Preview

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest By Ken Kesey

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
413 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest By Ken Kesey
In One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, by Ken Kesey, the story is narrated by the Chief who recounts the tale of protagonist – Randle Patrick McMurphy. McMurphy is admitted to the mental institution and befriends the other patients in his ward and begins a grim struggle with Nurse Ratched. At the core, the story is about the struggle between order and chaos, and there is no freedom without a little chaos. Yet to maintain order there must be oppression. Whereas McMurphy flies at the seat of his pants, Ratchet is an authoritarian stoic. When McMurphy came to the ward he had disrupted the routine for which it followed as with asking for schedule changes and inspiring resistance during therapy sessions. He teaches the others to have fun and encourage

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    The book “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” written by Ken Kesey was based on the life in the mental institute with the cuckoos the narrator is Chief Brodmen. He is a half Indian he let everyone believe him that he was deaf and dumb but instead he is observing the Big Nurse “Nurse Ratched” who is the head of the ward who physically and mentally controls every male patient that she has in her ward. Nurse Ratched a woman who threatens the masculinity of men in the story. Most women in the story. This shows how the women in the story overpower the men who are in the…

    • 110 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Thesis: In Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Nurse Ratched exposes the patients to electro-shock therapy and lobotomies, drug therapy, and group therapy; while McMurphy teaches the men to stick up for themselves using laughter, resistance to the Big Nurse, and a fishing trip.…

    • 650 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The basic plots of each of these texts are; an outside person enters an institution, promises change and freedom, a disaster occurs and the freedomer leaves. In Cuckoo’s Nest, Randall McMurphy is this person. He tries to help the patients by allowing them to stand up for themselves. This change helps people to either stand up or return living with restrictions. Nurse Ratched, the antagonist of Cuckoo’s Nest sends the patients who rebel to the Electroshock Therapy room. As means of something, this causes McMurphy to be even angrier towards her which sends him to get a lobotomy. This is Cuckoo’s Nest’s disaster. After Chief Bromden kills…

    • 1130 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    There are several interesting and complex characters throughout One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey. Two of the most fascinating are the book's main protagonist, Randle McMurphy, and antagonist, Nurse Ratched. Randle is definitely my favorite characters, while Nurse Ratched is my least favorite.…

    • 342 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest is a fictional novel that undergoes a series of events that goes on in a mental ward between nurse Ratched and the patient's. This novel in particular is unique because it allows the readers imagination to take part in one's interpretation of the story. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is intriguing because of its ability to capture the reader’s attention with its constant plot thicking. The author of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is Ken Kesey which was published in 1962. Kesey novel was appealing because of its idea of having rights as an individual versus social conformity.…

    • 1170 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    In 1975 director Milos Forman met with screenplay writers Lawrence Hauben and Bo Goldman; thus creating the critically acclaimed and groundbreaking film, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest; with the aid of several crew members and a star studded cast including such greats as Jack Nicholson (R.P. McMurphy), Danny Devito (Martini), and Christopher Lloyd (Taber) in his debut film. Winner of five Academy Awards, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest has both masterful direction and editing as well as superb acting. R.P. McMurphy is a free-spirited, middle-aged man who tries to con the system by claiming he’s mentally ill so to avoid prison time. Immediately he makes his presence known, and starts trouble in all the wrong places. Gambling rings, rowdy and rambunctious behavior, non-approved fishing trips, and overnight parties just to mention a few. During his stay he builds close relationships with most of the other patients, especially Chief Broman; while making enemies with the staff, in particular, the head nurse. Possibly one of the most chilling and heartless villains to ever grace the screen, Mrs. Ratched rules her patients with an iron fist. She clearly takes advantage of the power she has, and likes the structured daily routine. When McMurphy finally can’t take the oppressive tyranny any longer he plans one last hurrah before his departure. He sneaks in women and alcohol, and wakes up all the patients in hopes to show them a good time. After much drunken debauchery they pass out before he can leave; when he wakes there is a disgruntle Mrs. Ratched to answer to. After a series of graphic and ruthless events McMurphy tries to strangle the life from Mrs. Ratched and is detained. Later we see Chief Broman lying in bed, and then two men assisting McMurphy into his bed. When Chief sneaks over and tells McMurphy that he is finally ready to leave, he notices two rather large incisions located on the top of his head. Completely…

    • 378 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Points of view have a great impact throughout stories sequences. The points of views provide details and evoke emotions that implies readers anxiety as well as depicts images in the reader’s mind. Moreover, a good observer is a good story teller. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, a novel written in 1962, by Ken Kesey, illustrates the use and misuse of authority from hospitals and their administrators, passive racism faced because of origin, and the desire of changes to be made. Throughout Chief Bromden’s point of view along the novel, readers depict ideas of patients live’s within the ward under the administrator’s harsh regimen and consequences in the result of the patients’ rebellion against authority.…

    • 762 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ken Kesey's experiences in a mental institution urged him to tell the story of such a ward. We are told this story through the eyes of a abnormally large Indian who everyone believes to be deaf and dumb named Chief in his novel "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest". Chief Bromden also referred to as "Chief Buh-room" is a patient in an Oregon psychiatric hospital on the ward of Mrs. Ratched, she is the symbol of authority and female domination throughout the novel. This ward forms the backdrop for the rest of the story.…

    • 2241 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the book One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey, the narrator, Bromden, is seen as a weak character who is submissive to the authority in the mental facility. Nurse Ratched or Big Nurse runs the mental facility with fear and is only challenged when Randle McMurphy becomes a patient who rebels against her system. The section in the story where McMurphy and Bromden are about to receive punishment after rebelling relates to the overall story as the readers can see how Bromden is changing to become a stronger person with McMurphy’s influence. He starts off as a powerless and scared patient and ends up growing as a person by seeing that he has the power to control his life and make decisions on his own. Throughout the book, the theme that with someone to lead or set an example, others can stand up for themselves after being oppressed is seen.…

    • 687 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    One Flew Over the Cuckoo 's Nest. Dir. Milos Forman. Perf. Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher. Warner Bros. 1975. Film…

    • 912 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, written by Ken Kesey in 1962, is a book about a lively con man that turns a mental institution upside down with his rambunctious antics and sporadic bouts with the head nurse. Throughout the book, this man shows the others in the institution how to stand up for themselves, to challenge conformity to society and to be who they want to be. It is basically a book of good versus evil, the good being the con man R.P. McMurphy, and the bad being the head nurse, Nurse Ratched. McMurphy revitalizes the hope of the patients, fights Nurse Ratched's stranglehold on the ward, and, in a way, represents the feelings of the author on society at the time.…

    • 938 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    McMurphy demonstrates his concern for others by insisting they take a bus ride to go fishing. McMurphy believes by taking a day trip everyone would benefit. McMurphy learns that Nurse Ratched is persecuting the patients by forcing treatments such as shock therapy and lobotomies, he starts his various rebellions to make matters reasonable. He inspires the patients to stick up for themselves. An example would be when he suggests they delay their daily work so that the patients can watch the World Series…

    • 767 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey is a novel about a man by the name of Randle McMurphy, who, when sent to a mental ward, challenge all the authority within it and forces the other patients to take a deeper look at the way they are being treated at the ward. This novel is one which brings to light the unfair authority which not only exists within the hospital, but within society at the time. It satires the way gay are shunned and looked down on, how people who are a bit different get out casted and mistreated, it even dares to comment on the overwhelming power that one…

    • 1657 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest written in 1962, introduces us to Randall McMurphy. He too struggles with inner demons and mental illness. He is not found in a castle, but psychiatric ward which represents a microcosm of American society in the 1960s. McMurphy gambles, swears, and makes sexual remarks, all in which are forbidden. His defiance symbolizes a spark for change creating a ripple effect. McMurphy refuses to cooperate with the rules in his enclosed society. Much like Hamlet, McMurphy battles those in power. His fight is however is against Nurse Ratched not a murderous step father. He takes on a leadership role in the oppressive environment of the ward. He inspires his fellow patients to stand up for themselves by calling out their weakness and insulting their manliness. “Why then, I'll just explain it to you.” McMurphy raises his voice; though he doesn't look at the other Acutes listening behind him, it's them he's talking to. In this time period, the American society was filled with a passion for change, at the same time it fought fiercely against it. McMurphy fought for justice on the ward and for having a voice. He fought against the authority that tried to control him and limit his passion for life. He influenced the lives of people who were being oppressed by the authorities and rebelled by speaking out to preach a new way of life. He offered hope in a time of despair. At the same time he was deemed mentally unfit to be a part of regular society. McMurphy speaks to all who feel they do not fit in that they may possess a difference from others around…

    • 840 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    purpose; especially, one who has risked or sacrificed his life. This describes one of the main characters in the highly acclaimed novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, by Ken Kesey. Randle McMurphy is the hero of this novel because he stood firmly against oppressive powers, showing courage and ultimately paying with his life. There were no heroes on the psychiatric ward before McMurphy's arrival. Nurse Ratched wielded supreme power. No single patient had the ability to stand against the injustices to which they were subjected. McMurphy united these patients. He gave them collective courage and a sense that they could resist their persecutor. For example, Harding states, "No one's ever dared…

    • 497 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays