One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Power Analysis
In Ken Kesey’s One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, power is the dominant theme in the novel; one who holds power and one who wants it, and how it is used to intimidate and manipulate, especially how it is disrupted, challenged, and denied. The theme of power is shown in the conflict between the antagonist Nurse Ratched, an army nurse who controls all patients in the mental hospital, and the protagonist, Randle Patrick McMurphy, a patient in the ward who denies Ratched’s authority.
The novel tells the story about a group of mentally ill patients and the medical treatment they receive at a psychiatric hospital. The hospital is managed by Nurse Ratched, who possesses near-total power over them, restricting their access to medication and basic human necessities. The patients are controlled to the point where they fear for her and never question her authority. Early in the novel, Randle McMurphy is admitted to the ward and immediately creates disruption among the other patients by promoting radical changes. Besides making them laugh, he demonstrates that he can influence the imposition of power; he arranges activities and an excursion that the patients enjoy, earning their respect, and he quickly becomes the leader of the group. In addition, he gives …show more content…
At the beginning of the book, McMurphy toys with Nurse Ratched and the other staff at the hospital. He figures he might as well have some fun with them since he is under the mistaken impression that he has only a certain number of days until he is released. Soon, however, he comes to realize that he is at Big Nurse's mercy if he ever wants to be free again. Prior to this realization, he was an inspiration, someone that others were in awe of and attempted to emulate. When McMurphy realizes that he is destroying his own chance to be free and continues down this path anyway, he effectively becomes the savior of the
The novel tells the story about a group of mentally ill patients and the medical treatment they receive at a psychiatric hospital. The hospital is managed by Nurse Ratched, who possesses near-total power over them, restricting their access to medication and basic human necessities. The patients are controlled to the point where they fear for her and never question her authority. Early in the novel, Randle McMurphy is admitted to the ward and immediately creates disruption among the other patients by promoting radical changes. Besides making them laugh, he demonstrates that he can influence the imposition of power; he arranges activities and an excursion that the patients enjoy, earning their respect, and he quickly becomes the leader of the group. In addition, he gives …show more content…
At the beginning of the book, McMurphy toys with Nurse Ratched and the other staff at the hospital. He figures he might as well have some fun with them since he is under the mistaken impression that he has only a certain number of days until he is released. Soon, however, he comes to realize that he is at Big Nurse's mercy if he ever wants to be free again. Prior to this realization, he was an inspiration, someone that others were in awe of and attempted to emulate. When McMurphy realizes that he is destroying his own chance to be free and continues down this path anyway, he effectively becomes the savior of the