In the novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, written by Ken Kesey, takes a place in a mental hospital. The narrator of the novel is Chief Bromden, the patients and institution staff assume that he is deaf and dumb. The patients in a mental hospital were controlled by Nurse Ratched who known as a Big Nurse. She is a cold and precise woman, and she is a head of the ward. Because Nurse Ratched put fear the patients’ heart, they obey her every demand.
The head nurse, Nurse Ratchet, is the main antagonist and the person most interested in attaining power. Nurse Ratchet is an evil lady who enjoys inflicting mental anguish among the patients in the institution; this pain is almost portrayed as a way to make herself feel better, feel superior. She brings up painful past events and shows absolutely no emotion or compassion for her patients. This coldness from Nurse Ratchet is what really enrages the patients causing them to rebel and repel her authority. Randle McMurphy is the patient at the Oregon institution that most rebels against Nurse Ratchet who in turn always tries to keep him in line as much as she can.
In the first possible way that fiction can be used to tell the truth is by understanding and reading into or about the events in a fiction story. If you know the truth behind the actual story it is very revealing to how it is in reality. For example, in the story One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is related to Ten Days in a Mad House in the revealing way of how the patients are treated by the doctors and especially the nurses in the institutions. Both of the nurses were abusive and or either threatening. In One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Ratched was the mean and threatening nurse who would tell her insane patients that they would electroshock therapy if they didn’t obey or if they were misbehaving.
Lady Macbeth is one of Shakespeare’s most famous and frightening female characters. In Act 5, it is evident that Lady Macbeth is experiencing somnambulistic attacks, or sleepwalking. She wants to be relieved of her guilt because several suppressed ideas of an emotional nature enter into this scene and are responsible for making her act this way. Lady Macbeth is desperately trying to wash away invisible bloodstains on her hands as it is a reminiscence of her experience with the murder of Duncan. She also refers to the murder of Banquo and Lady Macduff while in her somnambulistic state.
This is viewed through the group meetings, medical strategies and Nurse Ratched and her aggressive team of Black Boys. The group meetings were filled with shame in guilt from the patients only to pleasure Nurse Ratched. The medical strategies were performed on those who were completely sane and those who turned physically mental because of it, to satisfy Nurse Ratched and keep the order in her ward. Lastly, Nurse Ratched’s tactic of fear resulted in Billy committing suicide and because of the physical torment by the Black Boys McMurphy willingly took the electroshock, which in a sense is admitting to doing wrong since he is punishing himself. The ward is a perfect example of a place of detriment, without caregivers, no sense of hope, and abusive aids, which trigger fear, shame and
He suffers from hallucinations and severe delusions that clog his worldview. He fears most of all a thing he refers to as “the Combine,” a corporation type thing that controls everything in society and forces people to conform to the certain society norm. He pretends to be deaf and dumb, almost to make himself appear invisible, which was difficult being that he was 6’7’’. The hospital is run by a woman by the name of Nurse Ratched, the novel’s antagonist, who Chief refers to as “the Big Nurse.” She is a former army nurse and runs her ward with an iron fist.
Kyle Meehan Movie project Mommie Dearest Joan Crawford: Joan Crawford’s character as described in Mommie Dearest by her daughter Christina obviously depicts a deeply disturbed psyche that influences her life in a multitude of negative ways. She appears to suffer from a high functioning form of OCD, always obsessing that things be immaculate, clean, and orderly and that she has control of every situation. When her obsessions are not satisfied she bursts into a fit of rage as seen in the “wire hanger” scene in which she beats her own daughter mercilessly for nearly nothing. Her extreme obsessions also stem from a tremendous narcissism, always insisting to be the best and going to great lengths to preserve her image in others eyes as well as her own. Her unhealthy self-love can be seen in her relationships in which she uses sex to control men and always appears to have a hand on them, especially turning to sex when the man gains any sort of will or power to insult or leave her.
The almighty power in charge of these patients is known as Nurse Ratched who is the oppressive and strict figure who represents modern day society. She has complete control over every aspect of the ward such as schedules and privileges. She is presented as a machine like figure in the mind of the narrator, Chief Bromden Along with Bromden and “The Big Nurse”, there is also Randal McMurphy who is an obnoxious, disobedient, loud and sexual figure who defies all norms and rules of the ward causing a great shift in mindset among the patients. Throughout this novel, Bromden observes and pays attention to everything that occurs around him. He presents several elements in the novel which pose extremely significant symbolic meanings such as cigarettes and keys.
“Yes” is the answer this machine wants. A “but” is frowned upon. A “no” is suicidal. In Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, society clearly exerts this kind of power by seemingly “choosing” the inhabitants of the mental ward. It even delegates the delightful Nurse Ratched to govern their pitiful existence.
In the novel "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" by Ken Kesey, a ward of a mental hospital and its inhabitants create an attractive metaphor for the controlling nature of American culture. Throughout the novel, the story of Randal McMurphy, conveyed through symbolism, a new patient in the ward as he battles against the head of the ward- Nurse Ratched. As the fight between these two powerful forces ensues, it becomes more than just a classic case of rebelling against authority. Kesey’s story invites the reader to consider just how vague, or previously vague, the line is that separates and treatment from tyrannical control. Symbolizing a valiant struggle between free will and conformity, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" is a powerful, electrifying, and important piece of American literature.