Cuckoo's Nest Final Project- Phoebe Christos (FINAL DRAFT)

 Phoebe Christos

F Block English

Mr. Dilworth

12/8/14

Chief Bromden

Quotes:

1. "They think I'm deaf and dumb. Everybody thinks so. I'm cagey enough to fool them that much. If my being half Indian ever helped me in any way in this dirty life, it helped me being cagey, helped me all these years." (Kesey, Page 1)
2. "I think somebody m-m-measured him once at s-six feet seven; but even if he is big, he's scared of his own sh-sh-shadow. Just a bi-big deaf Indian." (Kesey, Page 24)
3. "No, thats not true. I lifted it myself." (Kesey, Page 142)

4. "And before I realized what I was doing, I told him Thank You." (Kesey, Page 217)      

5. "I reached into McMurphy's nightstand and got his cap and tried it on. It was too small, and I was suddenly ashamed of trying to wear it." (Kesey, Page 323)

Explanation: Throughout the novel, Bromden’s character is very dynamic. This is illustrated with the quotes above because you can see that in the beginning he had tricked everyone into thinking that he was cagey and deaf. He then votes for the fishing trip and soon he speaks to McMurphy. At the end, Bromden is the one who kills McMurphy’s body, tries on his cap, and then feels embarrassed about doing so. Directly after, inspired by McMurphy’s spirit, Bromden flees the ward and escapes to freedom.

Paragraph: Bromden is an extremely dynamic character who gains lots of confidence and comes out of the fog by the end of the novel.  Bromden is the narrator of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Because he is like a fly on the wall since he has tricked everybody into believing that he is deaf, using this advantage, Bromden provides an inside look at the ward from a patient’s view. Bromden begins to escape the fog and create a stronger sense of self with McMurphy’s inspiring presence on the ward. Bromden has been in the ward for an extremely long time, and he has received over 200 shock treatments in the past. He is a prime example of conformity, a major theme of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, because Bromden goes as far as to pretend to be deaf simply to hide within the comfort and safety of the fog. Yet, Bromden emerges from the fog when he is the deciding vote on the fishing trip. He raises his hand and then goes on to explain that McMurphy made him lift it. Finally he continues, "No, thats not true. I lifted it myself" (Kesey, Page 142). This took a lot of courage to do because he was indirectly defying Nurse Ratched when he did so. Later in the novel, Bromden speaks. Although in the beginning Chief Bromden relays the theme of conformity- by the end of the novel, he stops conforming and leaves the ward forever.

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McMurphy

Quotes: 

1. "Nobody can tell exactly why he laughs; there's nothing funny going on. But it's not the way that Public Relation laughs, it's free and loud and it comes out of his wide grinning and spreads in rings bigger and bigger till it's lapping against the walls all over the ward." (Kesey, page 12). 

2. "This is exactly what the new patient is planning: to take over. He is what we call a manipulator," Nurse Ratched. (Kesey, Page 27)

3.  "I'm no wolf and you're no rabbit." (Kesey, Page 67)

4. "Even McMurphy doesn't know he has been fogged in. If he does, he makes sure to let on that he isn't bothered by it. He's making sure none of the staff sees him bothered by anything; he knows that there is no better way in the world to aggravate somebody who's trying to make it hard for you than by acting like you're not bothered." (Kesey, Page 117)

5. "I wonder how McMurphy slept, plagued by a hundred faces like that, or two hundred, or a thousand." (Kesey, Page 279)

Explanation: 

These quotes show the progression of McMurphy throughout the novel. When he originally arrives, he is upbeat, lively and lighthearted; and the patients love him. The Big Nurse believes that he will be “a manipulator” or a troublemaker looking to disturb the order on the ward. The third quote shows how McMurphy strives to help the patients feel confident. In the fourth quote, it demonstrates how McMurphy conforms to drab environment on the ward for a while in the middle of the novel. Lastly, the fifth quote demonstrates that McMurphy is not the same person he originally was; instead he is only doing his crazy actions to help the other patients because they need him.

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The combination of McMurphy's bright personality and intimidating appearance create a  revolutionary character unlike any patient that has previously passed through the ward. The protagonist of the novel, McMurphy, is a heroic new patient on Nurse Ratched’s ward who strives to create a sense of camaraderie and confidence amongst the patients. Readers root for McMurphy the entire novel. McMurphy uses his love of life, laughter and fun to do this. He forms a basketball team, organizes a fishing trip and encourages card games in the tub room. He desires to increase the confidence and strength of the patients; to help them believe that they are not rabbits. McMurphy immediately sees right through the Big Nurse’s fake smile and perfectly ironed uniform. He understands that he must "overthrow" or bring the Nurse to her breaking point in order to be successful in his quest to bring the patients together and make them stronger individually.  McMurphy is extremely confident, like-able and despite the Nurse's accusations, McMurphy is definitely a selfless man. In fact, McMurphy represents Jesus in the novel. He willingly sacrifices his personality as he undergoes a lobotomy and ultimately his life; for the well-being of the other patients. "We couldn’t stop him because we were the ones making him do it. It wasn’t the nurse that was forcing him, it was our need that was making him push himself slowly up from sitting...,” Chief realizes on page 318. McMurphy defies, makes fun of, and eventually attempts to strangle the Big Nurse, even though he fully understood that he would face the harsh consequences. The only reason he does this is to empower his fellow patients. Although the patients lose faith in McMurphy for a small part in the novel after the nurse talks behind his back at the meeting, in the end they recognize that McMurphy was helping them selflessly all along. 

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Nurse Ratched 

Quotes:

1. "A mistake was made somehow in manufacturing, putting those big, womanly breasts on what otherwise would have been a perfect work, and you can see how bitter she is about it." (Kesey, Page 62)
2. "The Big Nurse tends to get real put out if something keeps her outfit from running like a smooth, accurate, precision-made machine. The slightest thing messy or out of kilter or in the way ties her into a little white knot of tight-smiled fury." (Kesey, Page 28)
3. "You're committed, you realize. You are...under the jurisdiction of me...the staff...under jurisdiction and control." (Kesey, Page 144)

4. "The expression on her face was calm and blank as enamel, but the strain was beginning to show in other ways. By the way she jerked the adhesive tight as she could, showing her remote patience wasn't what it used to be." (Kesey, Page 207)

1. "It's not all like her ward', she said. 'A lot of it is, but not all. Army nurses, trying to run an army hospital.'" (Kesey, Page 278)

Explanation: 

The quotes above represent the progression of the Nurse throughout the novel. First of all, as shown in quotes one and five, although she is a woman; Nurse Ratched is harsh, cruel, and powerful. She wants everything to be perfect, as shown in quote two. Yet, as demonstrated in quotes three and four, Nurse Ratched gradually loses her control and power throughout the novel as McMurphy drives her to her breaking point. 

Paragraph: 

Nurse Ratched, or the Big Nurse, is a power-hungry, controlling and demeaning woman in charge of the ward; yet her power gradually slips away as McMurphy pushes her to her breaking point. McMurphy’s opponent, the Big Nurse, is the antagonist in the novel, and she creates all conflict. The Nurse is known as a wolf (and the patients are known as rabbits), and a “ball-cutter", as McMurphy puts it, because she purposely demeans the patients. As Chief explains in the beginning of the novel, the Big Nurse craves perfection and complete control. "The Big Nurse tends to get real put out if something keeps her outfit from running like a smooth, accurate, precision-made machine. The slightest thing messy or out of kilter or in the way ties her into a little white knot of tight-smiled fury" (Kesey, page 28). McMurphy is the thing “messy or out of kilter” that“ties her into a little white knot of tight-smiled fury” in the novel. Not only does the Nurse pit the patients against one another by bribing them to record information about one another in the log book, and embarrass them in group meetings, she also speaks to the patients in a demeaning and condescending tone that destroys their self worth. Yet, after McMurphy strangles her at the end of the novel, she no longer can speak. Without her voice, Nurse Ratched is not nearly as powerful. 

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Miscellaneous Staff

Quotes:

1. birthmark nurse: "In the morning she sees how she's stained again and somehow she figures it's not really from inside her-how could it be? a good Catholic girl like her?-and she figures it's on account of working evenings among a wardful of people like me. It's all our fault and she's going to get us for it if it's the last thing she does." (Kesey, Page 166) 

2. Black boys: "All three of them sulky and hating everything, the time of day, the place they're at here, the people they got to work around." (Kesey, Page 11)

3. Black boys: "They laugh and then I hear them mumbling behind me, heads close together. Hum of black machinery, humming hate and death and other hospital secrets." (Kesey, Page 1)

4. Jap Nurse: "The nurse-about as big as the small end of nothing whittled to a fine point, as McMurphy put it later-undid our cuffs and gave McMurphy a cigarette and gave me a stick of gum. She said she remembered that I chewed gum. I didn't remember her at all." (Kesey, Page 278)

5. Jap Nurse: "Yes. I'd like to keep men here sometime instead of sending them back, but she has seniority." (Kesey, Page 278)

Explanation: 

The first quote shows the hypocritical thoughts of the birthmark nurse because she has flaws, such as her birthmark, yet she blames those with whom she works for them because she thinks that they are weird and have flaws. The second and third quote demonstrate that the black boys are a single unit, or instrument, for the Combine. Lastly, as seen in quotes four and five, the Jap Nurse is actually a kind woman who treats the patients like real people.

Paragraph: Although they all work in the same hospital, the Jap Nurse and the black boys handle their jobs extremely different from one another. The black boys are instruments of the combine, while the Jap Nurse is not. This is because the Jap Nurse treats the patients with kindness, benevolence, empathy and respect. As illustrated in this quote, "All three of them sulky and hating everything, the time of day, the place they're at here, the people they got to work around” the black boys do not act this way. Instead, they show hatred toward the patients. They are rude, relentless and find pleasure in mocking the patients. Also, the Jap Nurse shows compassion, as she treats her patients as equals. She recognizes that even though they are in an institution for the mentally ill, they are still people. To the black boys, however, they are nuisances, a group of things that they have to deal with each day at work. The black boys and the Jap Nurse approach their jobs with entirely different perspectives. 

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Miscellaneous Patients

Quotes:

1. Cheswick: "Cheswick never goes on; he's one of those guys who'll make a big fuss like he's going to lead an attack, holler charge and stomp up and down a minute, take a couple steps, and quit." (Kesey, Page 66)

2. Cheswick: "No, by God, not me. I'm not any rabbit." (Kesey, Page 67)

1. Cheswick: “Everybody knew the kind of answer the doctor would make, and before he even had the chance Cheswick would be off on another complaint.” (Kesey, page 94)
2. Billy Bibbit: “Sure!” It’s Billy, turned from the screen, his face boiling tears. “Sure!” he screams again. “If we had the g-guts! I could go outside to-today, if I had the guts. My m-m-mother is a good friend of M- Miss Ratched, and I could get an AMA signed this afternoon, if I had the guts!” He jerks his shirt up from the bench and tries to pull it on, but he’s shaking too hard. Finally he slings it from him and turns back to McMurphy. “You think I wuh-wuh-wuh-want to stay in here? You think I wouldn’t like a con-con-vertible and a guh-guh-girl friend? But did you ever have people l-l-laughing at you? No, because you’re so b-big and so tough! Well, I’m not big and tough. Neither is Harding. Neither is F-Fredrickson. Neither is SuhSefelt. Oh—oh, you—you t-talk like we stayed in here because we liked it! Oh—it’s n- no use ...” (Kesey, page 110)

5. Billy Bibbit: "‘What worries me, Billy,’ she said-I could hear the change in her voice-‘is how your poor mother is going to take this.’ She got the response she was after. Billy flinched and put his hand to his cheek like he'd been burned with acid.” (Kesey, page 173)

Explanation: 

Cheswick is one of McMurphy’s first supporters. He always goes along with whatever McMurphy says and tries to lead the other men as well. Billy Bibbit is a timid, lonely and embarrassed young man. Billy is constantly striving to impress his mother. His mother’s personal relationship with Nurse Ratched terrifies him because it automatically gives the Nurse more power over him.

Paragraph: 

Although Cheswick and Billy Bibbit are both patients on Nurse Ratched’s ward who commit suicide, they have different personalities and choose to commit suicide for different reasons. While Cheswick is outgoing and bold, Billy is very quiet and shy. Cheswick always speaks up about any situation while Billy tends to be quiet. Both Cheswick and Billy commit suicide, but their reasons for doing so are drastically different. Cheswick commits suicide after he recognizes that McMurphy reluctantly is conforming to the drab environment on the ward after he discovers that his actions will have extreme consequences and he could be stuck on the ward for a very long time if he continues with his silly antics. Cheswick loses all faith in the rebellion, and because it was so important to him, the hopelessness from what he believed to be the end of the rebellion drives Cheswick to commit suicide. He drowns himself in the pool by holding on to the grate. Billy Bibbit, on the other hand, kills himself out of guilt. When Billy is found in the room with the prostitute, as illustrated in quote five above, Nurse Ratched threatens to tell his mother about what he has done. This thought terrifies Billy, as Nurse Ratched had intended, and he immediately begins to blame McMurphy and the other patients for his own actions. He claims that they made him do it. When Billy is sent to calm down, he slits his throat using a box-cutter found in the drawer because he is so overcome with guilt. Because Billy betrays McMurphy (Jesus), and then proceeds to kill himself, Billy represents Judas in the biblical sense. 

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Motifs

1. Laughter

Quote: "Nobody can tell exactly why he laughs, there's nothing funny going on. This sound is real. I realize all of a sudden it's the first real laugh I've heard in years," Bromden accounts (Kesey, Page 12).

Paragraph: Laughter echoes throughout the duration of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. In the beginning of the novel, when McMurphy first enters onto the ward, he can’t stop laughing and nobody understands why. The lack of laughter is McMurphy’s first indicator of the absence of fun and togetherness on the ward. However, by the end of the novel, McMurphy has all the patients laughing together and it is obvious that they are much happier and lighthearted than they were in the beginning.

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2. Hands

Quote: 

1. McMurphy’s hands: "I remember real clear the way that hand looked: there was carbon under the fingernails where he'd worked once in a garage; there was an anchor tattooed back from the knuckles; there was a dirty Band-Aid on the middle knuckle, peeling up at the edge. All the rest of the knuckles were covered with scars and cuts, old and new. I remember the palm was smooth and hard as bone from hefting wooden handles of axes and hoes, not the hand you’d think good deal cards. The palm was callused, and the calluses were cracked, and dirt was worked in the cracks. A road map of his travels up and down the West. That palm made a scuffing sound against my hand. I remember the fingers were thick and strong closing over mine, and my hand commenced to feel peculiar and went to swelling up out there on my stick of an arm, like he was transmitting his own blood into it. It rang with blood and power. It blowed up near as big as his, I remember...” (Kesey, page 25)
2. Harding’s hands: “He's got hands so long and white and dainty I think they carved each other out of soap, and sometimes they get loose and glide around in front of him free as two white birds until he notices them and traps in between his knees; it bothers him that he's got pretty hands.” (Kesey, page 20)

Paragraph: 

Hands are another motif found in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. As illustrated in the quote above, McMurphy’s hands are big and tough and strong. These are qualities that one would typically associate with masculinity. However, Harding’s hands are described using terms that refer more to feminine objects; such as dainty, pretty, and “free as two white birds”. Harding’s hands are one of the indicators that suggest that he is homosexual. While McMurphy is not embarrassed by his hands- because they are manly and masculinity is classified as good thing throughout the novel-Harding is a completely different story. As stated above, “It bothers him that he's got pretty hands” (Kesey, page 20). Harding wants to hide his hands because they are feminine, which is embarrassing for him since they are different. 

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3. Fog

Quote: 

1. “When the fog was on the ward I used to hide in it to get out of going.” (Kesey, page 169) 
2. “You had a choice: you could either strain and look at things that appeared in front of you in the fog, painful as it might be, or you could relax and lose yourself” (Kesey, page 76)

Paragraph: 

The fog is a recurring mechanism used by Nurse Ratched throughout the novel. Although it dulls one’s ability to think clearly and function properly, the fog provides a comfort and safety that is irresistible for some of the patients. When one is in the fog, they do not think for themselves. Instead, they are controlled by others. Although this may be an easier alternative for the patients, they ultimately decide to come out of the fog and take control of their own lives on the ward instead of allowing Nurse Ratched to control them.

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