One Flew Over Cuckoo's Nest Analysis

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In ‘The Bell Jar’ the theme of sanity vs insanity is apparent from the beginning of the novel. Esther does not feel she is out of place, but acknowledges this. She does not feel the excitement everyone else around her feels but instead that excitement makes her feel sick. ‘I felt very still and very empty, the way the eye of a tornado must feel, moving dully along in the middle of the surrounding hullabaloo.’ Right from the beginning of the novel we can see that Esther is slowly starting her journey towards her depression. Esther is in desperate need to get herself through the transition from adolescence and into women hood; so as a result cuts herself off from the people around her and from her own feelings. Esther reaches maturity in the…show more content…
However, in this particular novel the women are the perpetrators not the men; who were obviously believed to be the dominated species. The fear of women is one of the novels fundamental themes. In ‘One flew over the cuckoo’s nest’ the women are the people mirroring society and are the reason for the breakdown of many patients. Bromden, the narrator, and the protagonist McMurphy tend to describe the misfortune of the mental patients of the work of Nurse Ratched and the hospital supervisor’s castration or emasculation. Nurse Ratched tries her level best to conceal her femininity because when she has it she cannot psychologically castrate the male patients; which is what she wishes to do. By repressing her femininity, Nurse Ratched is not only diabolised but stripped of her human nature; she is portrayed as mechanical scum with no redeeming value. The negative portrayal of powerful women in the novel can be seen through the intricate relationships that the male characters have kept with women. Most of the male patients have been damaged by relationships kept with women. Bromden’s mother is an example of a castrating women; her husband took her last name, and she turned a big, strong chief into a small, weak alcoholic. According to Bromden, she built herself up emotionally, becoming bigger than either he or his father, by constantly minimizing their worth. Similarly, Billy Bibbit’s mother approaches him like an infant…show more content…
Through such pessimistic depiction Kesey argues that overpowering women- otherwise known as society- are a damaging force that pressurises normal men into insanity. Nurse Ratched psychologically castrates the men in her ward by repeatedly belittling them. In her ‘therapeutic’ sessions she manipulates the men into criticizing each other and weakening their senses of masculinity. This could be seen as a metaphor as it portrays the impact society has on people. In this novel, it is the Big Nurse who represents society; she has permission to do whatever it takes to force the men into conforming even if it means turning a sane man into an insane one. McMurphy is not insane. He was not chucked into the mental institution because he is mentally ill; in fact he chose to be there to escape jail time. Nurse Ratched acknowledges McMurphy’s sanity however, this does not stop her from treating him like an insane men would be treated. McMurphy is in a battle with society regardless of the fact that he is not insane; he has to try keep his sanity and at the same time destroy society’s representation, Nurse Ratched. When McMurphy physically attacks the Nurse, this serves as his message to society telling them that as a male he will always dominate over the female nurse. Before choking Nurse Ratched, McMurphy tears off her uniform to reveal her breasts which in itself signifies her
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