In One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest And Panopticism
The advancement of technology over the last decade has been used to further security methods in society. Devices such as surveillance systems in stores have caught suspects and decreased crime, but only by a mere 0.05% (specifically in Chicago, which currently has 15,000 cameras throughout the city). So, does this implementation of surveillance really make people behave? The texts “Panopticism” by Michel Foucault and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey both focus on how to make people behave. Foucault's theory explains that if surveillance is used on people in seclusion, the authorities will claim ultimate control. Kesey’s novel challenges this theory once new ward member McMurphy is transferred in, as he provokes Nurse Ratched and
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The idea in Panopticism is to convince society that their actions are monitored by others. Foucault’s point is that “power should be visible and unverifiable.Visible: the inmate will constantly have before his eyes the tall outline of the central tower from which he is spied upon. Unverifiable: the inmate must never know whether he is being looked at at any one moment; but he must be sure that he may always be so” (320). The Panopticon should make people believe they can never verify if someone is watching them, and so they portray themselves as authority wants. While this may contribute to most institutions involving surveillance systems in society, in Nurse Ratched’s ward she is not hidden from the patients. All day long, Nurse Ratched sits behind glass in her nurse’s station, observing the patients: “The Big Nurse looks out through her special glass, always polished till you can’t tell it’s there, and nods at what she sees” (29). The nurse is entirely visible through the glass to patients, and they understand they are being watched by her, and will be given repercussions if they choose to go against her. Further, they specifically know who is watching them. There is no confusion or curiosity as to who is observing; they know Nurse Ratched, understand her personality, and …show more content…
In a Panopticon the people are not in contact with others, so they are unable to exchange ideas and thoughts, which could have resulted in questioning authority: “Each individual...is securely confined to a cell…[and] the side walls prevent him from coming into contact with his companions” (319). Foucault believes the people will be unable to plot an escape because they will not be in contact with others if kept in this isolation. Their lack of communication with others will stop their chances of questioning authority and planning a rebellion.. However, Nurse Ratched does not adhere to this since she let’s patients discourse in the day room every day. She does not try to block the patients’ contact with one another; she actually encourages them to talk in the Therapeutic Community, which is group therapy and used to help the “guy...learn to get along in a group before he’ll be able to function in a normal society” (44). Nurse Ratched believes that this socializing will help them function better in society, rather than isolating them from one another. However, she cannot maintain the kind of control Foucault describes with isolation, in fact, in one scene…(mcmurphy’s bet?) Overall, Foucault’s theory that people need to be isolated in the Panopticon does not play out in Kesey’s novel,
The idea in Panopticism is to convince society that their actions are monitored by others. Foucault’s point is that “power should be visible and unverifiable.Visible: the inmate will constantly have before his eyes the tall outline of the central tower from which he is spied upon. Unverifiable: the inmate must never know whether he is being looked at at any one moment; but he must be sure that he may always be so” (320). The Panopticon should make people believe they can never verify if someone is watching them, and so they portray themselves as authority wants. While this may contribute to most institutions involving surveillance systems in society, in Nurse Ratched’s ward she is not hidden from the patients. All day long, Nurse Ratched sits behind glass in her nurse’s station, observing the patients: “The Big Nurse looks out through her special glass, always polished till you can’t tell it’s there, and nods at what she sees” (29). The nurse is entirely visible through the glass to patients, and they understand they are being watched by her, and will be given repercussions if they choose to go against her. Further, they specifically know who is watching them. There is no confusion or curiosity as to who is observing; they know Nurse Ratched, understand her personality, and …show more content…
In a Panopticon the people are not in contact with others, so they are unable to exchange ideas and thoughts, which could have resulted in questioning authority: “Each individual...is securely confined to a cell…[and] the side walls prevent him from coming into contact with his companions” (319). Foucault believes the people will be unable to plot an escape because they will not be in contact with others if kept in this isolation. Their lack of communication with others will stop their chances of questioning authority and planning a rebellion.. However, Nurse Ratched does not adhere to this since she let’s patients discourse in the day room every day. She does not try to block the patients’ contact with one another; she actually encourages them to talk in the Therapeutic Community, which is group therapy and used to help the “guy...learn to get along in a group before he’ll be able to function in a normal society” (44). Nurse Ratched believes that this socializing will help them function better in society, rather than isolating them from one another. However, she cannot maintain the kind of control Foucault describes with isolation, in fact, in one scene…(mcmurphy’s bet?) Overall, Foucault’s theory that people need to be isolated in the Panopticon does not play out in Kesey’s novel,