One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Analysis

Randle McMurphy, the protagonist, is introduced to break down the nurse’s oppressive ways. McMurphy, a con man who was sentenced to a work farm, was diagnosed as a psychopath and sent to the mental hospital, which he much preferred. Serving as a savior figure to the patients of the ward who have already been battered by the Big Nurse, McMurphy causes interference to the nurse’s control. He supports the men as they are ridiculed in meetings and supports their attempts to change policy. Although he does help other patients, he first looks out for himself. He cons the patients out of their money and then follows the nurse’s rules for awhile because of the threat of being kept on the

McMurphy can also be considered a tragic hero. Although he could almost always take control of a situation and never let the combine get the best of him, he could not always control his temper. It was the one think that could get him in trouble because Nurse Ratched could not punish him with electric shock therapy unless he had an outburst. The best thing that McMurphy could have had in the hospital was patience and a calm temper because the only weapon Nurse Ratched had was to try to frustrate him. Since she has ultimate power on the ward, she could do anything she wants and make any rules. For instance, when the patients wanted to watch the world series and they clearly had a majority, she didn’t let them because she wanted them to know that she has authority

McMurphy learns that involuntarily committed patients cannot leave the hospital without staff approval. Therefore, he cannot leave at the end of his six months sentence, but when Nurse Ratched says he can and he begins to submit to her authority. However, by this time, he had become the leader for the other patients. Their sanity, their claim to manhood lies in the balance. Cheswick, dismayed by McMurphy’s surrender, commits suicide.

Randal McMurphy: A Hero in His Own Right Mental illness is something that strikes hero Randal McMurphy in the novel One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey, but it does not affect him in any way, shape or form. McMurphy’s character, as the hero whom people in the mental institution need, is revealed through appearance, dialogue, and conflict. McMurphy’s heroism is proven through his appearance. One key point which shows this is the hat of which he is wearing once he enters the institution. Kesey describes, “There’s a paper Halloween bat hanging on a string above his head; he reaches up and flicks it so it spins around…”

Finally, all this came together to institutionalize every individual in the hospital. Everything that the patients were expected to do became norms, and things went of control when these established rules were not followed. McMurphy tries to defy everything and lost to it in the end by pretty much becoming permanently institutionalized by the lobotomy. You were to follow the rules or be punished. Nearly every patient was already institutionalized before McMurphy came along, the went completely off the chain when McMurphy sneak alcohol into the hospital. One of them lost their virginity and it broke him. He couldn't handle the thought of that freedom, being an adult and being afraid of Nurse Ratched telling his

While I agree that the heart of this novel is the power struggle that ensues and that RP McMurphy is not "mentally ill", the other patients are more clearly suffering illnesses, to reach the conclusion that McMurphy himself is "not crazy". As readers, we must first examine what it means to be "crazy", both to ourselves and to society at large. When researching Ken Kesey and his life, I had stumbled upon an interesting fact. Ken Kesey heard of a government program that paid people to take part in experiments with psychedelic drugs. When I heard this, I was so shocked, I thought “wow this is going to be a very interesting book.” There were things that I really enjoyed about the book, such as the narrator, McMurphy, and the crazy parties they both threw. Things that I disliked about the book was the death of poor Billy Bibbit, how nurse Ratched treated the

Recently in class we have been reading the book "One flew over the cuckoo's nest". Honestly at first I hated the book. I thought it was the worst, most boring book in the world, but over time I have learned to love it. It might not sound like the most appealing book at first but as the plot develops it gets more intriguing. The main point in the book is the battle for power between McMurphy and Nurse Ratched. McMurphy is a new patient in the ward who is used to getting everything his way, but Nurse Ratched is used to having everything in control the way she

McMurphy places a bet with the other men on the ward that he can break Nurse Ratched without a) getting sent to the Disturbed Ward, b) getting treated with electroshock therapy, or c) being lobotomized. Slowly, McMurphy undermines Nurse Ratched’s system of control while remaining Mr. Nice Guy. She’s no fool, however. What McMurphy doesn’t understand is that Nurse Ratched has a lot of control over the situation. Since he’s a patient in the asylum, she can keep him locked up as long as she wants. As long as he’s under her rule, she has the power to send him

McMurphy takes the nonconforming role in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, because he perceives people and the world differently than the others in the mental institute. “‘Mr. Mcmurphy… my friend... I’m not a chicken. I’m a rabbit. The doctor is a rabbit. Cheswick there is a rabbit. Billy Bibbit is a rabbit. All of us in here are rabbits of varying ages and degrees, hippity-hopping through our Walt Disney world.’” (Kesey 57). Dale, an average patient in the psychiatric ward, believes that they are all “rabbits” which means they are alike. McMurphy, though, is not a rabbit, and is different from all the other patients. "But the new guy is different, and the Acutes can see it, different from anybody been coming on this ward for the past ten years, different from anybody they ever met outside. He's just a vulnerable, maybe, but the Combine didn't get him" (Kesey 82). This quote supports the idea that McMurphy is different than the rest at the ward. This nonconformity is the reason for the isolation of these characters.

As I look through the list of movies to pick for this essay, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest catches my eye instantly. I first watched this movie when I was merely 17 over 3 years ago. The SAT exam was in a few months and I was doing everything I could to improve my English: books, films, TV shows, and even video games in English. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is ranked one of the best movies ever made on IMDB, so I watched it with great expectations. However, I was none too impressed. The movie seemed to be just about some womanizer who avoids labor and prison by pretending to have multiple personality disorder. But 3 years later, the class Diversity in American History helped me truly understand this film. Now, rewatching the same film,

In his novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, author Ken Kesey tells the story of Randle McMurphy, a former work farm inmate who feigns insanity so he can be admitted to a mental hospital, where he believes he will lead an easier life. From the moment he arrives, however, the boisterous and fun-loving protagonist experiences the harsh reality of life in the ward: Nurse Ratched, the head nurse, has absolute authority over all the patients, who have become helpless under her manipulation and abuse. Not willing to accept his new lot in life, McMurphy finds ways to rebel against the nurse, while giving the patients the confidence they need to join in with him. Over a matter of weeks, their small battles intensify, eventually erupting into

Ken Kesey’s book One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, takes us through Mcmurphy’s experience in the state mental hospital, taking place in Oregon’s state hospital. Chief narrates through the story, he is half native american who acts like a deaf dumb chronic. In the beginning of the story Mcmurphy arrives at the hospital as transfer. On Mcmurphy’s first day there he finds out Harding is top dog and intends on changing that. Then, during the first group meeting he sees Nurse Ratched; who is head of the ward, puts all the men against each other. After the meeting he describes it all as a “pecking party”, so he then makes a bet with the boys that he can break Nurse Ratched without destroying himself. One morning he asked the nurse if she could turn

McMurphy has a very vexing and outgoing personality that gets him in trouble at the mental ward. He uses his personality to be transferred out of the work farm for being (actually do finger quotations) “insane”, where he was set to spend a six month sentence. McMurphy tries to manipulate the system and convince not only the other patients but nurse ratched that he is insane. The longer he is at the ward the more suspicious nurse ratched becomes that he was falsely diagnosed. Many can detect the difference between McMurphy and the other patients, and he soon realizes that he must change his actions in order for his mental illness to become believable. The only real development McMurphy has is the realization that his lie is not believable and

He soon becomes saddened by the state of mind of the other patients, and sets out to lift their spirits. He entertains them and himself by teaching them games and how to stand up for themselves against Nurse Ratched. McMurphy offers Chief a piece of gum and Chief responds with a thank you. McMurphy looks shocked and tells Chief he is sneaky, realizing that Chief too is faking to be insane.

Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest clearly shows the mindset of how the character Randle Patrick McMurphy has gone from the average, everyday man with slight problems that with determination and a steady plan could be solved. With the narration of Chief Brompton, being a patient on the ward for years, it proves that he can and cannot be trusted due to the idea of exposure to certain medicine killing the human mind. Within the ward and the idea of how things can work and how it crumbles due to the “wild animal” idea of the do as you must and do not make waves. When going into a different setting that is controlled by the mind becomes suffocated and turns to the caged idea of the world changes.