One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest Essay
One Flew Over the Essay Throughout literary works, society seems to always be analyzed and distinguished differently by each author. The captivating way in which they can simultaneously use literal and figurative devices help to captivate each reader’s mind. Anthem by Ayn Rand can be a great example of this piece because it defies the way a reader understands and sees society as a whole. In One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest however, Ken Kessey defies how a reader sees the connection between a mental ward and a totalitarian society. Nurse Ratched’s ward can be seen as this because there are so many similarities that a reader has no doubt but to clearly see the connection. She is the one who controls all aspects of the ward and her patients are the prisoners, likewise she is the dictator. The dictator that many can connect her to is Hugo Chavez due to the similarities involved between both leaderships. Kessey uses the expanse of the mental patients under the control of Nurse Ratched as a connection to a society or country being controlled by a dictator in a totalitarian society. Nurse Ratched is seen as the dictator of this mental ward with the comparisons that can be formed are quite distinct. Her air of coldness and her akin ability to manipulate the patients help her in her domination of the ward. Throughout the novel, Kessey presents lucid identification to similar characteristics Nurse Ratched has to a dictator. One dictator that can be compared to Nurse Ratched is Hugo Chavez. Chavez and Ratched both had an astute technique that they used to suppress both prisoners and patients. Nurse Ratched uses her deep erudition of each patient’s history in order to intimidate them. With this in mind, she is able to make the men feel inferior and help the reader insinuate that women are the superior gender. Chavez can be given the same reputation because he was able to intimidate everyone with his power. In his dictatorship of 14 years, in Venezuela, he had the same