Symbolism In One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest
To be insane is to be in a state of mind that prevents normal perception, behavior, or social interaction; seriously mentally ill. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a notorious novel written by Ken Kesey and film directed by Milos Forman. Ken Kesey’s portrayal of the patients within the psych ward makes the reader question the fine line between sanity and insanity. Both depict the same storyline, but both are very different in many ways. The novel itself is stronger and goes more into depth, creating more excitement for the reader. Although both have their own strengths and weaknesses, the novel presents a deeper emotional effect on the reader, a better understanding of character impact, and enforces symbolism in which the reader uses to understand
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There are many significances to this that allows the reader to get a better understanding of what it is like to be in the psych ward. A symbol that is most prevalent is laughter. In the book and in the movie, it is used as a sign of the pain going away and realizing your self worth. At the beginning, McMurphy says there was absolutely no laughter on the ward so one of his main goals from the start was to get them to laugh. “You know, that's the first thing that got me about this place, that there wasn’t anybody laughing. I haven’t heard a real laugh since I came through that door, do you know that? Man, when you lose your laugh you lose your footing,” (Kesey 70). Another symbol that is present is Nurse Ratched’s uniform. In the novel, it is fresh white, ironed, and spotless. She takes great pride and the fact that she has power when wearing it. She also uses it to hide her humanity because with this uniform, the men cannot see her breasts. Toward the end of the book when McMurphy attacks her and rips her uniform, Nurse Ratched’s femininity is exposed and she no longer has as much power because she is a girl. During this scene, she is kicking and screaming and is just in shock that McMurphy took her power away. In the movie, McMurphy does not attack her and rip her uniform, but they do have a party and ruin Nurse Ratched’s cap. This causes the cap to become dirty and wrinkled. When Nurse Ratched sees it, she asks Cheswick to pick it up but she seems pretty calm about
There are many significances to this that allows the reader to get a better understanding of what it is like to be in the psych ward. A symbol that is most prevalent is laughter. In the book and in the movie, it is used as a sign of the pain going away and realizing your self worth. At the beginning, McMurphy says there was absolutely no laughter on the ward so one of his main goals from the start was to get them to laugh. “You know, that's the first thing that got me about this place, that there wasn’t anybody laughing. I haven’t heard a real laugh since I came through that door, do you know that? Man, when you lose your laugh you lose your footing,” (Kesey 70). Another symbol that is present is Nurse Ratched’s uniform. In the novel, it is fresh white, ironed, and spotless. She takes great pride and the fact that she has power when wearing it. She also uses it to hide her humanity because with this uniform, the men cannot see her breasts. Toward the end of the book when McMurphy attacks her and rips her uniform, Nurse Ratched’s femininity is exposed and she no longer has as much power because she is a girl. During this scene, she is kicking and screaming and is just in shock that McMurphy took her power away. In the movie, McMurphy does not attack her and rip her uniform, but they do have a party and ruin Nurse Ratched’s cap. This causes the cap to become dirty and wrinkled. When Nurse Ratched sees it, she asks Cheswick to pick it up but she seems pretty calm about