one flew over the cuckoos nest, How is nurse Ratched perceived in two parts of the novel?
One flew over the cuckoo’s nest –
How is nurse Ratched perceived in two parts of the novel?
One flew over the cuckoo’s nest is a novel written by Ken Kesey set in a psychiatric hospital. It was a best-selling book in 1962, and adapted to a film in 1975. Kesey often spent time talking to the patients, sometimes under the influence of hallucinogenic drugs that he volunteered to experiment. He strongly believed that these patients were not insane, but rather society had pushed them out because they didn’t fit conventional stereotypes. Nurse Ratched can be analysed by looking at her initial entrance and the lead up to the meeting, as well as the group meeting. They are both from different points of views making it difficult to compare. The novel is based around Chief’s interpretations of events, whereas the movie is a more objective interpretation. Chief is not a reliable narrator as he is a mental patient, therefore could have seen things differently to how they really were.
Nurse Ratched is the novel villain. Her title ‘Big nurse’ implies that she is controlling and serious. Using the adjective and graphology of the capitalised ‘B’ in ‘Big’ portrays her as a boss figure to the patients which is important because the nurse is their adult figure. Her entrance to the hospital is attention-grabbing because it’s as if the world stops to focus her. “she slides through the door with a gust of cold and locks the door behind her”. The verb ‘slides’ implies sneaky and sly, almost as if she doesn’t want people to know she’s entering. The diction of the quote ‘with a gust of cold’ implies the nurse bringing unpleasantness in to the ward, and brings an unwanted atmosphere also. The nurse comes across as sly throughout this extract. “They didn’t hear her come on the ward. They sense she’s glaring down at them now, but it’s too late. They should of knew better’n to group up and mumble together when she was due on the ward.” The connotation of the verb ‘glaring’ shows she is
How is nurse Ratched perceived in two parts of the novel?
One flew over the cuckoo’s nest is a novel written by Ken Kesey set in a psychiatric hospital. It was a best-selling book in 1962, and adapted to a film in 1975. Kesey often spent time talking to the patients, sometimes under the influence of hallucinogenic drugs that he volunteered to experiment. He strongly believed that these patients were not insane, but rather society had pushed them out because they didn’t fit conventional stereotypes. Nurse Ratched can be analysed by looking at her initial entrance and the lead up to the meeting, as well as the group meeting. They are both from different points of views making it difficult to compare. The novel is based around Chief’s interpretations of events, whereas the movie is a more objective interpretation. Chief is not a reliable narrator as he is a mental patient, therefore could have seen things differently to how they really were.
Nurse Ratched is the novel villain. Her title ‘Big nurse’ implies that she is controlling and serious. Using the adjective and graphology of the capitalised ‘B’ in ‘Big’ portrays her as a boss figure to the patients which is important because the nurse is their adult figure. Her entrance to the hospital is attention-grabbing because it’s as if the world stops to focus her. “she slides through the door with a gust of cold and locks the door behind her”. The verb ‘slides’ implies sneaky and sly, almost as if she doesn’t want people to know she’s entering. The diction of the quote ‘with a gust of cold’ implies the nurse bringing unpleasantness in to the ward, and brings an unwanted atmosphere also. The nurse comes across as sly throughout this extract. “They didn’t hear her come on the ward. They sense she’s glaring down at them now, but it’s too late. They should of knew better’n to group up and mumble together when she was due on the ward.” The connotation of the verb ‘glaring’ shows she is