Cuckoo's Nest Final Project- Brooke Kelly

Brooke Kelly

Mr. Dilworth

F Block

12-8-14

Chief Bromden

1.     “And, like I explain, the Big Nurse gets real put out if anything keeps her outfit from running smooth.” (Kesey, Page 41)

2.     “…how a guy has to learn to get along in a group before he’ll be able to function in a normal society; how the group can help the guy by showing him where he’s out of place; how society is what decides who’s sane and who isn’t…” (Kesey, Page 49)

3.     “He keeps trying to drag us out of the fog, put in the open where we’d be easy to get at.”  (Kesey, Page 128)

4.     “Maybe all the guys finally and forever crowded back into the fog.” (Kesey, Page 134)

5.     “Maybe the Combine isn’t all powerful. What was to stop us from doing it again, now that we saw we could? Or keep us from doing other things we wanted?” (Kesey, Page 305)

These quotes from Chief Bromden are all representing the story’s allegory of Ken Kesey’s depiction of society. Chief Bromden discusses the consequences of disrupting the order of society and how it functions as a machine, which weeds out those who do not fit into the machine perfectly. Bromden also talks about remaining safe in the “fog,” a place where one can hide and hope to be left alone by society’s torture towards those who are different.

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Chief Bromden is significant to One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest because his narration is how the reader sees into the world of the book and his thoughts advance the theme of society’s destructive behavior towards those who disrupt its order. Chief Bromden is an unreliable narrator, as he is mentally foggy in the beginning of the story, but this unreliability is what allows the reader to experience and understand the theme of the novel in depth. Bromden informs the reader about how society is a Combine, a machine that discriminates and removes people who do not function in it perfectly. With the influence of the arrival of a new patient, Randle McMurphy, Bromden slowly begins to step out of the fog and into the open, where he is free to be independent and discover who he truly is. When a group of patients, including Bromden, break the laws of the asylum by sneaking in girls and alcohol for a late night adventure, Bromden has a revelation. He states, “Maybe the Combine wasn’t all powerful. What was to stop us from doing it again, now that we saw we could? Or keep us from doing other things we wanted?” (Kesey, Page 305) This key quote shows Bromden questioning the authority of the Combine. He realizes that there really is nothing that can prevent him from being himself. Kesey is telling the reader that society’s behaviors towards those who are different should not and cannot stop one’s individuality.

Nurse Ratched

1.     “And yet, he seems to do things without thinking of himself at all, as if he were a martyr or a saint.” (Kesey, Page 265)

2.     “What worries me, Billy, is how your poor mother is going to take this.” (Kesey, Page 314)

3.     “I’m afraid that is exactly what the patient is planning: to take over. He is what we call a  ‘manipulator,’ Miss Flinn, a man who will use everyone and everything to his own ends.” (Kesey, Page 27)

4.     “…If Mr. Taber chooses to act like a child, he may have to be treated as such.” (Kesey, Page 34)

5.     “You’re committed, you realize. You are… under the jurisdiction of me…the staff.” (Kesey, Page 144)

            These quotes from Nurse Ratched display her symbolizing society as a manipulative machine that does not tolerate the existence of people who are different. Nurse Ratched twists her words and exploits the weaknesses of the patients in order to maintain control over them, the same way society discriminates against certain people to make them feel inferior. 

http://www.medwonders.com/member/avtar/view-photo/134

Nurse Ratched, the antagonist of the novel, uses her authority and personality to symbolize Kesey’s view of society and advance the theme of using power to conceal self-consciousness. Nurse Ratched is a female who has absolute control over men, which was not often seen during the 1960’s.  She is illustrated as self-conscious of her breasts, because she does not want her female features to affect her control over the men. Kesey uses Nurse Ratched’s cruelty and vicious methods of maintaining power over the men to show that personal flaws could be the reason why members of society target those who are different. At the end of the novel, McMurphy, driven by grief and anger, loses control and attacks Nurse Ratched. Bromden narrates, “…after he’d smashed through that glass door, her face swinging around, with terror forever ruining any other look she might ever try to use again, screaming when he grabbed for her and ripped her uniform all the way down the front…” (Kesey, Page 318) Kesey includes this because he is showing how revealing Nurse Ratched’s insecurity causes her to lose her authority. Society’s flaws are exposed, which also exposes that the people in the external world are no different from the patients inside the mental ward. Nurse Ratched’s addition to Kesey’s idea of society is extremely significant in the novel, because she demonstrates how personal insecurities could be the cause of cruel, vicious use of power.

R.P. McMurphy

1.     “Ya know, ma’am, ya know- that is the ex-act thing somebody always tells me about the rules…just when they figure I’m about to do the dead opposite.” (Kesey, Page 26)

2.     “You’re no damned rabbit!” (Kesey, Page 65)

3.     “All I know is this: nobody’s very big in the first place, and it looks to me that everybody spends their whole life tearing everyone else down.” (Kesey, Page 184)

4.     “Look there, Chief. Haw. What’d I tell ya? You growed a half a foot already.” (Kesey, Page 224)

5.     “The doc wouldn’t lie like that about just any patients, but we ain’t ordinary nuts; we’re every bloody one of us hot off the criminal insane ward, on our way to San Quentin where they got better facilities to handle us.” (Kesey, Page 236)

These quotes from Randle McMurphy give evidence to McMurphy’s influence over the patients and the structure of the ward. He challenges the authority of the staff, which inspires other patients to come out of the fog and regain their individuality. He uses his loud, forceful personality to increase the confidence of the other men, including Bromden.

http://www.clipartbest.com/search?q=crown+of+thorns

McMurphy, the protagonist of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, plays a major role in Kesey’s religious allegory while also advancing the theme of how the order of society can be dramatically altered by the leadership of one person. McMurphy has various roles in the novel, one of them being Jesus Christ. He represents this biblical figure throughout the novel. He leads a group of men, his apostles, and teaches them lessons about the injustices of society and other significant life skills. Kesey involves multiple lines in the novel that can be referenced to the biblical story. For example he writes, “Do I get a crown of thorns?”(Kesey, Page 283) This is said while McMurphy is receiving shock therapy. Along with his involvement in this religious allegory, he also demonstrates another aspect of Kesey’s view of society, that it can be altered greatly under the leadership of one person. Under the leadership of McMurphy, the patients on the ward eventually defy the strict organization of the ward. In order to do this, McMurphy had to inspire them to find their individuality and overcome their fear of the Combine. An example of McMurphy’s success is seen in Bromden’s first words spoken in the novel, “Thank you.” (Kesey, Page 217) Bromden is not only thanking McMurphy for the piece of gum he just gave him, but also for everything else he has done on the ward for the men.

The Staff: The Black Boys, Japanese Nurse, The Catholic Nurse

1.     “Are you hurt anywhere?”(Kesey, Page 278)

2.     “Army nurses, trying to run an Army hospital. They are a little sick themselves. I sometimes think all single nurses should be fired after they reach thirty-five.”  (Kesey, Page 278)

3.     “Geo’ge, I’m tellin’ you: bend down! You either bend down and take this stuff- or I lay my hand on you!” (Kesey, Page 272)

4.     “Here’s the Chief. The soo-pah Chief, fells. Ol’ Chief Broom. Here you go, Chief Broom…” (Kesey, Page 3)

5.     “Stay back! Patients aren't allowed to enter the—Oh, stay back, I'm a Catholic!” (Kesey, Page 83)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nursing

The diversity of characters on the staff advance Kesey’s theme of the various ways people approach the rejects of society. The members of the staff represent a diverse group of people in society that react to the outcasts of society in different ways. The Japanese nurse and the African-American aides are two groups of people on the staff who society has discriminated against in the past. The way in which each person responds to the patients, who represent the outcasts of society, is drastically different. The Japanese nurse empathizes with McMurphy and Bromden, when she meets them on Disturbed. This is shown when she states, “Are you hurt anywhere?”(Kesey, Page 278) The aides are brutal towards the patients, as they treat them as animals rather than humans. This is seen when they forcefully wash someone against their will. One of the aides says to the man who is resisting, “Geo’ge, I’m tellin’ you: bend down! You either bend down and take this stuff- or I lay my hand on you!” (Kesey, Page 272)

These two approaches towards the patients symbolize two approaches towards outcasts in society. The Japanese nurse represents those who use past experiences to pity outcasts and understand the position society has placed them. The aides represent those who use cruelty towards outcasts despite receiving their own abuse and discrimination in the past. Another member of the staff that represents a person in society is the Catholic nurse, who fears the patients and tries to avoid them at all costs. The Catholic nurse differs from the Japanese nurse and the aides because she does not wish to involve herself in any way with the patients. Many members of society treat outcasts in the same way.

Other Characters: Dale Harding, Billy Bibbit, Max Taber

1.     “Oh, you underestimate her!” (Kesey, Page 64)

2.     “Miss, I don’t like to create trouble. But I don’t like to swallow something without knowing what it is, neither. How do I know this isn’t one of those funny pills that makes me something I’m not?” (Kesey, Page 34)

3.     “She d-did. And M-M-McMurphy! He did. And Harding! And the-the-the rest! They t-t-teased me, called me things! (Kesey, Page 315)

4.     “Lady, I think you’re full of so much bullshit.” (Kesey, Page 320)

5.     “You s-s-saw what she c-can do to us! In the m-m-meeting today.” (Kesey, Page 68)

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The characters that are patients in the ward represent the outcasts of society, and how different ways outcasts interact with the external world they are separated from. These characters advance the theme of the interactions one can have with their oppressors. Max Taber, a former patient on the ward, represents those who challenge unjust authority. In the novel, he does something that no other patient has dared to do. He asks, “Wait just a shake, honey; what are these two little red capsules in here with my vitamin?” (Page 34) He was bold enough to confront the people who treated him wrongly. Unlike Max Taber, Billy Bibbit is a patient that submits to the control of Nurse Ratched and the staff. Nurse Ratched’s manipulation works effectively on Billy’s self-esteem and independence. Billy represents those who struggle to stand up for themselves. Dale Harding represents another form of interaction with the cruelty of the ward. He understands the conditions in the ward and uses the term “rabbits” to describe the patients. He stands by McMurphy and defends him when he is absent. When McMurphy leaves, Harding adopts his mannerisms towards Nurse Ratched. This is seen when he says, “Lady, I think you’re full of so much bullshit.” (Kesey, Page 320) The way in which Harding stands up to the nurse is similar to something Max Taber or McMurphy would do. The different actions and speech of the patients symbolize the different roles of outcasts in society.

Motifs: Size

1.     “So she really lets herself go and her painted smile twists, stretches to an open snarl, and she blows up bigger and bigger, big as a tractor, so big I can smell the machinery inside the way you smell a motor pulling too big a load.” (Kesey, Page 5)

2.     “He was real big when I was a kid. My mother got twice his size.” (Kesey, Page 219)

3.     “No. I’m way too little. I used to be big, but not no more. You’re twice the size of me.” (Kesey, Page 219)

http://archive.fortune.com/galleries/2009/fortune/0908/gallery.elko_nevada_gold.fortune/2.html

Bromden uses size to describe multiple characters in the book in order to give the reader evidence of the theme of how society can dictate your worth and power. Bromden often describes himself as small, despite the fact he is physically bigger than any one else in the ward. The first time Bromden speaks in the novel, he talks to McMurphy about how his size prevents him from standing up to the authorities of the ward. He states, “No. I’m way too little. I used to be big, but not no more. You’re twice the size of me.” (Kesey, Page 219) When Bromden says these words, he is telling McMurphy about how the forces of society belittled him until he was left with no voice to stand up for himself. Bromden also discusses Nurse Ratched’s size as extremely large, meaning that her status in society gives her power and influence over others. Kesey makes size a reoccurring subject in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest because he wants to show the reader how society can dictate one’s individuality and power. 

Motifs: Glass

1.     “The glass came apart like water splashing, and the nurse threw her hands over her ears.”  (Kesey, Page 201)

2.     “Only at the last-after he’d smashed through that glass door, her face swinging around, with terror forever ruining any other look she might ever try to use again, screaming when he grabbed for her and ripped her uniform all the way down the front…” (Kesey, Page 319)

http://intrinsic-media.net/2010/11/02/dynamics-shattering-liquids/wine-glass-shatter-04/

The glass that divides the patients and the nurses is often mentioned in the novel because it illustrates the theme of breaking society’s tendency to avoid the unordinary. The glass breaks various times throughout the novel, twice by McMurphy’s force. The first time that McMurphy breaks the divide is right after the nurse ends the patients’ privilege of using the tub room. He protests by breaking the glass of the nurse’s station with his hand and taking a pack of cigarettes. Bromden narrates, “The glass came apart like water splashing, and the nurse threw her hands over her ears.”(Kesey, Page 201) The breaking of the glass that separates McMurphy and the nurse symbolizes the disruption of society that Kesey labels a “machine.” When the glass breaks, the group of confined people fuses with the people from the outside world, and any barrier between the two groups disappears.

Motifs: Machinery

1.     “So she really lets herself go and her painted smile twists, stretches to an open snarl, and she blows up bigger and bigger, big as a tractor, so big I can smell the machinery inside the way you smell a motor pulling too big a load.” (Page 5)

2.     “They got to me with the machine again… I wonder…” (Page 287)

http://www.msafe.co.uk/safety-health-and-environment/machinery-safety.aspx

The motif of machinery is significant in the novel because it supports the theme of society functioning as a machine. The machine that Kesey uses to depict society produces a group of people that are the same and eliminates mistakes, or those who do not fit into the group. Bromden often uses terms that are associated with machinery in order to describe someone or something in the ward. In the beginning of the novel, Bromden gives the reader one of the very first descriptions of Nurse Ratched using machinery. He states, “So she really lets herself go and her painted smile twists, stretches to an open snarl, and she blows up bigger and bigger, big as a tractor, so big I can smell the machinery inside the way you smell a motor pulling too big a load.” (Kesey, Page 5) The term machinery describes Nurse Ratched, because she symbolizes society as a ruthless piece of equipment that discriminates against certain people.