Comparison Between One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest and the Bell Jar
Compare and contrast the presentation of Doctor Gordon from Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar, and the Big Nurse from Ken Kesey’s One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest in regard to the extracts.
The two extracts from One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey, and The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath are both first person narratives depicting the rebellion towards the patriarchal society after the war in the 1950s and the 1960s. The first one, the extract from The Bell Jar shows Esther visiting Doctor Gordon, and the descriptions surrounding the visit, such as of the characters and of the setting, and both characters go against the patriarchal society. The second extract from One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest shows Nurse Ratched as depicted through the eyes of Chief Bromden and her physical attributes. Here, the characters again, like the previous extract go against the social norms of the patriarchal society of that time period. These rebellious characteristics presented in our charascters through the authors’ usage of diction for the characters’ actions, tones, attitudes and thoughts which will be analyzed in the following commentary.
Doctor Gordon is presented as an exception to stereotypical views of members of medical profession with a cold personality and superficial expectations in the eyes of Esther as shown by the diction used by Plath. Doctor Gordon has a detached persona shown through the word “glacial” when describing his eyes as ‘glacial’ has the reference to ice, frosty and hostile thus showing his unreceptive demeanor. Esther “imagine[s] a kind, ugly, intuitive man...encouraging...[who] could see something [she] couldn’t...and then...he would help [her], step by step, to be [her]self again” however is faced with Doctor Gordon who “wasn’t like that at all,...[but] was young and good-looking...[and] conceited.” The word “but” used to show the contrast between Esther’s anticipation implies Doctor Gordon being an exception to the social norm of the orthodox views as
The two extracts from One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey, and The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath are both first person narratives depicting the rebellion towards the patriarchal society after the war in the 1950s and the 1960s. The first one, the extract from The Bell Jar shows Esther visiting Doctor Gordon, and the descriptions surrounding the visit, such as of the characters and of the setting, and both characters go against the patriarchal society. The second extract from One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest shows Nurse Ratched as depicted through the eyes of Chief Bromden and her physical attributes. Here, the characters again, like the previous extract go against the social norms of the patriarchal society of that time period. These rebellious characteristics presented in our charascters through the authors’ usage of diction for the characters’ actions, tones, attitudes and thoughts which will be analyzed in the following commentary.
Doctor Gordon is presented as an exception to stereotypical views of members of medical profession with a cold personality and superficial expectations in the eyes of Esther as shown by the diction used by Plath. Doctor Gordon has a detached persona shown through the word “glacial” when describing his eyes as ‘glacial’ has the reference to ice, frosty and hostile thus showing his unreceptive demeanor. Esther “imagine[s] a kind, ugly, intuitive man...encouraging...[who] could see something [she] couldn’t...and then...he would help [her], step by step, to be [her]self again” however is faced with Doctor Gordon who “wasn’t like that at all,...[but] was young and good-looking...[and] conceited.” The word “but” used to show the contrast between Esther’s anticipation implies Doctor Gordon being an exception to the social norm of the orthodox views as