Welcome to that wretched world! The first notable evolution is that of Nurse Ratched and her tyranny. Her strict rules, whose sole purpose is to assert her authority, continue to operate here. The men want to sleep late on weekends but the doctor said that: “every minute spent in the company of others, with some exceptions, is therapeutic, while every minute spent alone only increases your separation.” Her rules have unquestionable scientific justifications. Society’s reasons are also often scientific.
Kessey uses the emasculation of men first and primarily with Nurse Ratched. Nurse Ratched is both infamous (2) and conspicuous (3) for her desire to exercise complete control over the men who are under her jurisdiction, regardless of whether you’re a patient or an employee. Even though there are employees, such as doctors, ranked above her, she still feels it’s ultimately her decision on any matter occurring in the ward and the male employees let this be. This is evident in Part Two during the staff meeting where the doctors agree on sending McMuphy to the disturbed ward mainly because they felt it’s what Nurse Ratched would have wanted. She replied, “No.
In The World According to Garp, Jenny Fields is a young nurse who is extremely independent and sees no need to have a man in her life. In fact, she hates “lust”, and avoids all contact with the other sex. Irving characterizes Jenny by saying this, “It is an important distinction to note that she looked not only as if she had taken good care of herself, but that she had good reason to have done so. She looked to be in such total possession of her life that only the most confident men could continue to look at her if she looked back at them. Even in bus stations, she was a woman who was stared at only until she looked
He does not seem to feel remorse for any of his actions, sleeping with and marrying several girls such as Marylou, Camille, and Inez. He can’t stay in a city or car for too long, instead he just hops from city to city. He is a huge mess but doesn’t realize it himself. Carlo: At first, Carlo is as hyper and enigmatic as Dean himself. The two never stop moving, and make a perfect fit for each other.
Randle McMurphy is a convict, accused of statutory rape charges, who feigns mental illness in order to be relieved of his work detail. Once McMurphy is admitted into the asylum he befriends several other patients and becomes a hero figure to them through his rebellion towards Nurse Ratched and her strict order she has instilled into the asylum. He is a very social individual and free spirit who accepts the other patients as inmates. McMurphy is non judgmental and does not make the other patients feel like social outcasts. He is a foil to the character of Nurse Ratched, who tries to create order by playing on the weaknesses of the inmates in an attempt to get them to conform to social norms.
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.
The nurse and her hands are described as being made of motley machine parts. The metaphor of the ‘fog’ shows how all the patients are being controlled unnaturally and that they are shrouded by the Nurse Ratched’s authority. As the novel progresses Bromden says the fog fades, which could be a cause of McMurphy exposing the Nurse, both physically and mentally. The conflict that is presented is that the men feel like they are a part of a machine, but have no say in what they do, they have no freedom. The main character R.P.
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.
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.
The psychiatric ward in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey directly represents a society in which free thinking is rejected. Randal McMurphy, the protagonist in the story, symbolizes the free spirit, or the one who is on the journey to truth because of his outgoing personality and want to break the rules. As the story progresses, McMurphy teaches the other patients about how to push boundaries, and stay true to yourself in order to find truth. In a similar way, the poem Brahma by Ralph Waldo Emerson takes over the persona of Brahma, a Hindu god, who reveals two important facts about the journey for the self. Brahma teaches that all things, no matter how unrelated, are part of a bigger picture or purpose, and that material goods are worth nothing when it comes to finding truth.