world series a second time. All of the men who were classified as Acutes voted in favor of changing the schedule. McMurphy believed that he had beat Nurse Ratched. What he didn’t know was that Nurse Ratched would use the Chronics against him. “There are forty patients on the ward, Mr. McMurphy. Forty patients, and only twenty voted. You must have a majority to change the ward policy. I'm afraid the vote is closed” (140). Shortly after McMurphy talked to other Chronic patients he arrives at Bromden who is the last hope for the men. “It’s too late to stop it now. McMurphy did something to it that first day, put some kind of hex on it with his hand so it won't act like I order it. there's no sense in it, any fool can see; I wouldn't do it on my own. Just by the way the nurse is staring at me with her mouth empty of words I can see I'm in for trouble, but I can’t stop it. McMurphy got hidden wire hooked to it, Lifting it slow just to get me out of the fog and into the open where I'm fair game. He’s doing it, wires...No. That’s not the truth. I lifted it myself” (142).
Second the men, along with Bromden, defy Nurse Ratched, led by McMurphy, by stopping work and staring at a blank screen pretending they are watching the baseball game while Nurse Ratched yells at them to get back to work. Though Bromden wasn’t the first man to join McMurphy it is interesting to note that he was the only Chronic to defy Ratched and later become an Acute. “And we’re all sitting there lined up in front of that blanked-out TV set, watching the gray screen just like we could see the baseball game clear as day, and she’s ranting and screaming behind us” (144).
Much later in the book all of the men who went on the fishing trip were required to take an extra shower. During the shower they are forcing George to be cleaned but he clearly doesn’t want to be. McMurphy and Bromden assist George and fight off the aides. Bromden and McMurphy were the only two people in the whole book who fought the aides again elevating Bromden’s status. “And by the time the least black boy came running back in with straps and cuffs and blankets and four more aides from Disturbed, everybody was getting dressed and shaking my hand and McMurphy's hand and saying they had it coming and what a ripsnorter of a fight it had been, what a tremendous big victory. They kept talking like that, to cheer us up and make us feel better, about what a fight, what a victory -- as the Big Nurse helped the aides from Disturbed adjust those soft leather cuffs to fit our arms” (275).
The last moment of Bromden’s expressive moments where he stood out compared to many of the other characters was his escape, the end of the book. No other character attempted an escape let alone was successful putting Bromden one of the most defiant characters. “I ran across the grounds in the direction I remembered seeing the dog go, toward the highway. I remember I was taking huge strides as I ran, seeming to step and float a long ways before my next foot struck the earth. I felt like I was flying. Free. Nobody bothers coming after an AWOL, I knew, and Scanlon could handle any questions about the dead man -- no need to be running like this. But I didn’t stop. I ran for miles before I stopped and walked up the embankment onto the highway” (324).
My inventory involves the highest times I laughed at the prime moments when Kesey makes perfect ironic statements or puns on the patients’ situations. I chose this, because I noticed this when I read the book, and I wanted to bring it up somehow, and this is a perfect way to show it! I enjoy the brilliance behind Kesey’s works; he has a very interesting way of showing humor and mixing it with terror.
4. Going backwards, fourth on my list is when McMurphy sings in the bathroom, and it disrupts the flatline attitude of the ward. Life, humor, and happiness are heard for the first time in forever when he was “singing so you’d think he didn’t have a worry in the world” (91). Nobody knows what to think with a guy so lively as McMurphy, trying to carry on as if he was at home, changing the mood. As soon as life is on the ward, Nurse Ratched is shocked, and the boys have hope.
3. “Nothing is left on the screen but a little eye of light beading right down on McMurphy sitting there” (143). When McMurphy gets all the boys to act like they are watching TV, Nurse Ratched stops her professionalism. The boys act insane (in an asylum, like they’re supposed to, I guess), and SHE goes backwards of herself. I thought it was brilliant how Kesey thought to make her do such a thing. “If somebody’d of come in and took a look, men watching a blank TV, a fifty-year-old woman hollering and squealing at the back of their heads about discipline and order and recriminations, they’d of thought the whole bunch was as crazy as loons” (145). Like they’re not.
2. My second favorite moment was when Candy came to the ward. Not only was the night guard, Turkle, getting high (which plays into Kesey’s personality-- there may be a possibility that Turkle represents Kesey’s God-like character within the book, with the ability to “unlock” what the boys need and takes care of them), but they also break about as many rules as possible. Sefelt, the nobody with seizures, makes Candy exclaim that she had never “experienced anything like it before” (304). Billy Bibbit then has his girl to himself, and enjoys himself, for once. The boys cannot get enough of it; they are breaking rules, and tearing down the institution itself, which is their whole point. I simply cannot get over the perfection.
1.“Ellis pulled his hands down off the nails in the wall and squeezed Billy Bibbit’s hand and told him to be a fisher of men” (234). I made this my top favorite, because at the time, I was excited for the boys to go on the trip, and I about fell out of my chair when Ellis was even thrown into the mix. Not only is he resembling the crucifixion, but he also tries making a biblical statement, to which Billy Bibbit, perhaps one of the shiest characters, “told Ellis to hell with that fisher of men business” (234).
I approve of Emma Baier’s ideas of the top disturbing moments within the book, however, I would add the concept of Santa Claus himself being “trimmed down” by the Combine.
Darrington 7
Most thought provoking statements
1. “This world . . . belongs to the strong, my friend! The ritual of our existence is based on the strong getting stronger by devouring the weak. We must face up to this. No more than right that it should be this way. We must learn to accept it as a law of the natural world. The rabbits accept their role in the ritual and recognize the wolf is the strong. In defense, the rabbit becomes sly and frightened and elusive and he digs holes and hides when the wolf is about. And he endures, he goes on. He knows his place. He most certainly doesn't challenge the wolf to combat. Now, would that be wise? Would it?” (pg. 64). I like this quote because it breaks down a capitalist society fairly well. For better or for worse, those who are able to take advantage of the system are the ones who generally find more success. Whether that be money, respect, power, etc., those who take action and are not afraid to bring about controversy are more likely to be successful. I feel as though this is a good quote to analyze your own personality and motives, along with the attitude of society overall.
2.”If somebody'd of come in and took a look, men watching a blank TV, a fifty-year-old woman hollering and squealing at the back of their heads about discipline and order and recriminations, they'd of thought the whole bunch was crazy as loons” (pg. 145). This was an impressive end to the first part of the novel. Kesey dropped this into the book to sum up the insanity that was happening in the mental institution. For someone who is allegedly braindead, it is interesting that Chief Bromden was able to pick up on this idea. This quote makes you question the systems that you are following. It displays how humans are flawed and no matter the leadership they come up with, crazy things are bound to occur. Even the rules and authority of Nurse Ratched are subject to breaking down, just like the minds of the patients.
3.”But it’s the truth even if it didn’t happen” (pg. 8). We find this quote at the end of the first chapter, concluding our first encounter with Chief Bromden’s for and illusions. I like this quote because it takes on somewhat of and existential philosophy tone. It makes the reader question what is reality; what is it that they are experiencing. Although most people see his hallucinations as being not real, they are absolutely real to him. The question of what is real versus what is simply a figment of the human imagination is not one that I can answer, but an interesting point to consider nonetheless.
4. “Think of it: perhaps the more insane a man is, the more powerful he could become” (pg. 238). After being lifted up by McMurphy’s confidence at the convenience store, Mr. Harding has this shocking realization. I feel as though everyone is a little bit crazy. Possibly, harnessing this insanity could allow a person to be more powerful. In the case of the patients, they are able to scare the public and get away with wilder antics. For someone like me, this could mean accepting my own personal quirks or finding personal happiness/peace of mind.
I agree with Alissa in her descriptions of McMurphy gaining power over Nurse ratched, but I feel as though she left out his greatest victory. He liberated a large number of the men on the ward to leave and attempt the real world once again. Although he was not able to see their final transformation, Sefelt, Fredrickson, Harding, and finally Chief Bromden all left the ward. He also helped Billy Bibbit gain his manhood, but he couldn’t handle the pressure of Nurse Ratched threatening to tell his mother. McMurphy’s greatest victory was freeing the men from their confines. For his success he was sacrificed like a god.
4 Examples Where Mack Achieves a Feat
The most important example of when Mack gets something done is when he no longer can act anymore. After his lobotomy, Mack did the unpredictable and broke the Nurse. She had nothing left to do, and all her plans went to failure. She gave up and basically had to commit a murder. A legal murder, nonetheless, but still had to end Mack’s rule over her. On page 320, it says, “She tried to get her ward back into shape, but it was difficult with McMurphy’s presence still tromping up and down the halls… She couldn’t rule with her old power anymore…” She was losing her patients and as each patient left the ward, a little of the Nurse’s power drifted out the door with them. At the point Mack died, the Nurse was done in. She wanted to display how she had broken Mack, but instead he was dead. She was completely done for.
The next big accomplishment that Mack accomplishes is when he finally gives Bromden the confidence to speak. The first thing that he said was “Thank you!” He received a pack of gum from Mack and without thinking he talked. It started when the Nurse was closing the discussion on the group vote to watch baseball. They had 9 votes and the needed 18. If they got the votes they would really stick it to the Nurse. To win the vote, Mack needed one Chronic to raise his hand and rebel just like the rest of the group. Mack was going around trying to get one more vote and then he got to Bromden. Here he made him raise his hand. Bromden thought, “it was his power. NO wait it was me.” He learned in this moment he was someone that had purpose. Mack showed him this and the others. From there, they went fishing. Bromden had the confidence from prior events. He signed up and told his life story to Mack all because Mack had made him feel like he had purpose.
The next big accomplishment was making the men realize they should laugh and enjoy life and be free. When Mack showed up to the ward, he was laughing. Bromden thought, “Nobody can tell exactly why he laughs, there is nothing funny going on. But it’s not the way that Public Relations laughs, it;s free and loud and it comes out of his wide grinning mouth and spreads in rings bigger and bigger till it’s lapping against the walls all over the ward” (12). Nobody in the ward has laughed for a long time. Mack brings the better out of them and shows them while fishing. On page 250 he says that in order to keep your balance you must laugh at things that are bad and hurt you. All the men finally realize this on the boat. Bromden thinks, “I notice Harding collapsed beside Mcmurphy and is laughing too. And Scanlon… At their own selves as well as the rest of us” (250).
The final example is when he gives Bromden his size that his mother and Nurse took away from him. He simply feeds the Chief with confidence and believes in him and gives him a purpose. He says the Chief has already grown half a foot just that night. Ultimately it leads to the Chief getting out of there and exploring the world.
I agree with you Peter and your allusions. I found the Moby Dick reference easy to pick up on as I read the book. The Jesus reference is also easy to pick up on with Ellis and the crown they use during EST. I think throughout the book other major events were alluded to and these examples were easy to notice.
Best examples of women as ball cutters:
1. Mrs.Ratched is seen as the ultimate ball cutter. She castrates not only Rawler, and Billy, but also McMurphy. Ratched forces Rawler to suicide by castration by shuttling him into disturbed. She cuts Billy by threatening to tell his mother that he had sex with a prostitute, even though it had effectively cured him of his psychosis. Finally, she cuts everyone on the ward’s balls by removing their hope. She finally gets the last laugh by lobotomizing McMurphy.
2. Chronologically, the first woman to castrate a man in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is Chief Bromden’s mother. As Bromden states, “five feet nine and weighed a hundred and thirty pounds… She got bigger all the time” (219). Bromden begins to realise that it was his mother who finally wore his father into nothing but a drunken Indian Chief. Even though Mrs. Bromden was assuredly physically smaller than her husband, Bromden saw her as much bigger because she was always controlling her husband.
3. Billy Bibbit’s mother is also a ball cutter. She has kept Billy under such strict rule that his balls didn't even grow. When he finally regains his confidence by having sex with Candy, it is ripped away by the very thought of going back under the thumb of his controlling mother.
4. Harding’s main problem is that he can’t satisfy his wife, who has cut his balls. He feels so emasculated by his wife that he cannot even be a productive part of society, and chooses to hide out in mental institution. Any time that his balls start to grow back, a quick visit from his wife nips those buds in the bud. Even McMurphy is put off by how she treats him.
I very much agree with Carly K. She brings up the point that Ratched is portrayed as the antisexual machine, and it is a comparison I never would have thought of.
The best four moments where McMurphy does certain activities to empower the boys surreptitiously.
My ultimate activity in the book was when McMurphy attempted to lift the control panel. He showed the boys that just because something is hard or people say you can’t, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try. His quote really tells that he is trying to get to the guys and make a point, “But I tried, though. Goddammit, I sure as hell did that much, now, didn’t I?” (125). He is wise enough to know that he will not be able to lift it but he sneaks the idea into their heads.
Another move that McMurphy took was questioning Nurse Ratched. He hassled her and tested her through the whole book. Asking about the World Series and trying to change the schedule showed the boys that change was fine. After that the guys started questioning Nurse Ratched or giving her a harder time than normal. McMurphy also kept at it with the question to change the system (138). He doesn’t give up.
The party with Candy and Sandy was another way to build up all the men and a chance for them to rebel against the system. They snuck in girls and alcohol, drank cough syrup, and stayed up all night (296). Billy even went against his mom and lost his virginity.
Lastly, even though McMurphy was mentally gone, at the end of the novel he was in their spirits to help the boys take the next step in their lives. Some guys left to the world, some went to another ward, and some stayed. If he had not had the lobotomy the boys might not have left or found their own courage. They had to get their own wings instead of just riding along with McMurphy. “I felt like I was flying. Free.” (324).
I agree with Carley but especially on her number two. Nurse Ratched is seen as the enemy and lacks in feminine characteristics. She is even more masculine and guys that are seen as more feminine are made fun of. McMurphy tries to break Nurse Ratched down and tries to use her being a female as a weakness.
My list is the four times Kesey makes an allusion towards the bible:
1.On page 16 of the book, Kesey mentions Ellis for the first time. Ellis’s brain was damaged from the “Shock Shop” or electric shock therapy. “Now he’s nailed against the wall in the same condition they lifted him off the table for the last time, in the same shape, arms out, palms cupped, with the same horror on his face” pg 16. Ellis is hung on the wall just like how Christ was hung on the cross.
2.The second time the bible is referenced is when McMurphy is walking around shaking hands of the men on the ward when he gets to Ellis “He’s there pulling Ellis’s hand off the wall and shaking it just like he was a politician running for something and Ellis’s vote was good as anybody’s. ‘Buddy,’ he says to Ellis in a solemn voice, ‘my name is R. P. McMurphy and i don’t like to see a full-grown man sloshing’ around in his own water. Whyn’t you go get dried up?’ Ellis looks down at the puddle around his feet in pure surprise. ‘Why, I thank you’ he said and even moves off a few steps toward the latrine before the nails pull his hands back to the wall” pg 22. This symbolizes McMurphy as Jesus and him healing Ellis, even if it was only temporary. Ellis up until now had been a lifeless “stuffed trophy” nailed to the wall, now he has talked and became lucid now that McMurphy had touched him.
3.The Third time was when the men were going on their fishing trip and Ellis told them to be fishers of men. “The Acutes who weren’t going gathered at the day room door, told us don’t bring our catch back till its cleaned and ellis pulled his hands down off the nails in the wall and squeezed Billy Bibbit’s hand and told him to be a fisher of men” pg 234. Jesus told his disciples to be fishers of men, wanting them to help the world.
4.The fourth allusion is the amount of men going on the fishing trip. There are 12 men going along and Jesus had 12 disciples who followed him. McMurphy was also killed by one of his fishing men or “disciples” when Chief Bromden suffocated the corpse that was no longer McMurphy in the end of the book before he escaped.
I agree with Eden and her thought on McMurphy flaunting his sexuality before the Nurse. Nurse does not discuss that topic with anyone on the ward to the point where it takes a man mentioning no men on the ward was sexually attracted to Nurse for them to realize that they did not see her as that. In the end of the book, McMurphy rips off Nurse’s uniform showing her that she is human--even with all of her machine-like characteristics.
The three most immaculate mental images described by Bromden throughout the book.
The best description I found throughout the book is when Bromden is first meeting McMurphy and shakes his hand. Although a very simple and possibly not the most meaningful passage, it shows how great of a writer Kesey is by describing without losing interest. “I remember real clear the way that hand looked: there was carbon under the fingernails where he’d worked once in a garage; there was an anchor tattooed back from the knuckles; there was a dirty Band-Aid on the middle knuckle, peeling up at the edge (25).” He also describes his palms saying, “A road map of his travels up and down the West (25).” This gives the writer a very clear understanding of the fact that McMurphy has a past but also how rough and tough he is. It also underlies the fact that he is tough and hard to break, which the nurse find out.
Another example of good description comes throughout the beginning of the book when Bromden is describing the combine at various times. This gives the reader not only a good image of the combine, but a thorough grasp on what the combine actually represents and what Bromden feels it does to him and the other patients. At one point, he says “The ward is a factory for the Combine. It’s for fixing up mistakes made in the neighborhoods and in the schools and in the churches, the hospital is (40).
The last mental image that was humorous yet very good was the fishing trip fiasco. The reader can just picture mentally unstable men on a boat being thrown into mass chaos over fishing. And adding to that the fact that there is a female with her breasts showing. It provides the reader with comedy yet a mental image that is not too much. A good passage for this is “Everybody gawking, trying to play his own ish, dodge mine slamming around the boat bottom, with the crank of that reel fluttering her breast at such a speed the nipple’s just a red blur (249)!
I agree with all of Calli’s list of McMurphy dominating over Nurse Ratched. I especially agree with the one about the glass because the breaking of the glass shows the shattering of Nurse’s dominance.
The Four Best Quotes Which Serve as a Lesson within One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.
1. “But it's the truth even if it didn't happen” (13). This quote is one of my favorites. It shows that everyone's truth is solely their own truth. People are made up of perspectives and experiences. No one person is the same, thus, their truths cannot possibly be the same.
2. “The stars up close to the moon were pale; they got brighter and braver the farther they got out of the circle of light ruled by the giant moon” (215). This quote is a symbol of McMurphy and the residents. McMurphy is the moon and the residents are the stars. While McMurphy was alive, the residents were dependent upon him for their courage. One he died, however, they were able to be independent. They no longer needed to rely on McMurphy to stand alone. It teaches us as the readers to be independent and not overly rely on others. We are wonderfully unique and should celebrate our differences.
3."'But I tried though,' he says. 'Goddammit, I sure as hell did that much, now, didn't I?'"(111). I think this quote is especially important in the story. It is an important aspect to life as well. Many people do not accomplish their dreams because they are too afraid. McMurphy is saying that, even though he failed, he at least had the guts to try, while everyone else was standing by. People should try to achieve their dreams, even if it may be impossible. The people who tried know what they can and cannot do. Everyone should be willing to try.
4. “I been away a long time” (325) Bromden’s quote has many meanings. He has been away from normal society for a long time. He has been away from his people and his homeland. he has been away from himself for a long time. The person he used to be had been gone, and now he has reunited. Bromden is no longer encompassed by the fog. He can see clearly now; the fog is gone. This quote opens our eyes to the fact that we need to return to our roots every once and a while. Where we grow up and who we used to be are huge impacts on our lives today. They cannot be ignored due to the fact that they make us the people we are.
Nurse Ratched’s most successful moment was obviously when she had had a lobotomy given to McMurphy. This completely changed McMurphy and silenced him forever. The other patients did not even believe that it was McMurphy after the procedure, they thought that it was a dummy. All of his power was gone as he was the equivalent of a vegetable now. She even caused Chief Bromden to kill “it” (322) because her power had changed McMurphy to the point of no return.
I agree and disagree with Karly Neuberger's third most successful moment. I agree that in Nurse Ratched’s mind, she finally won. She triumphed over the nefarious McMurphy and put an end to his tomfoolery. I have to disagree with this point though, on the basis that the residents do not see it as a win for Ratched. To have it truly be an accomplishment for the nurse, the people around her would have to acknowledge she had won. They do not do this, however. Instead, they use her lobotomizing of McMurphy as fuel for their fire. Many leave the combine. In the residents’ hearts, McMurphy won because he changed the dynamic of the combine and the residents within it.
The Four Best Quotes Which Serve as a Lesson within One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.
1. “But it's the truth even if it didn't happen” (13). This quote is one of my favorites. It shows that everyone's truth is solely their own truth. People are made up of perspectives and experiences. No one person is the same, thus, their truths cannot possibly be the same.
2. “The stars up close to the moon were pale; they got brighter and braver the farther they got out of the circle of light ruled by the giant moon” (215). This quote is a symbol of McMurphy and the residents. McMurphy is the moon and the residents are the stars. While McMurphy was alive, the residents were dependent upon him for their courage. One he died, however, they were able to be independent. They no longer needed to rely on McMurphy to stand alone. It teaches us as the readers to be independent and not overly rely on others. We are wonderfully unique and should celebrate our differences.
3."'But I tried though,' he says. 'Goddammit, I sure as hell did that much, now, didn't I?'"(111). I think this quote is especially important in the story. It is an important aspect to life as well. Many people do not accomplish their dreams because they are too afraid. McMurphy is saying that, even though he failed, he at least had the guts to try, while everyone else was standing by. People should try to achieve their dreams, even if it may be impossible. The people who tried know what they can and cannot do. Everyone should be willing to try.
4. “I been away a long time” (325) Bromden’s quote has many meanings. He has been away from normal society for a long time. He has been away from his people and his homeland. he has been away from himself for a long time. The person he used to be had been gone, and now he has reunited. Bromden is no longer encompassed by the fog. He can see clearly now; the fog is gone. This quote opens our eyes to the fact that we need to return to our roots every once and a while. Where we grow up and who we used to be are huge impacts on our lives today. They cannot be ignored due to the fact that they make us the people we are.
I agree and disagree with Carley Neuberger’s third most successful moment. I agree that in Nurse Ratched’s mind, she finally won. She triumphed over the nefarious McMurphy and put an end to his tomfoolery. I have to disagree with this point though, on the basis that the residents do not see it as a win for Ratched. To have it truly be an accomplishment for the nurse, the people around her would have to acknowledge she had won. They do not do this, however. Instead, they use her lobotomizing of McMurphy as fuel for their fire. Many leave the combine. In the residents’ hearts, McMurphy won because he changed the dynamic of the combine and the residents of it.
Part 1
Four best moments when Chief Bromden grows as a character
1. Chief Bromden first starts to grow as a character when he lifts his hand to agree to watching the World Series. “It’s too late to stop it now. McMurphy did something to it that first day, put some kind of hex on it with his hand so it won’t act like I order it. There’s no sense in it, any fool can see; I wouldn’t do it on my own. Just by the way the nurse is staring at me with her mouth empty of words I can see I’m in for trouble, but I can’t stop it. McMurphy’s got hidden wires hooked to it, lifting it slow just to get me out of the fog and into the open where I’m fair game. He doing it, wires... No. That’s not the truth. I lifted it myself” (142). At first, Chief thinks that McMurphy is forcing him to raise his hand, but then he comes out of his fog and realizes that he is doing it himself. This is a very important part in the novel for Chief, as he is finally showing that he is not as “dumb” as everyone thinks. Chief is able to think for himself.
2. Another important moment for Chief is when he first speaks to McMurphy. “And before I realized what I was doing, I told him Thank you. He didn’t say anything right off. He was up on his elbow, watching me the way he’d watched the black boy, waiting for me to say something else. I picked up the package of gum from the bedspread and held it in my hand and told him Thank you.” (217). Chief has come to trust McMurphy so much so that he says Thank you without thinking about it. He has not talked to anyone for years because they all thought he was deaf and dumb. McMurphy has taught him to go outside of his comfort zone (Chief’s fog) by talking and laughing. Once Chief starts to talk, the other patients view him differently.
3. After Chief receives electroshock therapy for the last time, he comes out of the fog within a day, which he has never done before. “If you don’t have a reason to wake up you can loaf around in that gray zone for a long, fuzzy time, or if you want to bad enough I found you can come fighting right out of it. This time I came fighting out of it in less than a day, less time than ever. And when the fog was finally swept from my head it seemed like I’d just come up after a long, deep dive, breaking the surface after being under water a hundred years. It was the last treatment they gave me” (289). Chief now has a reason to come out of his fog. He wants to live his life and live like McMurphy taught him. Had it not been for McMurphy, Chief would still be in his fog and receiving electroshock therapy treatments. While McMurphy was slowly dying away, Chief was finally starting to live.
Part 2
4. Chief’s biggest accomplishment is his breaking out of the institution. “The moon straining through the screen of the tub room windows showed the hunched, heavy shape of the control panel, glinted off the chrome fixtures and glass gauges so cold I could almost hear the click of it striking...I put my back toward the screen, then spun and let the momentum carry the panel through the screen and window with a ripping crash. The glass splashed out in the moon, like a bright cold water baptizing the sleeping earth. Panting, I thought for a second about going back and getting Scanlon and some of the others, but then I heard the running squeak of the black boys’ shoes in the hall and I put my hand on the sill and vaulted after the panel, into the moonlight...I had been away a long time” (323-325). Chief has finally gained enough courage to rebel against the institution and the Combine by breaking out. He is ready to live his life without the fog. By the end of the novel, Chief has greatly grown as a character. He starts out being a silent observer who spends a lot of time in a fog. With the help of McMurphy, he starts to slowly break out of his comfort zone and fog. When the novel finishes, Chief has grown so much that he is able to break out of the institution using the mindset that McMurphy has instilled in him. Chief is ready to live in the real world even though the Combine exists out there.
I agree with Kendra and her viewpoints on McMurphy’s personality achieving goals. McMurphy’s personality brought joy, laughter, and life to the ward, which is something that the majority of men had not experienced in a long time. I also agree that it was right of Chief to kill McMurphy. Kendra brought up an excellent point that McMurphy was able to truly win over Nurse Ratched with his death, because he would not be able to be put on display for the new patients that come through the ward. McMurphy not only changed his own life when he was admitted to the institution, but he also changed the lives of all the other men on the ward.
4 Best biblical references throughout the novel
1.
“Now he’s nailed against the wall in the same condition they lifted him off the table for the last time, in the same shape, arms out, palms cupped, with the same horror on his face. He’s nailed like that on the wall, like a stuffed trophy” (16). Ellis is seen throughout the book described like this. He stands “nailed” to the wall with his arms out to the sides of him much like Christ nailed to the cross.
2.
McMurphy takes 12 of the guys on to the boat out to sea. 12 is significant because that’s how many disciples Jesus had.
3.
“...and Ellis pulled his hands down off the nails in the wall and squeezed Billy Bibbit’s hand and told him to be a fisher of men” (234). Ellis tells Billy Bibbit to be a fisher of men right before the 12 patients leave for their fishing trip. This is interesting because Jesus was a “fisher of men” in a way. He went to different towns and told people about God. McMurphy is like Jesus but instead of teaching the men about christianity he teaches them about manhood. On the boat, McMurphy makes the men figure out things for themselves while mentoring them at the same time just like Jesus does for us today. Fish are also a very biblical thing that are a common symbol for christianity today.
4.
“Do I get a crown of thorns” (283)? Bromden and McMurphy are sentenced to the Disturbed Ward after disrupting the ward. McMurphy lies down on the table like he’s being nailed to the cross. He then asks the technician for his crown of thorns. McMurphy echoes christ's trial and punishment.
I agree with Carley Kueter idea that the women seem hopelessly imprisoned throughout the entire novel. The entire novel is very anti-feminist. Most of the characters are men. The only women that we see in the novel are Nurse Ratched, Billy Bibbit’s wife, and the prostitutes. We get a negative view of women throughout this novel.
Analysis of the four most surprising moments from McMurphy:
The first and perhaps most seemingly out of character thing for McMurphy to do at the time was after the men describe to him why they are all in the ward when they do not have to be. The nurse thought she had won her war with McMurphy and had him under control. However, “He stopped in front of her window and he said in his slowest, deepest drawl how he figured he could use one of the smokes he bought this mornin’, then ran his hand through the glass” (201). At first, the reader does not know how to react. Has McMurphy just self appointed himself as the hero or has he actually gone completely crazy. Obviously he proves himself to be the hero later on in the story. The symbol of breaking the glass was that there were no longer any barriers between him and the nurse. He was totally prepared for a metaphorical war with her.
When the men are all fishing and things begin to become chaotic, McMurphy simply stands and laughs while he watches the chaos. Soon after, Chief gives the reason for why McMurphy does something so out of character. “It started slow and pumped itself full, swelling the men bigger and bigger” (250). McMurphy had been trying to get the men to laugh the entire time he had been at the ward. Now he had them really laughing for the first time and they are not even in the ward which makes it even more impressive. This further helps the reader believe that McMurphy is a protagonist hero.
After the party in the ward, the reader fully expects McMurphy to escape and become a free man who gets what he deserves for showing the men in the ward how to live again. However when he lays down with the girl after the party it is described that “that’s the way the black boys found them when they came to turn on the dorm lights at six-thirty” (309). Why wouldn’t McMurphy escape? Ken Kesey could not allow McMurphy to escape because if he had, then Chief would not have been able to escape like he did. McMurphy instead sacrifices himself to ensure that the nurse cannot simply regain the same control she used to have when he is gone.
The final and most unexpected move that McMurphy makes is when he attacks the nurse after Billy Bibbit commits suicide. The way “he grabbed for her and ripped her uniform all the way down the front” (318-319) seems surprisingly sexual. However, Kesey’s purpose in having McMurphy do this is to prove that Nurse Ratchet is really only a woman and proves to the men that she can be defeated.
I completely agree with Jake Donahoe when he says that Harding’s wife is a ball-cutter. It had not occurred to me that Harding had seemingly regained some of his masculinity in the time that he had spent with McMurphy. It only took a few minutes with his wife for that masculinity to be completely ripped away again. Harding’s wife is to Harding as Nurse Ratchet is to Billy Bibbit right before he commits suicide.
Palmer 3
Four most important things McMurphy does for the other patients in the institution:
To begin with, McMurphy challenges both Nurse Ratched and the Black Boys power the instant he steps onto the hospital. After the very first meeting, McMurphy gets Harding and some of the other patients to question Nurse Ratched. He convinces them that she is not really trying to help them, but that she is only evil and malicious. This is the first time that we begin to see other patients, who had been once so loyal, turn against Nurse Ratched. (Pages 65-73)
While it is often overlooked, the baseball game is very significant in uniting the patients. Alone, nobody is able to beat Nurse Ratched, but if they stand together they may have enough power to change the system. Not only does McMurphy demand a vote (and win the majority), but he takes a stand for himself when the Nurse rejects the vote. McMurphy unites all of the patients against Ratched and gives them a sense of power.
When McMurphy breaks the glass, he does so not for himself, but for the others on the ward. He realizes that if he breaks it, he could possibly have to stay even longer on the ward, or he may be moved to disturbed. However, McMurphy also realizes that the men on the ward need someone to stand up for them, and to help them break free from Nurse
Ratched’s control. So, in a state of rebellion, he breaks the glass (and he does so several times). This ignites a rebellion among the patients.
Oddly enough, when McMurphy goes on the fishing trip, he does not do very much to help the patients. However, doing this actually did help them to gain independence and self-confidence. McMurphy does not help reel in the fish, he spends most of the time in the boat’s cabin, and he does not offer his life jacket to anyone. While it seems like he is being selfish or lazy, this is perhaps the best thing he could have done for the men. They learn how to defend themselves and gain confidence and a sense of masculinity.
I agree with Maddy Klamm’s list, specifically her first quote. I believe it is one of the most significant quotes within the novel, and it sets up the story for the reader. The reader sees everything from Chief Bromden’s perspective, which is sometimes skewed with delusions and hallucinations. However, these things he sees are the truth to him, even if they are not to somebody else. I like how Klamm points out the fact that everyone has a different version of the truth based on their own perspectives.
Best Sexuality References:
”’When I get out of here the first woman that takes on ol’ McMurphy the ten-thousand-watt psychopath, she’s gonna light up like a pinball machine and pay off in silver dollars!’” says McMurphy (290). Kesey uses great diction to interest the reader because this is not a usual writing style or topic. He changes it up a little by adding vulgar imagery to spark interest.
”She stopped when she got to the middle of the dayroom floor and saw she was circled by forty staring men in green, and it was so quiet you could hear bellies growling, and, all along the Chronic row, hear catheters popping off” (231-232). Again, this sparked great interest and humor allowing for the reader to enjoy and laugh.
“only at the last--after he’d smashed through that glass door, her face swinging around, with terror forever ruining any other look she might ever try to use again, screaming when he grabbed for her and ripped her uniform all the way down the front, screaming again when the two nippled circles started from her chest and swelled out and out, bigger than anybody had ever even imagined, warm and pink in the light” (318-319). This is more just pure vulgar imagery that symbolizes rape in a similar form. It is rape for the Big Nurse relatively speaking because she is so machine like and hiding her womanly features.
“So you see my friend, it is somewhat as you stated: man has but one truly effective weapon against the juggernaut of modern matriarchy, but it certainly is not laughter. One weapon, and with every passing year in this hip, motivationally researched society, more and more people are discovering how to render that weapon useless and conquer those who have hitherto been conqueror” (70-71). This is implied that Kesey refers to the male reproductive organ and how its the one thing man has over a woman. Kesey gets his point across and sparks interest whether the reader agrees or not.
Breitzman says that the stars outside the window is an important symbol when Bromden looks at the dog and car outside at night. I would disagree and say this isn’t important. I would say that the direct dog is more symbolic than the stars because the dog is like the patients and the incoming car is the combine or machine. They approach the same area in the road and neither can exist in the same spot. In the end, it is implied that the dog is ran over and the the combine wins.
Kuehn 2
I chose to list the four most significant changes McMurphy’s influence created for the men in the ward.
1. I believe the most significant change caused by McMurphy’s influence was Chief Bromden returning to his full strength. Before McMurphy joined the ward, Bromden thought of himself as small, the combine had forced him to shrink. McMurphy promises to return Bromden to his full size. He does this by giving Bromden confidence and showing him the strength he already has. “Look there, Chief. Haw. What’d I tell ya? You growed a half a foot already” (224). With encouragement, Bromden believes he is growing back to his full size. According to Barsness, McMurphy set Bromden free by making him big and showing him the way of escaping. Clurman states that Bromden is the one to fly over the cuckoo’s nest because of his escape at the end of the novel.
2. The next most significant change is persuading Nurse Ratched to let them use the empty tub room for card games. He started the argument for his own sake, to get away from the music that is turned up loud for the chronics. Nurse Ratched tells McMurphy, “I think you are being very selfish” (106). Barsness explained that using the tub room is one of the first little victories as the fight to get outside continues. Since everything inside the hospital supports Nurse Ratched, the inside is evil and the outside is freedom according to Barsness. Even though he starts selfish, McMurphy grows to care for the men in the ward.
3. Chief Bromden is not the only man in the ward that McMurphy ‘made big’ again. McMurphy plans a fishing trip in the ocean. On the way to the boat, they stop at a gas station, and McMurphy shows them for the first time that they can use their condition as mental patients to their benefit. “By the time he got back everybody was feeling cocky as fighting roosters...just like we owned the show” (238). Barsness says that this excursion is the first larger victory for McMurphy and the men, because it is the first one that takes them outside of the mental hospital.
4. According to Miller Jr., authors will mix humor in with the horror, so the truth doesn’t seem so bad. A prime example of this in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is the night of the party. McMurphy sneaks two hookers into the ward, turning the ward into the outside world according to Barsness, and the men have a party. They drink and smoke, and Billy Bibbit sleeps with Candy. Tragedy comes when Billy kills himself, but Clurman says this is quickly forgotten when McMurphy attacks Nurse Ratched, returning comedy to the scene.
I agree with Maddy’s list on the four best quotes that serve as a lesson in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. I think that all of the quotes she picked are significant to the novel and she did a great job of explaining that significance. My favorite quotes from her list are numbers three and four.
House 2
Instances when McMurphy has the most power/influence over the other patients
His arrival: From the moment McMurphy stepped foot in the hospital, the other patients began paying extra close attention to the way he acted and the way he moved. He was unlike any of the other patients in the ward. It’s almost like from the first time McMurphy steps foot in the hospital that the other patients, especially Chief, are under a spell to follow him.
World Series Game: “And we’re all sitting there lined up in front of that blanked-out TV set, watching the gray screen just like we could see the baseball game clear as day, and she’s ranting and screaming behind us” (144). McMurphy made the first move in defying Nurse Ratched and his actions were so powerful that the other patients joined in on the act. Upon joining the act of defying Nurse Ratched, the other patients begin gaining control of what is occurring in the hospital; they are starting to have a say. Because they all sit and ‘watch the World Series’, the daily chores are not getting done. Because McMurphy made the first move everyone else could then follow. If McMurphy had not done that, then none of the patients would have either.
Lifting control panel: When McMurphy fails at lifting the control panel and throwing it through the window, he is showing the other patients that it is ok to fail and it’s better to have tried and failed than not to have tried at all. “But I tried, though,” he says. “Goddammit, I sure as hell did that much, now, didn't I?” (125). I think this is encouraging them to start and try standing up for themselves against Nurse Ratched.
Fishing Trip: On the fishing trip, McMurphy gives the other patients life. He drains himself of life and it flows from him to the other patients.”Then-as he was talking-a set of taillights going past lit up McMurphy’s face, and the windshield reflected an expression that was allowed only because he figured it’d be too dark for anybody in the car to see, dreadfully tired and strained and frantic, like there wasn't enough time left for something he had to do…” (258). McMurphy taking the patients on the fishing trip gave them life. I think this was the final time where McMurphy showed them that they were capable of doing more than they thought; he was believing in them so they would believe in themselves.
Lobotomy: Before the lobotomy, when McMurphy got moved to the disturbed ward, all of the patients on Nurse Ratched’s ward talked about McMurphy like he was some kind of legend. “She saw that that McMurphy was growing bigger than ever while he was upstairs where the guys couldn't see the dent she was making on him, growing almost into a legend. A man out of sight can’t be made to look weak , she decided, and started making plans to bring him back down to our ward. She figured the guys could see for themselves then that he could be as vulnerable as the next man. He couldn't continue in his hero role if he was sitting around the day room all the time in a shock stupor” (291). McMurphy almost had more of an impact being away from them than when he was around them. After the lobotomy, when he is no longer there, the patients all check themselves out; they do not see a point in being there if McMurphy isn’t either. McMurphy was the one who gave them the power to leave and insert themselves back into the real world.
I agree with Emily’s list fully, especially her first statement. Because of McMurphy Chief was able to grow and stand up for himself. I think Chief grew the most when he raised his hand after McMurphy was basically yelling at him to do so. I think if he didn't do that then he wouldn't have been able to do the other things that helped ultimately lead to his escape from the institution. This is really the first time in the novel where the reader acknowledges that Chief is able to think for himself and do things because he wants to.
Four of the best examples of how Nurse Ratched is evil.
Very early in the book Chief says that the nurse carries around her wicker basket full of tools and metal objects that would be used for the days duties. (4) this is a depiction of evil because we know that the things in the basket will not be used on herself rather to enforce he will upon the ward. The tools represent fear, nobody really knows what the tools are but they know they are not used for enjoyment.
When Kesey writes, “ For the first time she takes a sip of her coffee; the cup comes away from her mouth with that red-orange color on it. I stare at the rim of the cup in spite of myself; she couldn't be wearing lipstick that color. That color on the rim of the cup must be from heat, touch of her lips set it smoldering” (157). To me this shows that she is evil because she is wicked and devilish. Just like the devil from the underworld.
It tells how she locks herself in her bathroom at home and tries to remove the stain from her body by rubbing a crucifix on it. However no matter how hard she tries she cannot remove the stain. (165-167) To me this means she is pure evil, if a crucifix cannot rid her of her evils she has to be the most evil woman or thing alive.
She makes Billy kill himself because she uses his mom to make Billy feel shameful for sleeping with Candy. She says that his mother will be so disappointed with his actions, and this pushes Billy to the edge because he cannot displease his mother. He feels so ashamed that he commits suicide. (315-318) If getting someone to feel so guilty that they commit suicide isn't evil, then I do not understand the word. She knew exactly how Billy would feel when she brought up his mom and she probably knew what the outcome would be too.
Guthmiller pd. 6
Nurse Ratched’s best attempts to beat McMurphy-in the sense that it almost worked
1-She put him under multiple rounds of electroshock therapy until she finally gave him a lobotomy and a much worse fate. He would have been a vegetable used as an example to others to not mess with her or they will end up like him too. He would be her trophy from the war they had going. She would have succeeded if Bromden did not realize what she was doing and decided to save his savior by suffocating him.
2-McMurphy was finally starting to get the men to follow him when he suggested the vote in order for him and the boys to watch the World Series. The Big Nurse was not keen on this but she allowed the vote. When the vote first came before all the patients, Cheswick is the only one to stand behind him. "Cheswick's hand comes up. Some of the other guys look around to see if there's any other fools. McMurphy can't believe it" (118). After the first vote failed and he gave an epic speech, McMurphy asked for a revote in the next meeting. When all the acutes voted, McMurphy was elated thinking he had beaten the Big Nurse. The Bug Nurse was not going to let him win that easily. She explained that it was not half of the votes of the whole ward and closed the meeting before the last vote could be tallied. She might have won if McMurphy did not protest by getting the whole ward to sit in front of a blank tv screen instead of doing their chores.
3-McMurphy decided to take a few boys out on the water to help them become men. When all the plans were made, The Big Nurse tried once again to stop him and the others. When she told him he could not go because there was not enough room in the car, he quickly noticed the longing look on the doctors eyes. He used the doctors vulnerability to get him to come with them and thus beating the Big Nurse once again.
4-After a fight with the black boys, the Big Nurse subjects McMurphy to electroshock therapy. This would have worked if the men on the ward weren't fawning over him more because of the way he was handling it.
I agree with Kendra Riley’s list. Especially the point she makes about McMurphy making the entrance he wants in order to set his dominance immediately.
2 Williams
Best Moments of “Disorder” on Nurse Ratched’s Ward
1. The Baseball Game
When the week of World Series Baseball games approaches Randall P. McMurphy gets very excited and asks the Big Nurse during their daily meeting if they could change the schedule in order for the men to watch the games. Not to McMurphy’s surprise she says no saying that the schedule is specifically designed for their benefits. However, McMurphy was shocked when only Cheswick raises his hand. When the Baseball Game topic got brought back up again all the acutes raised their hand, “...raising not just for watching TV, but against the Big Nurse, against her trying to send McMurphy to Disturbed, against the way she’s talked and acted and beat them down for years” (140). And McMurphy even dragged Chief Bromden out of the fog and got him to raise his hand. Even though Nurse Ratched did not take this as an official vote this was the first of many momentous wins for McMurphy.
2. Smashing Through the Glass
In an attempt to maintain control over the patients (mainly McMurphy and his gambling) Nurse Ratched had been keeping all the men’s cigarettes in the nurse’s station and rationing them out. Also, Nurse Ratched was informing the men in their daily meeting that they would be punished for watching the blank TV screen and not helping with chores. Without a word McMurphy got up and went over to the glass window of the Nurse’s Station and smashed his hand right through. “She hadn’t reckoned on him doing anything. [That] was supposed to be her final victory over him…”(201). But it was not. “The glass came apart like water splashing…”(201). McMurphy had officially disrupted the calm sea of order that Nurse Ratched had created and left it in shambles.
3. The Fishing Trip and The Bath Room
This is one of the more extreme examples of disorder that pertains to Nurse Ratched’s ward. The first is the fishing trip that McMurphy had to fight to get going and went completely against Nurse Ratched and the Combine’s procedure. However, he managed to get it to go with the doctor’s help and the men came back more normal than they had in years. To get back at the men for going fishing the Big Nurse ordered them a special shower with the black boys. The black boys were already taken aback when the men were laughing and joking about what they black boys were doing but when McMurphy and Chief fought them in order to protect George, they did not quite know what to do but they fought back. The other patients tried to cheer them up but both McMurphy and Chief got sent to Disturbed for severely injuring the black boys.
4. The Party
The party that McMurphy throws on the ward is the last piece of disorder that McMurphy attends to in his life. Before this McMurphy had been in Disturbed and Nurse Ratched observed that instead of the McMurphy silently disappearing he was “growing almost into a legend” (291). So of course when Nurse Ratched found out that McMurphy had had a party she knew she had to react drastically; end the war once and for all. When Nurse Ratched blames McMurphy for the death of Billy McMurphy tackles Nurse Ratched, strangles her, and rips the front of her dress. Of course, Nurse Ratched took care of this by performing a lobotomy and placing him in the middle of the day room like a warning sign to all the other patients. Although Nurse Ratched thought she had won, she actually lost and disorder was maintained when all the fishing crew left the hospital to spread their love, laughter and disorder with the world.
I agree with Calli’s post about how Nurse Ratched probably felt at loss with the baseball game and how she knew she was losing her control over her ward. However, I do not agree that McMurphy was complying to Nurse Ratched when he broke the window because he wanted to win. I think this may have been part of the reason but it could be that he wanted to prove his point to the other men that she did not control him.
Four best examples when Bromden does a tremendous job narrating.
I find it intriguing that Kesey has Bromden see people based on how big their personality is rather than their physique. This helps us understand Bromden's character, and better understand other characters personalities. I find this device to be quite helpful.
The way Bromden narrates the fog is wonderful. Sometimes I feel as if I am in the fog as well, making me completely lost in the book. It almost becomes a safe haven for the reader throughout all the chaos of the story.
Bromden explains how he feels as if his room and he are being sucked into a black hole, “Twists a knob, and the whole floor goes slipping down away from him standing in the door, lowering into the building like a platform in a grain elevator!”(86). This passage goes on to explain how he hears nothing but drumming and I can’t help but feel like I am being sucked down with him. Of course we all know it is actually Kesey narrating rather than bromden, but the story in itself is enough to pull the reader from the real world into this fictional terror.
One of the most memorable ways Bromden explains what is unfolding before his eyes, is the way he describes Ratched. A strong comparison to the devil is made. Almost a communistic view as well. Although I enjoy having a first person narration, I would much appreciate having a third person point of view as well. This way the reader can become to know the other characters better. As well as it also gives the reader more free thinking room to develop the characters themselves rather than just one persons opinion.
I agree with Paige Drenth’s comment on how McMurphy is portrayed as Jesus Christ at times. I especially like how Kesey related the fishing trip to the Bible. Being a christian I appreciate
all of the references Kesey makes. In addition, I feel that Nurse Ratched is portrayed as the devil. Although some might consider this to be sexist, I find it to be a compliment to women. Once again we see how first person point of view can affect how the reader feels toward other characters, causing a somewhat biased opinion.
I agree with Emma that there were many images in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest that could be considered disturbing. I agree that some of these are more disturbing than others. However, I have other opinions as well.
1. I agree that the fog is definitely disturbing. However, I believe that the scene on page 39. Though the fog could actually be somewhat real, there is one little black girl that comes out of the fog completely. While in the fog, she is happy and sweet, but almost terrifying when she begs Bromden to take her away from the cotton mill. She becomes serious so suddenly, then slips back into the fog like nothing happened at all.
2.I found Howler’s suicide on page 129 disturbing. These is no detail about it whatsoever, thankfully. However, Chief Bromden’s comments after he learns of the suicide are disturbing in a different sense. “...All the guy had to do was wait.” (129). The most disturbing part about this statement is the question of what would he just have to wait for? To be castrated by somebody else (Nurse Rachet) or to die in general. If the first option, this is one of the most disturbing lines in the book. The Nurse has already metaphorically taken all of the men’s balls. However, the question is would she really go so far as to order it be done in reality? Probably not. Bromden, in his own mind, believes that she probably would. Though this may be a thought that McMurphy is putting into Bromden’s mind, it seems more likely that McMurphy is only fodder for these types of thoughts, and that Bromden has had similar thoughts in the past.
3.I also feel that Billy’s death is disturbing, and agree wholly with you. The thought of a young death is always extremely tragic. A young death brought upon by the person’s self is a completely different type of tragic. I have my own theory that Billy’s mother sexual abused him, and that is why he was so distraught when he was caught with Candy. He possibly could have been raped. The idea of going back to his mother may have pushed him to suicide, which in my opinion, makes his death even more tragic and disturbing. I feel it is more disturbing that the thought of his mother, who should have been protecting him, is what drove him to the drastic decision of suicide.
4.I feel that Cheswick’s suicide is also quite disturbing. Drowning is considered the second worst death a person can endure, just after burning to death. The sheer imagery about Cheswick’s fingers was enough to send a shiver down my spine.
I would like to discuss the three most important characters from the novel.
1. McMurphy is probably the most important figure from Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest . He is seen as a Christ figure throughout the novel. He demonstrates to the men what it means to be yourself. Constant displays of defiance toward The System (The Combine) such as the breaking of the glass, the watching of the World Series, and the party in the ward, are McMurphy’s demonstrations of how to become a nonconformist. Although he himself never escapes the mental institution, he proves to the men that they are normal, and shows them that they can handle life outside. The fishing trip was probably one of the most paramount events that he set up for the other men. He showed them how to be themselves, how to laugh, and how to have a good time. I believe this quote from Bromden’s viewpoint sums McMurphy up best: “He’d shown us what a little bravado and courage could accomplish, and we thought he’d taught us how to use it. All the way to the coast we had fun pretending to be brave. When people at a stop light would stare at us and our green uniforms we’d do just like he did, sit up straight and strong and tough-looking and put a big grin on our face and stare straight back at them till their motors died and their windows sunstreaked and they were left sitting when the light changed, upset bad by what a tough bunch of monkeys was just now not three feet from them, and help nowhere in sight. As McMurphy led the twelve of us toward the ocean” (239). The last part also demonstrates how he was a Christ figure leading his twelve disciples.
2. Nurse Ratched also played a large role in the novel. Ratched symbolized the system that forced the men to conform. She was an analogy for society. Constantly, Nurse Ratched silenced the mens’ individuality. At times, she even stripped them of their manhood. She would not let the men break away from any sort of structure. The schedule had to be adhered to. The World Series could not be watched. Anytime conformity was broken, she would lose control of herself. She was the power which McMurphy fought so strongly to overcome to demonstrate to the men that they could be themselves. Her role as antagonist was paramount for the continuity of the novel, and her gender was equally as important. Her purpose was to create a matriarchy and ensure that the men succumbed completely, having no individuality or manhood. Nurse Ratched is best summed up with how she “tends to get real put out if something keeps her outfit from running like a smooth, accurate, precision-made machine. The slightest thing mess or out of kilter or in the way ties her into a little white knot of tight-smiled fury. She walks around with that same doll smile crimped between her chin and her nose and that same calm whir coming from her eyes, but down inside she’s tense as steel” (28).
3. Finally, Chief Bromden has another significant role in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest . Not only is he the narrator, he is one of McMurphy’s key disciples. Bromden is the last vote that McMurphy needed to get the World Series approved, and he was the only chronic to raise his hand. Bromden also gives us important insight from what he picks up from the staff and other patients. Although he is not completely reliable, his visions give the reader an important metaphor for the mental institution (the machine, the Combine). Bromden, in addition, is one of the last patients to leave the institution, ensuring what McMurphy started gets finished--the reclamation of the other patients. As Bromden throws the control panel through the window at the end, he describes how “The glass splashed out in the moon, like a bright cold water baptizing the sleeping earth” (324). The key word here is “baptizing.” Bromden has finished McMurphy’s job by proving that he can break free. He was a chronic patient, one that should never have been able to return to society, but he did. The baptism is the completion of McMurphy’s goal.
I agree with Kjerstin that the fishing trip was one of the most extreme examples of disorder. The men completely went against the Nurse’s wishes and came back laughing and having a good time. I feel that the trip was perhaps the most important event McMurphy organized because it proved the men could break out of the conformity the Nurse has put in place. Laughing was the one thing McMurphy could never get the men to do, and he was finally able to. I think the trip was the turning point in the mens’ healing and the destruction of Nurse Ratched’s system.
Kesey’s most exquisitely intricate Biblical allusions (in no particular order).
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Harding explains the EST (Electro Shock Therapy) machine, or “The Shock Shop” to McMurphy. Harding says that, "You are strapped to a table, shaped, ironically, like a cross, with a crown of electric sparks in place of thorns." Although there are other frequent references to parables of the Christian tradition, this is one of the most blatantly obvious. Jesus Christ is directly alluded to when Ellis assumes the position of the crucifix, a constantly martyred reminder of Ratched’s ruthless power.
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McMurphy takes twelve people on his deep sea fishing trip, uncannily identical to the amount of Christ’s disciples. While the boldness the patients display during the gas station escapade is thought to be layered with uncomfortable fear, the men finally start to access their true spirits again on the fishing adventure. This can be viewed, by the knowledgeable reader, as a version of Pentecost, because the previously oppressed patients were filled with the spirit of McMurphy much the Apostles were filled with the Holy Spirit following the crucifixion of Jesus. Before McMurphy sets out to force the men to once again access their individuality, Ellis tells McMurphy to be a, “...fisher of men...” furthering the completeness of the Biblical circle.
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McMurphy and Bromden are led to the Disturbed Ward after Ratched manipulates the other patients into voting to punish McMurphy for his violently rebellious actions. When R.P. and Chief are being transported a patient approaches and says, “I wash my hands of the whole thing,” eerily echoing the statements of Pontius Pilate after the trial of Christ.
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The final time before McMurphy becomes a proverbial mental shell of what he once was, several of the patients manage their way under Ratched’s nose to have a mini-party. This Last-Supper-esque party featured a Kesey-style transubstantiated wine, which was essentially a dangerous mixture of NyQuil, vodka, and anything else they could grab a hold of. Billy Bibbit is the Judas character, because like Judas who committed suicide after he betrayed Christ, Bibbit committed suicide after he abandoned McMurphy’s spirit of rebellion.
I agree with Chandler Wonka McGrath completely when he says that Bromden’s description of the fog allows the reader to escape the chaos of the book as well.
“Best Suspenseful Moments”
Throughout the novel there are numerous suspenseful moments. One of these suspenseful moments is during a meeting when McMurphy wants to change TV time to allow the men to watch the world series. McMurphy is trying to get one last vote and is calling on the Acutes for action. “Wait! Wait a minute, let me talk to some of those old guys” (141). McMurphy pleads while the Nurse steadily says, “The vote is closed, Mr. McMurphy” (141). McMurphy goes around to all the Acutes and pleads with them, drawing no response except for blank stares and phrases such as “Fffffffuck da wif.” (141). Finally he comes to Chief and at first Chief doesn’t motion, but then “...I can see I’m in for trouble, but I can’t stop it. McMurphy’s got hidden wires hooked to it, lifting it slow just to get me out of the fog and into the open where I’m fair game. He’s doing it, wires...No. That’s not the truth. I lifted it myself.” Chief raises his hand and along with showing everyone he is neither deaf nor dumb, he breaks free of the fog.
Another very heightening moment occurs when the black boys try to wash up George. George is becoming increasingly scared of the soap and the black boys just keep taunting him. After agonizing moments of taunting, McMurphy finally makes a move and asks Washington to stop antagonizing George. Washington ignores McMurphy and so McMurphy takes physical action and shoves Washington away from George. From there a fight erupts between the two in the shower. They fought for a good time while the two other black aides and all the patients watched. “McMurphy had red marks on the head and shoulders, but he didn’t seem to be hurt. He kept coming, taking ten blows for one” (274). McMurphy was close to taking Washington down and then another black aide stepped in, which only threw off McMurphy momentarily until Chief “...picked him off and threw him in the shower...the other one came out of the shower and put a wrestling hold on me...I had to run backward into the shower and mash him against the tile…” (275). Chief and McMurphy ultimately win the fight and are thought of as heroes by the other men.
The last moment that held the most suspense was actually a very short part in the book, but was most essential to our hero character. After McMurphy attacks Nurse Ratched he is not seen again for three weeks and the reader is waiting for an agonizing while to find out what has happened. “And one morning, after McMurphy’d been gone three weeks, she made her last play. The ward door opened, and the black boys wheeled in this Gurney with a chart at the bottom that said in heavy black letters, MCMURPHY, RANDLE P. POST- OPERATIVE. And below this was written in ink, LOBOTOMY” (321). Although brief this is a very heightened moment.
I agree with Kendra in the fact that McMurphy had his entrance planned. He had laid how he wanted to come off to the others and he knew exactly what he wanted to achieve, which at that time was the other patient’s money.
Kesey’s Killer examples of role reversal in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest in no particular order
1) The first example of role reversal that the reader notices in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is Nurse Ratched. Nurse Ratched is contrary to the common role of authority of the time period. Not only is Nurse Ratched head of a ward in a mental institution, her ward is an all male ward. During the time period the book takes place, one would not expect a female be in charge of any ward in a medical field. Ken Kesey takes on this and inserts Nurse Ratched into a position of authority. This is even more impressive considering that none of the doctors from the book are female. The doctors do what the Big Nurse tells them to do. One would not expect this a room full of male doctors to be listening to a ward nurse in how to handle patients
2) Another example of role reversal is Harding and his wife. Harding has been hiding a homosexual side of his life and is very uncomfortable with his wife. He even goes to the extent of fearing his wife and mocking her for her unintelligence. This is very counter to the social issues of the time. During the time that the story takes place, men were usually the heads of the house. Wives were taught to respect their husbands and almost even fear them. This time period experienced many issues of domestic abuse of wives by their husbands. By Kesey showing a husband who feared his wife, he goes against what the issues of the time period were.
3) A similar example to the one above is the example of Bromden’s father and his wife. When Bromden’s father marries Mrs. Bromden, Chief's father gives up his last name. Not only is this uncommon for the time period, but also uncommon for the society of today. Mrs. Bromden also wanted Chief's father to move away from his land to come live with her in the city. This is counter to the way most marriages worked during the time of this novel.
4) My final example of role reversal comes from the government people who come to survey the land to buy from Bromden’s father. The one female who is with the group seems to have control and final say over the others. This is shown when she “nods at both the men, a smile and a nod to each, and her eyes ring them up, and she begins to move stiffly back to their car talking in a light young voice” (215). This shows how she has complete control over how they group will handle the situation.
I agree with Sarah House’s list of McMurphy’s power. However I would add one more to her list. I would add his gambling ring, as he uses it for the patients to become indebted to McMurphy.
My Three Favorite Moments from Randle Patrick McMurphy (herein referred to as McMoments)
3. A favorite McMoment of mine just because of how important it is in the book is when McMurphy leads the rest of the patients in watching a blank television screen and pretending the World Series is on. This causes Nurse Ratched to lose her cool, meaning McMurphy has won his first bet. McMurphy’s ability to act on the fly to achieve his goals is a characteristic that makes him so likeable and that makes the book more fun to read.
2. Another one of my favorite McMoments is McMurphy’s conversation with Chief Bromden the night before the fishing trip. In this conversation, McMurphy is as fun to read as ever, but the main reason I like this segment more than others is because he’s actively trying to make somebody else in the ward “bigger”. That’s one of the main things McMurphy does there: make the other patients in the ward feel more confident about themselves. And it’s great that Bromden, perhaps the hardest nut to crack, was affected in a positive way by it as well.
1. Something I’ve encountered a lot of times in both literature and film is when a major character does or learns something that makes him/her act a lot differently. The character is often a lot less funny to read/watch than they used to be, which makes for an overall more melancholy mood while reading/watching. Then, all of a sudden, the character will do one thing and you know (s)he’s back to being his/her normal self. I don’t know if there’s a name for this type of thing or what, but I hate to see characters who were originally written to be funny just sit there and depress me. McMurphy was this way after the lifeguard at the pool told him he could remain here for any number of years. This is why my favorite McMoment is when Nurse Ratched is about to flex her full power over the patients and remove their tub room access, when… “he stopped in front of her window and he said in his slowest, deepest drawl how he figured he could use one of the smokes he bought this mornin’, then ran his hand through the glass. … ‘I’m sure sorry, ma’am,’ he said. ‘... That window glass was so spick and span I com-pletely forgot it was there’” (201).
If it isn't obvious, I'd like to add that I completely agree with Pilot West that McMurphy is the most important character in the book. Personally, I see it as such because without McMurphy, there is no story; it'd just be business as usual on the ward. McMurphy is, in the words of Ezra Voigt, the catalyst of the novel.
I have four examples of the most prominent and interesting symbols in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
The Electroshock Therapy Table: The use of electroshock therapy in the ward was enough to keep the men in check for the most part. Those who were sent up to the EST room were seen somewhat as sacrifices to the other patients, whenever someone was brave enough to stand up against the machine, he would be ‘sacrificed’ in a way by way of EST. The most interesting thing is not the means of therapy, but the table used to hold the men on. “The table shaped like a cross, with shadows of a thousand murdered men printed on it, silhouette wrists and ankles running under leather straps sweated green with use, a silhouette neck and head running up to a silver band goes across the forehead” (132). This creates a vivid level of imagery and shows just how similar the table is to the cross that Jesus was hung on in the Bible.
The Combine: All throughout the novel, everything that was seemingly bad in the world was compared to some sort of machinery or to be made up of mechanical pieces and parts. This shows that the ‘bad’ people are not seen by the patients --or at least not seen by Chief Bromden-- as real people, but cold, heartless, empty pieces of machinery with the sole purpose of putting the men down in order to maintain a smooth-running facility and ultimately keep them out of the pristinely mechanized lifestyle that the rest of the world is in. The definition of a combine is basically a group of people working together to achieve a similar goal, like machines do. In the first chapter, Nurse Ratched is first described as a huge scary piece of machinery. ¨So she really lets herself go and her painted smile twists, stretches to an open snarl, and she blows up bigger and bigger, big as a tractor, so big I can smell the machinery inside the way you smell a motor pulling too big a load¨ (5).
The Fog: From the beginning of the novel, the use of the ‘fog machine’ by the staff was very prominent. ¨Before noontime they’re at the fog machine again but they haven’t got it turned up full; it’s not so thick but what I can see if I strain real hard. One of these days I’ll stop straining and let myself go completely, lose myself in the fog the way some of the other Chronics have, but for the time being I’m interested in this new man--I want to see how he takes to the Group Meeting coming up¨ (42). The fog is a way to pacify the patients and stop an uprising before it begins according to Chief Bromden.
McMurphy’s Boxers: McMurphy’s boxers are black with red-eyed white whales scattered on them. He wears them around in the morning on the ward deliberately hiding them from Ratched under a towel to mess with her. ¨McMurphy just looks confused, like he don’t know how to take the outfit the black boy’s handing to him, what with the one hand holding the toothbrush and the other holding up the towel. He finally winks at the nurse and shrugs and unwraps the towel, drapes it over her shoulder like she was a wooden rack. I see he had his shorts on under the towel all along¨ (99).
I agree with Shannon that without McMurphey, nothing would have changed throughout the ward and the men would have likely stayed in the stagnant ¨life¨ until they reached the end of their sad and pathetic lives.
I think that Kesey did a fantastic job writing this extraordinary novel. There were many descriptive moments where words exploded to life and filled the air with overwhelmingly real appeal. Even though there were these extraordinary instances, I think that one of Kesey’s best descriptive tools was very subtle. I think that Kesey’s color choice for different instances in the novel were absolutely astonishing.
1. The first and best color choice that stood out to me was the color green. It is the color of all of the patient’s uniforms. The color green is a very precise and wise choice on Kesey’s part. It signifies fertility, luxury, and growth. This is an interesting color choice because it helps further describe the patient’s dreams and goals. As a genius, Kesey also parallels the patients to kids in a school yard. “There were five thousand kids in green corduroy pants and white shirts under green pullover sweaters” (240). He chooses to use kids on a playground to show that they are striving for a place in society just like the ward patients are. By using kids, it shows the patients inability to grow up and the journey ahead for them to assimilate back into society.
2. The second best color choice was actually a combination of three different colors. This novel is set in the season of fall. By choosing this season, the reader instantly thinks of the colors red, orange, and yellow. Red signifies sacrifice and blood. McMurphy is the one who carries out this roll by being the sacrifice for the rest of the patients. Orange signifies enthusiasm and happiness. After McMurphy appears on the ward, more of these characteristics become apparent in the patients. Yellow signifies joy and happiness. This is interesting because it is what all of the patients strive for in the novel. Some of the men are even fortunate enough to find it. All three of these colors combine to make the season of fall have a bigger impact on the reader.
3. The third best color choice is blue. We see this color most when the men are on the fishing trip. Meaning positivity and truth, the blue water helps bring the men closer to their goal of achieving a place in society. The water helps show the men that they do not need Nurse Ratched to survive and that they can make it on their own in the real world.
4. The final wisest color choice was also a combination. It is the yellow and black dress hanging from the tree. “The first girl ever drug me to bed wore that very same dress” (257). This is the point where McMurphy is explaining the first time he had relations with a woman to the men. Yellow and black are interesting color choices because yellow signifies joy and happiness where black signifies darkness and unknown. The yellow is supposed to represent the joy of McMurphy the first time he had relations. However, the black signifies the dark path that McMurphy turned down when he did have the relations.
I agree with Andrew’s points about symbols. It is interesting to read other’s work and see their point of view on the novel. I specifically liked his symbol connection with the breaking of the glass in the nurses’ station. He talked about the time that Scanlon broke the glass rather than McMurphy. I agree with him that this spot is significant because it does show that Nurse Ratched’s power over the rest of the acutes has officially ended.
4 of the most Humbling ideas throughout the novel.
1.As a digital native I have never grown up with out some technology or another in my house or in the car. Looking back at how the men in the ward grew up with out it I can see why Bromden distrusted it. He was of a simple back ground that centered around with living off the land. Technology was not something he depended on. His distrust even grew more of it because the government brought it in, "...and I'm about ten years old and I'm out front of the shack sprinkling salt on salmon for the racks behind the house, when I see a car turn off the highway and come lumbering across the ruts through the sage"(210). The way it was used in the treatment of the patients made it seem evil. "he's frosted over completely with sparks...They roll him out on a Gurney, still jerking, face frosted white." I understand the concept of the treatment but to the patient it would be terrifying if not painful. When all we think is about the good technology can do, it can harm us.
2. The topic of Ellis. He just stands there peeing himself the whole time. Even causes problems in the floor. I thought why don't they put him out of his unconscious life. But I stumbled across something in Kesey's added pages. It goes to tell a story of how people die when they want to. Their whole body has a fight left in it. That meant that Ellis was still alive in some way that actually mattered. He was not just some poor soul who can't choose anything. He chose to live. The strength of some of these characters are amazing; The secondary characters are even based on real people which is even more astounding.
3. How the patients ended up in the Asylum. Most of them were actually some what normal before their mental break down. For example look at George, "' You bet, su-ure. Twenty-five years I work the chinook trollers."(228). How can an old fisherman go crazy. PTSD could be a reason, but it could have been anything, the frailty of the human mind is truly humbling. My own grandma when she was slightly dehydrated and had a severe cold thought she was seeing fairies fly around. Yes, she is 86 years old, but it just shows that if the brain is not taken care of it could make you seem even more crazy than normal.
4. Many parents want their children to see in different perspectives. Kesey did this for his children. He was able to step outside of himself and write a story as a schizophrenic native american. To write a mad man. I will admit that him taking LSD would help in this, but who did he know that made this possible? Kesey was un/cultured enough to write in this perspective. He wrote in a way that make his readers think. My question is what he was thinking at the time of this creation? Was he sticking it to the man or trying to create a social revolution through a book. All these are humbling because he put action into his ideals.
I agree with Mollie that McMurphy helped the boys get the strength back to rebel. But I disagree that it was just those activities that got them to think "Gee wouldn't it be great to get out of here." It was more I think was how McMurphy described his life out side of the ward. They wanted a chance to taste the life he had.
The four greatest battles McMurphy won against Nurse Ratched:
1. “He stopped in front of her window and he said in his slowest, deepest drawl how he figured he could use one of the smokes he bought this mornin’, then ran his hand through the glass” (201). This is the climax of Nurse Ratched and McMurphy’s war. It proves that McMurphy is strong and will do whatever it takes to win. Nurse Ratched thought she was safe in her office, but not anymore.
2. “Of all the chicken-shit things I’ve ever seen, this by God takes the cake” (141)! Once again, Nurse Ratched thinks she can control McMurphy by not allowing him to watch the baseball games, but he just throws a riot. He can easily get under her skin to prove that he is greater than her. He gets the other patients to join in, showing that he has more control over them than she does.
3. McMurphy takes some of the patients on a fishing trip. Nurse Ratched tries to win over McMurphy by scaring the men away from going on the trip. She tells them that the waves are rough and there has been many shipwrecks this season. McMurphy wins by telling them they will be real men if they face the fear of going on the boat.
4. “...doctors and supervisor and nurses prying those heavy red fingers out of the white flesh of her throat as if they were her neck bones, jerking him backward off of her with a loud heave o f breath, only then did he show any sign that he might be anything other than a sane, willful, dogged man performing a hard duty that finally just had to be done, like it or not (319). When McMurphy rips off Nurse Ratched’s shirt, it proves that he had just won. She tried so hard throughout the book to act like a dominant male figure and never showed her feminist side. When McMurphy shows her feminist parts, her character is ruined because everyone knows how big her breasts are and she thinks they will only think of her sexually from now on. He has scared her forever.
I would disagree with Lilli on how she thinks Nurse Ratched won the battle psychological part of the fight. McMurphy can get under Ratched’s skin and destroy her mentally. In the end after most of the acutes are gone, she has no one left to show she is in power. She does not have to prove to the cronics that she is in charge. With them being gone, she has nothing to prove to anyone in the asylum and has completely lost the war.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest displays a plethora of cruel circumstances, often imposed by one character on another. R.P. McMurphy takes to harassing Nurse Ratched right off the bat of his admittance to the ward. Some of these instances seem well-deserved, but others are uncalled for. I now present the list of “Top 3 Times McMurphy Was Unnecessarily Cruel to Nurse Ratched.”
Number 3: “He finally winks at the nurse and shrugs and unwraps the towel, drapes it over her shoulder like she was a wooden rack. I see he had his shorts on under the towel all along” (99). McMurphy plays quite the prank on the Big Nurse. Had this occured later in the novel, after McMurphy knew what she was up to, it may have seemed more suitable. However, he tricks her into thinking he is naked and about to reveal his nude self to her for the sake of winning a bet. The Nurse, already attempting to hide her sexuality, does not seem to know quite what to do if he had been fully naked underneath.
Number 2: “He stopped in front of her window and he said in his slowest, deepest drawl how he figured he could use one of the smokes he bought this mornin’, then ran his hand through the glass” (201). In this scenario, his actions are seemingly more justified. McMurphy is pissed about what is going on in the ward, and how Nurse Ratched runs the roost. Punching the glass is one thing, but he used his towering stature to physically intimidate her. Not only did he lumber toward, rippling muscles and all, he shattered glass over her head. Outside of sheer intimidation for the sake of attempting to bring her to his level (or beneath him), there was no reason to cause her to fear for her own safety. He could have broken the glass at a different time, and made the same point to the men.
Number 1: “Only at the last--after he’d smashed through that glass door, her face swinging around, with terror forever ruining any other look she might ever try to use again, screaming when he grabbed for her and ripped her uniform all the way down the front, screaming again when the two nippled cirlces started from her chest and swelled out and out, bigger than anybody had ever imagined, warm and pink in the light--only at the last, after the officials realized that the three black boys weren’t going to do anything but stand and watch and they would have to beat him off without their help, doctors and supervisors and nurses prying those heavy red fingers out of the white flesh of her throat as if they were her neck bones, jerking him off of her with a loud heave of breath, only then did he show any sign that he might be anything other than a sane, willful, dogged man performing a hard duty that finally just had to be done, like it or not” (319). This scene is the most cruel, but arguably the least unnecessary. Voiding all of her attempts at concealing her sexuality by ripping her blouse open is cruel, as is what I took as him trying to kill her. I cannot imagine he would grab her throat unless trying to strangle her. At this point, what Chief believes McMurphy has seen as her true colors, she somewhat deserved it. Or rather, we can understand why McMurphy believed she deserved it, even if we do not personally align our morals with his. However, one could also argue that if McMurphy was so pissed about the goings-on in the ward he should have just left while he could. He had a handful of instances where he could have fled and never looked back, but he ignored even the most obvious of escapes, making his lashing out at the Nurse potentially unnecessary.
Mollie, I mostly agree with your list, except for number four, Harding. It is possible that Harding’s wife is his castrator, but I saw it as he was already castrated when he came to her. She came for his personality, left for his lack of balls. I feel like she would not “cut his balls” if it led to her being unsatisfied. That is why I assume she is not his ball-cutter, but someone previously, if not himself.
Analyzing the wonderful book, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.
Why would the beginning of the book start off so strong and confusing mixed with a bit of randomness? “They’re out there. Black boys in white suits up before me to commit sex acts in the hall and get it mopped up before I can catch them” (3). This is the very first inkling the reader has about Ken Kesey’s writing style, the beginning the book. The simple yet bold sentence, “They’re out there” lets the reader think, wow how is this story going to unfold. Ken Kesey used numerous amounts of writing style in his book. “Black boys in white suits up before me to commit sex acts in the hall and get it mopped up before I can catch them” causes the newly introduced reader to think, what in the world just happened? Out of the entire book this was my favorite two lines because they show such contrast when placed with each other.
Ken Kesey has a phenomenal sense of imagination. He can create the creepiest and the funniest pictures in the readers mind. “I try with all I got to pull myself over to the chair and get hold of it, but there’s nothing to brace against and all I can do is thrash the air, all I can do is watch the chair come clear, clearer then ever before to where a worker touched the varnish before it was dry, looming out for a few seconds, then fading on off again. I never seen it this thick before, thick to where I can’t get down to the floor and get on my feet if I wanted to and walk around. That’s why I’m so scared; I feel I’m going to float off someplace for good this time” (134). This passage makes the reader think about what the other people in the ward are doing and if they notice that Chief Bromden is tripping and imagining fog. How does one not notice a large dark man moving his arms as if he were reaching for something? This is the section where I believed Chief Bromden was actually seriously mentally ill.
Throughout the entire book Ken Kesey would has Chief Bromden say something that was completely brilliant and then go back to making little to no sense at all. In the middle of the book Ken Kesey has chapters that resemble a journal, little short stories of what he has been seeing or dreaming. The paragraph on page 128 was more journal sounding, Chief was talking about himself trying to find his bed to sleep. He would feel the springs for his gobs of gum. The next page created a creepy dream, a man named Old Rawler castrated himself and bled to death. Before that Chief mentions a shipment of frozen parts that go downstairs.
Ken Kesey’s way of writing styles defiantly became my favorite out of the two books that have been read so far. The variety of chapter lengths made each page more and more interesting as the book continued on.
I do not agree with Keenan’s thought about McMurphy appointing himself as the hero. I think McMurphy was so overwhelmed with how scary his situation has become. He found out that all/most of the men were at the ward voluntarily and he was there because he was unstable. All this time that he spent messing with Nurse Ratched to see how far he could go without getting in trouble was actually digging his self a deeper hole. The more McMurphy tormented Nurse Ratched the longer he would have to stay at the institution.
McMurphy best examples of power and manipulation
“And we’re all sitting there lined up in front of that blanked-out TV set, watching the gray screen just like we could see the baseball game clear as day, and she’s ranting and screaming behind us.” Page 144. This really shows his power over the men of the ward and his ability to almost control them into following him.
Page 268-269. I watched the way he payed them, got them to come around to him and say, No, by Jesus, not a man alive could lift it--finally even suggest the bet themselves. I watched how reluctant he looked to bet. Chief even sees McMurphys ability to control the action of others. Using for this example reverse psychology.
“By God, you’re gonna be our captain, George; we’ll be your crew. By golly! You think I let her scare me about that ocean? You think that?” Page 229. This is just a portion of this conversation but McMurphy expertly manipulates George into coming on the fishing trip. By using the Nurse and almost calling him scared to get him on board.
Convincing the Doctor to come along with the crew 233-234
Page 233-234. “By God, Doctor Spivey, you ever see a Chinook Salmon hit a line? One of the fiercest sights on the seven seas. Say, Candy honeybun, whyn’t you tell the doctor here about deep-sea fishing and all like that….” He is able to manipulate the doctor into coming along on the fishing trip, so they have another car since that one girl did not come and he also use Candy to get this.
I agree with Emma Baier on how she thought were the most disturbing images in the book even though maybe she could have included the nightmare at the beginning of the book. Those could be seen as quite disturbing in a sense, maybe not real, but vivid.
Alex Hillestad Period 7
Ken Kesey put many symbols in One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest. These are my favorites throughout the book.
The Fog is mentioned many times throughout the book. In the beginning of the book, the fog was a way for Chief Bromden to hide and get away from his reality of the ward. The fog is a symbol for Bromden’s and the other patients fears inflicted on them by Nurse Ratched and the other staff in the hospital. But after McMurphy comes to the ward, Bromden and the other patients become less afraid of the Combine and the fog goes away. “They start the fog machine again and it’s snowing down cold and white all over me like skim milk, so think I might even be able to hid in it if they didn't have a hold on me” (7).
Gambling is introduced to the ward when McMurphy shows up. He uses gambling as a way to bond with the other men in the hospital. Gambling represents the battle for power between Ratched and McMurphy. It can also be seen as a chance for the men of the ward to win something of their own. “Yessir, that’s what I came to this establishment for, to bring you birds fun and entertainment around the gamin’ table” (12).
The Combine is a symbol for the Outside world. It is mechanical and the people are it's parts. If the parts are broken, they are sent to the asylum to be fixed. “A success, they say, but I say he's just another robot for the combine and might be better off as a failure…” (17).
I agree with Jeanna about Billy Bibbit’s suicide being being tragic and disturbing. The fact that the thought of his mother lead him to suicide is very sad, especially when your mother should be someone you love and thoughts of her should put your mind at peace. I also thought her theory about Bibbit being raped by his mother is interesting.
I agree with Katie Erickson list of “Four Important and Interesting Symbols” when she says in point one, that the fog machine is used by Chief Bromden to escape from reality. This is why I decided that Bromden uses it as a safety net.
Instances where the fog was Chief Bromden's safety net
There are many instances where the fog around Chief Bromden has served as a safety net for him. When Chief Bromden wants to escape from reality, he hallucinates a fog machine to help deal with reality.
1.“That’s that McMurphy. He’s far away. He’s still trying to pull people out of the fog. Why don’t he just let me be?” (138). While McMurphy is trying to get the the residents to put up their hands in support of a change of TV time, Chief Bromden does not want him to get the residents out of their fog to be more interested in the conversation. He does not want to be involved in the proceedings of the meeting.
2.“That’s why shes fogging up the ward for the meeting. She don’t usually do that. She going to do something with McMurphy today, probably ship him to Disturbed…...It’s rolling in thicker than I’ve ever seen” (133). Chief Bromden is afraid of what Nurse Ratched will do in the meeting. So he hallucinates more fog in the ward than usually because of what is going to happen.
3.“There’s long spells--three days, years-- when you can’t see a thing, know where you are only by the speaker sounding overheard like a bell buoy clanging in the fog” (118). Chief Bromden is wondering why everyone else does not see the fog or how they are unaffected by it. He is worried about how no one else can see it or how their memory is unaffected by it.
“Before noontime they’re at the fog machine again but they haven't got it turned up full; it’s not so thick but what I can see if I strain real hard. One of these days I’ll quit straining and let myself go completely, lose myself in the fog the way some of the other Chronics have, but for the time being I’m interested in this new man” (42). Chief is using the fog to go through life because he is unsure of the new person (McMurphy) who has arrived in the ward. He is not completely in the fog though, because he is intrigued by him.
7 Huizenga
Balancing Acts: 3 best contrasting balances achieved in this novel. Kesey’s novel has many contrasting ideas that must find a balance. In my opinion, the best four balancing acts he pulled off were: Real vs Unreal, Determination vs Experience, and Heart vs Head.
Is what I see more real than what someone else sees? Kesey poses a very important question in this novel--is there one true reality? In the novel, Bromden has hallucinations; but that is not really relevant, what is relevant is whether or not those hallucinations are real. If one were to ask Bromden, the answer would undoubtedly be yes and if one asked a random bystander the answer would certainly be no. How can what one person’s reality not be the same as another’s? This is the question that Kesey asks and the truth is, no one can really say for certain. These visions may or may not be real. By adding them to the story it balances out the immense reality of the main plot, creating for many a sense of comic relief, because to the reader, these are complete fallacy and comically unreal.
2. Suppose you’re hiring someone, do you choose the fiercely determined candidate with no experience or the boringly experienced candidate with little enthusiasm? Difficult to pick, is it not? This is an argument that Kesey makes the men on the ward decide on; the inexperienced, hot-headed McMurphy or the bored, experienced Harding, they can only follow one of these men around the ward. McMurphy is new to the ward and ready to stir things up, but this go-getter attitude causes him to be reckless and make careless mistakes. Whereas Harding has been there for a long time and this has caused him to become too comfortable in his surroundings, missing out on chances to make the ward better for himself.
3. If a person were to go into battle, should they calculate all the possible outcomes or should they rely on instinct? McMurphy is very emotional and charges into the battle head first and swinging with all his might, hoping a blow may land where he wants. This full-steam-ahead tactic works as long as he does not look back at all the destruction in his wake. Nurse Ratched is level-headed, with every move carefully thought out. She saves her cards until she knows she has the hand to take it all, then she lures her target in and completely obliterates them.
I really agree with Emma’s disturbance after Cheswick’s death. I found this particularly disturbing because as Emma stated, “it’s another preventable death that happens because McMurphy gives up on him.” I chose this point because it relates back to my third point. McMurphy is so busy tearing down Nurse Ratched and trying to get out, that he is entirely oblivious to the damage he has caused the other men. He built them up and gave them confidence to stand up for themselves and to help him, but when they needed him to stand behind them, he was gone and they were left alone to Nurse Ratched’s rage.
Ripperda 7
A recurring phenomenon throughout the novel, Chief Bromden often slips into the fog. The fog is not really there, but it acts rather as an accurate representation of his state of mind. His state of mind may be altered because he is on an excess of medications, or it could also be that he is too scared to face the reality of the situation beyond the fog. These are the four best instances of Chief Bromden slipping away into the fog.
1. Chief Bromden first slips into the fog on page 6: “They start the fog machine again and it’s snowing down cold and white all over me like skim milk, so thick I might even be able to hide in it if they didn’t have a hold on me. I can’t see six inches in front of me through the fog…”
2. Suddenly, as soon as McMurphy arrives the fog is not quite as strong. A possible foreshadow of things to come is on page 34: “Before noontime they’re at the fog machine again but they haven’t got it turned up full; it’s not so thick but what I can see if I strain real hard. One of these days I’ll quit straining and let myself go completely, lose myself in the fog the way some of the other chronics have, but for the time being I’m interested in this new man--I want to see how he takes to the group meeting coming up.”
3. Kesey gives us a detailed description of the hallucinations that occur during one of Bromden’s fog trips on page 115: “I’m further off than I’ve ever been. This is what it’s like to be dead. I guess this is what it’s like to be a vegetable; you lose yourself in the fog. You don’t move. They feed your body till it finally stops eating; then they burn it. It’s not so bad. There’s no pain. I don’t feel much of anything other than a touch of chill I figure will pass in time. I see my commanding officer pinning notices on the bulletin board...I see papa coming loping out of a draw and slow up to try and take aim at a big six-point buck springing off through the cedars.”
4.The presence of McMurphy on the ward is obviously having many effects on the patients. Their vision seems to becoming clearer, but is that something the Chief wants? Page 116 sheds light on this topic: “That’s that McMurphy. He’s far away. He’s still trying to pull people out of the fog. Why don’t he leave me be?”
Three Instances where the Chronics show their sanity
1. Chief Bromden shows his lucidity many times throughout the novel. It is hard to cite just one moment considering he narrates the entire book. The moments where he best shows his lucidity are the times when Bromden emerges from the fog. McMurphy tends to be the cause of this emergence. The moment that I think best exemplifies this situation is the last time that Chief slips into his hallucinations. It is shortly after he received his last electroshock therapy. He continues to try and find out what McMurphy said to him before his treatment began. He slips in and out of hallucinations until he realizes what McMurphy said. After he leaves his hallucinations he never retreats into the fog again.
2. Pete Bancini seems to be, for the most part, fairly far-gone. The only words he can say is that he’s tired. However, he shows that he possesses a true understanding of his position in life when he loses his control during a meeting. He says that “I was born a miscarriage. I had so many insults I died. I was born dead. I can’t help it...You got chances...You got it easy...I been dead fifty-five years” (54). He is lamenting his position in life and the role he was born to play. He was born to be a wart on society’s face. He believes that he was born to die. Sadly, that is what most other people - ‘sane’ people - think of people like Pete.
3. Colonel Matterson is considered to be senile and insane. He frequently is mumbling to himself and making metaphors to make sense of his world. He may not seem sane to anybody else, but he does show his sanity during a hallucination of Chief’s. Now, to start, that may seem fairly redundant considering that this occurred during a hallucination. However, his metaphors seem to come together during this moment. “Now, at last, I see what he’s saying...You’re making sense, old man, a sense of your own. You’re not crazy the way they think” (135). Matterson makes his own sense. In his own mind, he understands what he’s saying, even if no one else does.
Funniest moments throughout the ward and among the patients
I thought one of the funniest moments occurred was when McMurphy kept on breaking the glass to the nurses station. His reasoning for breaking the glass was hilarious. “I’m sure sorry ma’am,” he said. “Gawd but I am. That window glass was so spick and span I com-pletely forgot it was there” (201). The second time it happened McMurphy said, “When did they sneak that danged glass in there? Why that thing is a menace” (207)! I think it’s funny how McMurphy acts like it happened on accident which makes it funnier. It also happened a third time with a basketball thrown by Scanlon. I would like to see Nurse Ratched’s Reaction after that.
The basketball game. Reading about the basketball game and how McMurphy punched one of the black aides got me snickering. Maybe it was Martini passing it to nonexistent guys (Not Top 10). I think the movie made it funnier by having Bromden make baskets and then hold the net so the aides didn’t make it.
One of the best moments for the Acutes was probably the final reunion between everyone. They manage to drink a vodka/cough syrup mix along with smoking marijuana between McMurphy and Turkle. It would be funny to see everyone drunk/high for the first time in a long time. Even the Chief gets drunk. They then act like nothing is going to happen in the morning and McMurphy is going to escape. This was a powerful moment in the book because its when the some of the patients got out of the fog and realized they could do whatever they want. They started to laugh and carry smiles on their faces. Billy Bibbit even managed to have sex with Candy.
I would have to agree with Chandler about Bromden narrating through the fog. Like Chandler said, I sometimes feel as if I am with him in the fog watching the events take place or the bedroom moving down on the rail.
While I agree with Cole that the McMurphy pulled the Chief out of the fog, I do not think that this could have been McMurphy's doing. Honestly, Chief could have been hallucinating the entire time. The fact is, is that Chief Bromden could be insane for the entire novel and we wouldn't know any better.
I have decided the top 4 best jaw dropping quotes by Ken Kesey. The reason that I decided to do this was because of Kesey talent of perfectly manipulating sentences to make you think about what you are reading.
1. “Pete had locked out first and seen all the delivery-room machinery waiting for him and somehow realized what he was being born into and had grabbed on to everything handy in there to try to stave off being born” (52). This is the most jaw dropping quote because of the amount of thinking that I had on this. Pete must have see the machines(the Combine/conformity) and decided that he did not want to live in a world where he is constantly judged by other people. This is a sad thought and I think it is a brilliant piece of writing that Kesey uses. The saddest part about the whole ordeal is that Pete was scared mentally so that there is no way that he can conform to society.
2.“Like a cartoon world where the figures are flat and out lined in black, jerking through some kind of goofy story that might be real funny if it weren’t for the cartoon figures being real guys” (33). I have a mix of ideas about what Kesey it trying to say with this one. At the start of the novel I believed that Kesey was trying to show that though the book may be funny since the narrator is hallucinating and may say odd things, there are real people in wards like these that are really suffering like the men in the book. After reading the some of the critic’s opinions about the book, I now think that Kesey could be using this to show that this is a classical cartoon of good vs evil. (Terry Sherwood)
3. “If somebody’d of come in and took a look, men watching a blank TV, a fifty-year-old woman hollering and squealing at the back of their heads about discipline and order and recriminations, they’d of thought the whole bunch was crazy as loons” (145). I find this is a great way for Kesey to wrap up the chapter with an ironic and very funny situation. This also happens at the time where there is hope for the ward and it shows that nurse Ratched is not invincible.
4.“Man, when you lose your laugh you lose your footing” (65). Very simple quote but I believe that it is one of the many themes of the book - hope. These men lose their hope right away it seems as they enter the ward. The nurse seems to be in control of everything and they can’t figure a way to beat her. She is also known as the “ball-cutter” in the book and I believe she is the hope shredder as well. The way that they need to escape the ward is by keeping positive and sticking together.
I read Jacob Nachreiner’s top expressive moments and I would have to agree that all the ones that he mentioned are very important. Yet, I believe the most expressive moment is when Bromden mercy kills McMurphy. I think that it was definitely a tough decision for him to do and it also shows that he does not agree that this is socially acceptable. He thinks that the best and most useful McMurphy was the original McMurphy.
Danny Eitreim
Period 2
I found Tonner’s list about the color choices in the novel to be very interesting and a perspective that I hadn’t thought of while reading the book.
4 Best Instances of Chaos in the Ward
1.The Rabbit Conversation: Near the beginning of the novel after a session of group therapy about Harding, McMurphy confronts the patients over their seeming lack of a backbone. The result is a heated exchange about the nature of the patients of the ward and their similarities with rabbits.
“‘You’re no damned rabbit!’ ‘See the ears? the wiggly nose? the cute little button tail?’ ‘You’re talking like a crazy ma--’ ‘Like a crazy man? How astute’” (65).
2.The Monopoly Scene: Perhaps the most chaotic scene in the whole novel is a humorous attempt at playing Monopoly. Thanks to the near constant questions of Martini, the game stops and starts and waddles along at a snail’s pace. This scene is meant to be humorous, but also to symbolize how the patients are incapable of “playing” in economic system of the real world.
3. The Party Scene: McMurphy’s last hurrah in the novel is a drunken party he throws on the ward in the middle of the night. With the help of old Turkle, he sneaks in two of his “girls” and breaks into the medicine cabinet of the ward. What follows is complete and utter chaos as the intoxicated ward denizens clumsily try to have a good time while not getting caught. Of course, in the end Turkle forgets to wake McMurphy up and their drunken debauchery is brought to light.
4. The Strangling Scene: At the end of the novel McMurphy finally loses his cool and physically assaults Nurse Ratched in her office, nearly killing her. Ultimately he is restrained, but for a split-second, Nurse Ratched’s control over the ward is completely gone and chaos reigns.
The four most traumatic events that occurred in the book.
1. McMurphy getting lobotomized has to be one of the most horrible events that occurred in the book. He is described as a lifeless vegetable that is unrecognizable. Brombden decided that he needed to end McMurphy's suffering and suffocated him with a pillow. McMurphy is portrayed as a the hero in the book, so this has to be the most painful part of the book.
2. Another horrific moment in the novel is when Billy cut his throat. He was so manipulated by nurse Ratchet when she said that she would tell his mother that he had slept with such a dirty women. She makes him fell so ashamed of himself to the point of him committing suicide. This moment in the book just depicts how evil nurse Ratchet was in order to make things go her way. She even went as far as blaming McMurphy for Billy's suicide.
3. One other suicide that was very disturbing in the book was when one of the acutes named Cheswick committed suicide by drowning himself on the bottom of the swimming pool. In my opinion I think that he committed suicide because McMurphy did not support him in his own stand against Nurse Ratched and he just lost overall hope in his life. His death was to show the reader that Mcmurphy had a great amount of influence over the men. This event also shows that McMurphy was starting to comply with nurse Ratched just for the sake of his freedoms.
4. The final thing that I thought was atrocious in the book was Old Blastic dying in the middle of the night. His death seemed very symbolic to me because Brombden had a nightmare of Old Blastic being slaughtered like a pig, and the workers on the ward were the ones doing it. This symbolizes that the ward itself is slowly killing off the patients.
I agree with Chandler McGrath's comment on how great Brombden's narration is in the novel. I love the unique way in which he tells the reader whats happening in the story. Ken Kesey was very smart by making Brombden narrate and it gave great viewpoints that would not have been noticed otherwise.
Ripperda 7
I agree with Riley Petersen's examples of McMurphy's power and manipulation. McMurphy is very sly in how he uses people and it often is not obvious that he is doing so
In One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, the narrator, Chief Bromden, is a patient in the ward. As the narrator, how trustworthy can he really be? The four instances I chose show how having a patient in a ward
1. Bromden's fog throughout the book shows how unreliable he is. It is hard to depict when he is in his fog and when he is not. When he is in the fog, the world around him does not make sense. It is difficult for the reader to know if the things he is seeing are real or if they are a figment of his imagination. “The words come to me like through water, it’s so thick. In fact it’s so much like water it floats me right up out of my chair and I don’t know which end is up for a while.” (133) This excerpt shows how Bromden thinks during the fog, and for all we know, the entire book could be written while he is in the fog.
2. Bromden observes everyone around him in the ward. The patients themselves deal with different illnesses. “One of these days I’ll quit straining and let myself go completely, lose myself in the fog the way some of the other chronics have..” (42) This excerpt, I feel, really shows that the patients are insane. They have lost themselves completely inside of the ward.
3. In the ward the patients are restricted to do what Nurse Ratched wants them to do. She is controlling over the men, but does not help their mental state. She sends patients to have electroshock therapy which in the end, turns them into a vegetable She essentially makes them to be unreliable characters, by destroying their mental state. “‘It’s alright, Billy. It’s all right. No one else is going to harm you. It’s all right. I’ll explain to your mother.” (316) She uses her power against Billy, which ultimately costed him his life. Patients in the ward cannot be deemed sane when having a person controlling them like that.
Nicole, I disagree that the characters are not at all sane. Each one of them is mentally unstable and makes them unreliable as to whether or not the events of which Bromden saw were true.
Jeremiah Burkman P2
The four most noticeable ways the book is not how society was at the time.
The Obvious would be how women controlled the men. Nurse Ratched had little opposition when it came to control. Some would say the men in the ward could not compete with Nurse Ratched because they are crazy or mentally ill. While that may be true for some patients, it does not hold true for R. P. McMurphy and Doctor Spivey. McMurphy just acts crazy but he really does not have any issues with his mind or body. Doctor Spivey is just dominated by Nurse Ratched.
The three black men assist Nurse Ratched to have power over the patients. African Americans were not viewed to have much power in America. Racism was a big part of why they were viewed that way. They were not white and that made some people angry, disgusting views.
Most of the patients in the ward were not completely mentally ill; their actions were not accepted by the outside world. Billy Bibbit’s stutter was thought to make him insane? I think that is completely crazy, no pun intended. Simple therapy would have been sufficient enough rather than sending these people to a psychiatric ward.
The methods of trying to “fix” the patients were unconventional. The staff at the ward would force their pills into the patients without telling them what it is, how it works, or even if the pills are helping patients. One other method the staff used was a lobotomy. They turned their patients into mindless vegetables. The one most known example of a lobotomy is McMurphy. When the ward’s staff realized they could not control McMurphy or cooperate with him, they turned to the lobotomy. This ensured McMurphy would no longer be a pain the their side.
I agree with Lucas’s list of how Nurse Ratched is a masculine character. She has the power over everyone a majority of the time. Most of the patients are afraid of her even though she is simply a woman. They think she is some sort of mechanized robot who willingly will do extremely harmful things to them.
Nurse Ratched’s Four Cruelest Acts:
1) Lobotomizing McMurphy- Robbing McMurphy of his true personality and self ranks highest among Nurse Ratched’s cruel acts. Lobotomies are simply unethical and this is shown as McMurphy simply walks around lifeless, like a zombie. To the Nurse, this was her ultimate achievement and her way to assuredly gain power. This action was so cruel that it in turn led to R.P. McMurphy’s death. Bromden chose to suffocate McMurphy not only to put him out of his misery, but also so Nurse Ratched would not have the enjoyment of seeing the new zombie-fied McMurphy she created.
2) Telling Billy Bibbit she would inform his mom about his night with Candy- Nurse Ratched thoroughly understood the nature of the relationship Billy had with his mother. Ratched knew that Billy was highly subservient to his mother due to the mother’s overbearing personality. This Oedipal relationship between the mother and son ultimately led to his downfall. Nurse Ratched told Billy that she was going to tell his mother as an act of cruelty because she knew this would shake Billy’s new-found happiness. The threat of this act served as the cause of Billy’s suicide, as he did not want to disappoint and ruin the relationship with his overbearing mother.
3) Refusing Cheswick his cigarettes- Nurse Ratched also unrightfully refused Cheswick his cigarettes for no apparent reason. Her main motivation was to refuse as an act of power, to assert her dominance over the patients. Although Cheswick may have solely committed suicide due to McMurphy’s refusal to defend him, Nurse Ratched selfishly instigated the entire situation.
4) Refusing to allow the boys to watch the World Series- Although this event may not be seen as cruel, it can be characterized as so due to Ratched’s motivations. There would be no harm in allowing the men to watch the Series, but instead Ratched refused simply to assert her power. In doing so, she denied the patients their promised right of democracy and group decisions. This event led to the first act of defiance by all the patients, which led to horrible consequences later in the book.
Overall, I agree with Carley’s reasoning on the development of characters in the book. I also read Horst’s analysis on this and I tend to agree. The female characters are completely undeveloped and one dimensional. We know nearly nothing about them, yet we hate them and perceive them as evil. I also agree with Carley’s statement about Nurse Ratched’s femininity. Her femininity is completely abandoned in her quest for power, giving off the message that only men can be powerful. Although these aspects are all blatantly present in the novel, I believe that Kesey had purposely done so in order to successfully demonstrate the ridiculousness of the times.
McMurphy's most immature moments:
1.) The first most unnecessary, childish action McMurphy went through with in the novel is when he refused to tell Nurse Ratched that he was in the wrong for attacking her. McMurphy was in the same mindset as a child who does not wish to lose. McMurphy knew that Nurse Ratched wanted to be in control of everything, which would then make him lose. Ever since the beginning of the story, McMurphy has told the other patients that he will drive Nurse Ratched crazy. He also knows that not giving in will cause her to feel more out of control.
2.) The second most unnecessary action McMurphy took part in was to smash the window of nurse's area. McMurphy could have been just unleashing his anger due to him losing a privilege because of his behavior. This can also be linked to children who throw a tantrum because they have also lost a privilege, such as not being able to watch the television at a certain time.
3.) The third most unnecessary action McMurphy instigates is when he holds the party for the patients. McMurphy knows that this party is against the rules, but he wishes to enjoy himself. He does not care about the ramifications that could occur because of the party. He wouldn't have known this, but Billy Bibbit ends up committing suicide because Nurse Ratched's reaction to the party.
4.) The fourth immature act is when McMurphy tries to lift the control panel to prove a point. McMurphy is not happy with the way the other patients react to the nurses. McMurphy overreacts and tries to lift the control panel in order to show that he at least tries. When he realizes he cannot lift the control panel, he leaves the room in a tantrum.
I agree with Ashley Schobert's list of Nurse Ratched's cruelest acts. There are many instances of Nurse Ratched's cruelty in the novel. It is hard to deny the fact that causing McMurphy to become a vegetable is the cruelest of them all. McMurphy was always full of life and freedom, and Nurse Ratched took that from him.
Top Three Anti-Feminine Moments (in no particular order)
1) Throughout One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, women are described as overbearing figures that destroy the individuality, masculinity, and vitality of men. On page 59, McMurphy blatantly points this out: “She ain’t peckin’ at your eyes. That’s not what she’s peckin’ at” (59). Obviously, this statement and the next shows that the men of the novel believe Nurse Ratched’s role is to “[peck] at your everlovin’ balls” (60). The view of women as castrators is a prevalent theme which continues until the end of the book.
2) The only good woman is a subservient one. The powerful women (ones in leadership positions) are seen through a negative lens. From what I can see, Candy is one of the only women who are seen as “good” from the men’s perspective. Now, Candy is what we would call a prostitute. In other words, her job is to serve men and be submissive. I believe this is why she is seen in such a positive light. This proves to me that Kesey is trying to say that women are supposed to be inferior to men, and when they step out of line and become dominant, all hell breaks loose causing men’s life to become jeopardized.
3) Female breasts are a symbol of shame and inferiority. While Nurse Ratched is characterized as a masculine woman, her one exception or “downfall” is her oversized breasts. Early in the novel, we see her perceived resentment towards her female anatomy. “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). Additionally, there is a comment made on how she tries to conceal them later in the novel.
I completely agree with Jacob Donahoe’s blog. He points out several instances when Kesey conveys to this audience the danger of women. On his third item, he mentions Billy’s mother. I find it interesting how she can have so much control over him even though she is not physically present in his life.
1. “To tell the truth, he don’t even let on he knows the picture is turned off; he puts his cigarette between his teeth and pushes his cap forward in his red hair till he has to lean back to see out from under the brim” (144).This is McMurphy's way of showing Ratched that he doesn’t want to listen to her anymore and will do what he wants to do. The other men in the ward follow his lead and sit in front of the TV to watch the World Series. They are finally starting to silently rebel to Ratched’s rules.
2. “The glass came apart like water splashing, and the nurse threw her hands to her ears. He got one of the cartons of cigarettes with his name on it and took out a pack, then put it back and turned to where the Big Nurse was sitting like a chalk statue and very tenderly went to brushing the slivers of glass off her head and shoulders” (201).
McMurphy is getting tired of being told when he can have his cigarettes and when he cannot. Since Ratched already thinks he is partially, mentally insane then she cannot blame McMurphey for breaking the glass multiple times. Ratched is finally starting to show that she cannot tolerate this, but still tries to stay calm about it.
3. I believe that McMurphy had dominated Nurse Ratched from the very beginning. He makes the patients in the ward laugh and Ratched is not used to that. She looks at all of them as mental patients, not real human beings. McMurphy brought in an enlightened mood to the ward that Ratched doesn’t know how to react to.
4. “Instead of answering, she walked to the bulletin board and pinned up the clipping” (209). McMurphy came up with the idea of a fishing trip for some of the patients at the ward. Ratched disagreed and came up with a ton of excuses on why they should not the go: the salmon were running late in the season, or the sea was rough and dangerous. McMurphy didn’t care anyways; he was set on his fishing trip.
I agree with all of Kaity Dybdahl’s points. Even though Ratched doesn’t show it very easily, McMurphy can really get under her skin, showing her that she isn’t as powerful as she thinks.
McMurphy’s greatest acts of rebellion
Throughout the entire novel of One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, McMurphy is always trying to push Miss Ratchets buttons. I have compiled a small list of the greatest moments of McMurphy’s rebellion.
1.) The Baseball Game
The baseball game is one of McMurphy’s first wins against Miss Ratchet. This part of the book was a complete turning point of the novel. McMurphy even got Chief Bromden, an unconfident and supposedly deaf and dumb individual to go against Miss Ratchet or society when he raised his hand. McMurphy successfully rallied all of the patients when they all gathered around the blank TV set pretending to watch the game. This event was a true catalyst of the war that was about to occur between McMurphy and Miss Rachet.
2.) The Party on the Ward
McMurphy successfully brought the outside world into the sheltered halls of the asylum. He brought fun back to a group of men who had not seen fun in a long time. McMurphy brought all of these men outside of their dark and depressed shells and showed them what true fun is like. Even Billy Bibbit an extremely anxious individual was able to come out of his shell and interact with a female.
3.) McMurphy’s Lobotomy
McMurphy lobotomy is McMurphy’s final success but also his demise. McMurphy gave his all for the rebellion or the cause which ended up costing him his life. McMurphy sacrificed himself for the sake of the patients which make his lobotomy the greatest moment of the rebellion.
Alick Sazonov says that McMurphy’s lobotomy is the most traumatic and horrible part of the book but I see it in a different light. When McMurphy was lobotomized and killed for a cause. That cause being the wellbeing of the patients. He didn’t die for nothing; he died for the sanity of others.
Best (Worst?) uses of pretty iffy stereotypes
1. Kesey often refers to the black custodians not by name, but as “the least black boy” (270), or by just referring to them as “black boy” (270). I do not know about you, but this seems a little racist. Kesey later refers to them as having a “slated face” (274), as in their faces were black, like slate. Kesey also uses the black boys whenever there is some form of sexual tension, like when one of the black boys attempts to take McMurphy’s rectal temperature or when the men are being deloused, and the men are completely naked.
2.The main antagonist, Nurse Ratched, a woman, is described as a “ball-cutter” (60) and is seen emasculating men throughout the story. This was probably a scary thought at the time, could a woman really lord over men? It certainly was not a very accepted idea at the time.
Most of the other stereotypes listed are less offensive to the reader, but sort of offensive if the goal of the book was to avoid common stereotypes.
3. George the Swede cannot pronounce things correctly. He says “Stoof” (272) instead of stuff, because he is Swedish. Many of George’s mispronunciations seem a bit forced to me.
4. The whole lifeguard/former football player whose absence from football has driven him insane character felt a little meh to me.
Response:
Greg Lundberg makes a great first point, which is important in any discussion. I, too, would say the book described women as emasculator, and this theme was pretty driven into my mind after it was over. A critique though: the Japanese nurse does not seem to be a castrator at all. She seems to be that exception to the rule that everyone looks for, but never finds.
I agree with Kendra’s list of how McMurphy’s personality achieves a goal. She great points within the book noted of how he slowly starts to turn the men against the combine. Kendra also made had a great insight on when the men went on the fishing trip and how much that changes things after that at the ward.
Four intriguing moments where McMurphy builds up the men’s confidence.
McMurphy starts to make the men realize that Nurse Ratched is a ball cutter and taking advantage of them when he and harding get into a fight about the type of person Nurse Ratched is. Harding admits it when saying “You are right,” Harding says, “about all of it.”(62) McMurphy is realizing what Nurse Ratched has done to all these men by taking away their manhood. He sees that she has turned the men into little rabbits obeying her and that they need her to make them happy.
Another Example of this is when the boys go on the fishing trip. McMurphy has overcome Nurse Ratched and proceeded to get a field trip for the men. They all go fishing and McMurphy’s “aunts” are who come pick them up Except only one “aunt” comes. Mcmurphy then builds up the doctors confidence in saying that he should come along and catch some fish with them. The stop at the gas station before heading on there way where McMurphy talks up the men to the attendants at the pump by saying how they should be given a discount for the trouble. The men leave for the ocean floating on a cloud. After catching the fish and coming back to the shore they show off their great catches to the men who had earlier been harassing them at the dock. This makes the men at the dock speechless and very interested in them which leads to the men feeling very important.
There is then the after hours party where Candy and Sandy came in through a window and “partied” with the men on the ward throughout the night. This gave the men confidence that their lived didn’t have to be so boring on the ward and that they can all have fun too. They all drank and laughed and had a great time during the night. The greatest confidence I believe that McMurphy gave during this night was to Billy when he and Candy went into the cushioned room and had their alone time. This led to a great confidence in Billy.
One of the largest misunderstood confidence builders for the men was when McMurphy attacked Nurse Ratched the following morning after their little party. McMurphy choked Nurse Ratched and then ripped off the top of her uniform exposing her to the men. This showed the men that she was human just like the rest of them. That they had no reason to be scared or worried about Nurse Ratched because at the time she was just another woman who could not beat them down.
I agree with Kendra’s list of how McMurphy’s personality achieves a goal. She great points within the book noted of how he slowly starts to turn the men against the combine. Kendra also made had a great insight on when the men went on the fishing trip and how much that changes things after that at the ward.
Four intriguing moments where McMurphy builds up the men’s confidence.
McMurphy starts to make the men realize that Nurse Ratched is a ball cutter and taking advantage of them when he and harding get into a fight about the type of person Nurse Ratched is. Harding admits it when saying “You are right,” Harding says, “about all of it.”(62) McMurphy is realizing what Nurse Ratched has done to all these men by taking away their manhood. He sees that she has turned the men into little rabbits obeying her and that they need her to make them happy.
Another Example of this is when the boys go on the fishing trip. McMurphy has overcome Nurse Ratched and proceeded to get a field trip for the men. They all go fishing and McMurphy’s “aunts” are who come pick them up Except only one “aunt” comes. Mcmurphy then builds up the doctors confidence in saying that he should come along and catch some fish with them. The stop at the gas station before heading on there way where McMurphy talks up the men to the attendants at the pump by saying how they should be given a discount for the trouble. The men leave for the ocean floating on a cloud. After catching the fish and coming back to the shore they show off their great catches to the men who had earlier been harassing them at the dock. This makes the men at the dock speechless and very interested in them which leads to the men feeling very important.
There is then the after hours party where Candy and Sandy came in through a window and “partied” with the men on the ward throughout the night. This gave the men confidence that their lived didn’t have to be so boring on the ward and that they can all have fun too. They all drank and laughed and had a great time during the night. The greatest confidence I believe that McMurphy gave during this night was to Billy when he and Candy went into the cushioned room and had their alone time. This led to a great confidence in Billy.
One of the largest misunderstood confidence builders for the men was when McMurphy attacked Nurse Ratched the following morning after their little party. McMurphy choked Nurse Ratched and then ripped off the top of her uniform exposing her to the men. This showed the men that she was human just like the rest of them. That they had no reason to be scared or worried about Nurse Ratched because at the time she was just another woman who could not beat them down.
The four best examples of women being the dominant, demeaning sex are as follows:
In part one, the main description is of the Big Nurse, or Nurse Ratched; she is often referred to as the castrator. Throughout the book, she is repeatedly seen as the antagonist. They also talk about her temper and how she must keep her “society” running exactly how she wants it. “The Big Nurse tends to get real put out if something keeps her outfit from running like a smooth, accurate, precision made machine.”(28) But above the internal fury she has, she keeps a tight knit smile as her facade. This demeans them by letting her have this attitude, while having the facade of being a saint.
Another woman who is depicted as a malevolent figure is Billy Bibbit’s mother. As a child, Billy became a huge momma’s boy because she was an overbearing mother, and was into his business more than a healthy amount. He does not seem to act like the 30 year old he is because of his mother babying him. Mrs. Bibbit is close friends with Nurse Ratched, making him a very obedient character.
Chief Bromden’s mother is overbearing and takes on a dominant role, and demeans the men, making them feel small. This is the reason that the largest man in the asylum, Bromden, felt like others towered over him. Growing up with this type of mother is not only detrimental to Chief’s existence, but also shows the evil in women portrayed in this novel. She makes every man around her feel inferior, which for the time, was not something that women normally did.
Not until we were nearing the end of the novel did any women seem to be the least bit good. This side started to shine through when we met the little Japanese nurse, who showed compassion and light, and then again when we met Sandy, the bubbly, friendly prostitute. This was the extent of nice women in this novel.
I disagree with Chandler when he says that the fog in the novel is “wonderful”. He stated that it was a safe haven that he almost felt he entered with Bromden. I disagree with this thought; I felt nervous and anxious every time he began to slip into the fog, not knowing whether or not he would return.
Tristin Pliska 6
Greatest McMurphy Victories Over Ratched
McMurphy was not there to witness his greatest victory. It being the freedom achieved by many of the Acutes and Chief Bromden. As many release themselves from the Institution due to the spirit that McMurphy passed down to the other patients. This finalizing factor to giving the other patients this spirit was done so by McMurphy’s attack on Ratched where he ripped off her nurse jacket. Also Chief Bromden achieves his freedom by using McMurphy’s plan of ripping off the control panel and breaking the glass with it to run away. McMurphy gave all these patients their lives back.
McMurphy’s second best victory was getting the game room. This is a great victory for McMurphy because he went around Ratched and instead went to the doctor to grant his wish. The game room is a stellar victory because he has the capability to influence his own sort of control over the policies of the ward. Where it is a situation that McMurphy should not have any input on the outcome. Also through this McMurphy develops a relationship with Nurse Ratched’s technical superior.
Another victory by McMurphy was when repeatedly broke the Nurse’s window. This was a good victory because Nurse Ratched could do nothing to stop him and he could just keep enforcing his point. This situation also helped feed into the idea of a rebellion against Nurse Ratched, as it was a direct conflict.
The final victory I am listing is changing the work schedule so the patients could watch the World Series. Although they did not get to watch the World Series, it was still a victory as they acted like there was nothing wrong. They did this by watching a blank TV screen. This victory is important because it united the patients as a force against Ratched as many of them are all watching a blank screen.
I agree with Alick Sazonov on his topic of most cruel things happening in the book. McMurphy’s lobotomization definitely takes the cake, as it leaves him an empty shell a person that used to have an undying spirit.
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