Part 1
Kesey offers a strong critique of society, government, and societal institutions-- that they would rather keep man "docile, unnoticed, and even "insane" rather than risk non-conformity, thinking for himself, and challenging authority. This is represented through the them of man vs. machine.
Questions: What are your thoughts on how Kesey presents this notion through Chief, McMurphy, and the other patients? Which specific moment in the text most aptly express the extended metaphor of man vs. machine?
Part 2- End
1. What are your thoughts on the portrayal of women in this text? Can we say that Kesey is perpetuating the stereotypes of women present in both society and in literature? Many critics deem this text as being "anti-female" do you agree, disagree, or "sit on the fence" regarding this idea?
2. The author Flanner O'Connor has written, " I am interested in making a good case for distortion because I am coming to believe that is the only way to make people see." Connect this concept to the text. How do the distortions contribute to the text as a whole?
3. Consider the character of McMurphy. Is he the ultimate hero? Why? Why not?
Part 1
ReplyDeleteChief Bromden is the primary enforcer of the machine metaphor, considering the entire story is from his perspective. Bromine’s experience in the war as a mechanic or engineer of some sort, predating his stay in the asylum, is the foundation of his machine-focused outlook. Chief Bromden uses the machines as a means of understanding the world. With his mental strain, likely caused from PTSD, his ties to reality are fairly weak, but machines, something he knows and understands, keep him grounded not to everyone else’s reality, but to his own distorted reality. Chief Bromden also explains the hierarchy within the hospital via machines. The Chronics are “the culls of the Combine’s product” (Kesey 15). The Combine hides the Chronics away to keep them from “giving the product a bad name” (15). Bromden says that the Chronics “are machines with flaws inside that can’t be repaired, flaws born in, or flaws beat in over many years” (16). Broaden tries to make sense of his situation by translating it into the "language" he knows best. He is the only character who implicitly pinpoints the machine-like qualities of others, specifically towards those who are associated with the Combine. In many ways, the connections Chief Bromden draws to other characters is a form of dehumanization; the so-called Combine members, such as Nurse Ratched, are oftentimes subjected to the dehumanization because they are the antagonists, the wardens, the suppressors. Their resemblance to machines takes away their humanity and explains their propensities towards evil. The villains’ inability to empathize is enhanced as they resemble robots rather than humans.
Parts 2-4
ReplyDelete1. I was initially impressed by the pure dominance of Nurse Ratched. Yes, her coldness was off-putting, yet her ability to bring those around her to their knees with just a look was somewhat empowering. It’s not very often that readers get to see women in control or women as strong antagonists. And so, I thought that Kesey’s approach was fascinating. But, as the novel progressed, I gradually lost that sense of empowerment. Many of the few female characters in the novel are objectified and characterized by their physical attributes or sexuality. Candy and Sandy are not seen as humans, just objects of desire and pleasure. And, if women are not seen as glorified sexual beings, then they are the emasculators of men. Billy Bibbit, a grown man, is constantly suffocated by his mother; he does not have the courage to assert himself against her. The mere idea of his mother discovering that he had sex with a prostitute drove Billy to kill himself. Chief Bromden often speaks of how his mother stripped away some of his father’s “bigness,” but the “Combine” did have a larger role. The ultimate emasculator, however, is Nurse Ratched. She is able to make a group of grown men, from the inmates to the doctor to the aides, feel like “rabbits.” The thought of a strong women scares them, and so they cower in the corner. As Harding said, the poor men are “victims of the matriarchy.” Her autocratic control over them is overwhelming. Even, McMurphy’s last attempt to overthrow Nurse Ratched came in the form of sexual assault. Ultimately, the generalizations and treatment of women in the novel are upsetting. Concerning whether or not Kesey intended to critique all females, I’m unsure. Regardless of intention, he still created a novel that was “anti-female” in nature.
2. From the beginning, Chief Bromden speaks to his unreliability, admitting “it’s the truth even if it didn’t happen” (8). Chief recognized that what he recounts is most likely incorrect. It is oftentimes difficult to ascertain the true context of a situation because his interpretation of reality is convoluted, and these distortions can be attributed to his mental illness. He interprets his surroundings through the filters of machinery and the Combine. Those around him don’t utilize this terminology, and readers only come to understand Bromden because they’re given access to his definitions as we explore his inner thoughts. But, realistically, that “access” is somewhat detrimental because it gives readers a very one-sided interpretation of what occurred in the hospital. Readers are left thinking: how much was actually true? Perhaps none of it was; frankly, that’s a possibility. Through Bromden’s descriptions, it’s quite evident that there is a lack of comprehension and stability on his part. For example, his description of the aides bathing transfers sounds more like the aides raped the transfers. Although readers only know the Chief’s truth, the truth told by the Chief has the most meaning. Because of the way the Chief interprets the word in terms of the Combine, for instance, the novel has anti-Establishment undertones. The novel holds a message that is very true to the era of “the hippie” that Kesey wrote this. Chief Bromden’s distorted perspective adds depth and complexity that would be lost otherwise.
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ReplyDeleteThe goal of the Combine presented by Chief Bromden is to rid society of imperfections and mold these imperfections until they are presentable. The idea of the Combine originated before Chief’s admission to the ward, and instead originated due to his Native American Heritage. As a Native American and part of a tribe he was in touch with his spirit and nature, and the government, the Combine, worked to take this individuality and suppress it. The ward is an instrument of the Combine and the Big Nurse runs the ward for the Combine. The nurse is the engineer and operator for the combine, with her name ,Ratched, similar to the tool ratchet. The big nurse is introduced to the opening chapter “as big as a tractor(5)”, “precise [and] automatic(5).” Nurse Ratched, assigned by the Combine, controls everything within the ward including time. The machinery imagery is further developed with the fog machine Chief believes is controlled by the nurse. The fog is the attempt from the Combine to hide the imperfections that exist. As the patients, specifically the chronics are “machines with flaws inside that can’t be repaired…(16).” Furthermore, Chief’s dreams of Blastic his innards reveal rust, as the ward has exhausted his life and humanity. Kesey with the machine imagery portrays a society that seeks conformity and tames nature.
ReplyDeleteWould you say seeking conformity in this manner is unhealthy and changes our concept of what should be "sane" and what should be "insane"?
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ReplyDeletePart 1:
ReplyDeleteChief Bromden offers the perspective we see throughout the story, as Jenna said. The machinery metaphor comes from Bromden and his experiences in World War II as an engineer. As if not knowing anything else except for machines and their functions, he sees people as machines and the “Combine” as the controlling force of all the machines. Bromden sees the “Combine” as a “huge organization that aims to adjust the Outside as well as [it] has the Inside,” meaning to conform the “docile, unnoticed, and even ‘insane’” to societal rules and standards (Kesey 28). The Big Nurse, represents the Combine on the ward which, “run[s] like a smooth, accurate, precision - made machine.” (28) Then Bromden explains to the reader/listener that there was a clear hierarchy in the ward: Acutes and Chronics. Acutes are, “sick enough to be fixed”, but Chronics are “machines with flaws inside that can’t be repaired.” (16) McMurphy, however is neither of the two, he is the only real man in the ward at the beginning of the novel; he changes the monotony of the ward by challenging the Big Nurse and the Combine. McMurphy exhibits a rumbustious attitude and outwardly questions Nurse Ratched on her “therapeutic” methods, while offering his own opinions. McMurphy and Nurse Ratched’s feud is essentially the battle between man and machine. McMurphy does as he pleases, while the Nurse has a fixed schedule. The clearest victory between man and machine is when the men from the ward gathered around a blank TV screen during their scheduled work time as, “a fifty-year-old woman [was] hollering and squealing… about discipline and order”; thus symbolizing a change in the patients who begin to act more like human beings with feelings, desires, and opinions rather than an operated, expressionless, damaged machines.
1. Kesey clearly depicts throughout the novel that a mental hospital would rather keep "sick" men locked up rather than be individuals. This hospital is run like a machine. Big Nurse has a specific schedule where each patient has a job and they have a specific schedule to follow. If one patient does not do what they are supposed to do chaos ensues and the Big Nurse does not like that. As for the Chief he has the job to sweep everyday. In this way he becomes like a robot. Just mindlessly doing the assigned tasks. He does this without complaint because he knows that he could be sent up to disturbed. Also, Chief chooses to be deaf and mute and Big Nurse, the black boys, and the other patients believe it. Nobody even questions this notion or suggests that maybe the staff should re-check this evaluation. Chief is the epitome of going unnoticed. In order to re-evaluate the Big Nurse would have to stop her normal routine, something she is not fond of. Big Nurse would discover that Chief is not as crazy as he is thought out to be. He is clever enough to be self-mute and deaf to listen to the staff and figure out what is going on in the meeting to get information. The omniscient Big Nurse would not think Chief is intelligent enough to pull one over on her. Once McMurphy comes to the ward the well-oiled machine begins to experience some technical difficulties. He will not just sit there like a piece of machinery and let the Combine dictate his life. McMurphy begins to control the machine that releases the fog and makes everything murky. Big Nurse does not like how McMurphy teaches the other patients to rebel and stand up for themselves. He makes each patient aware that they can think for themselves. Now when every part of the machine begins to think for themselves it cannot operate as one piece of machinery. This creates havoc in the eyes of Big Nurse. She cannot suppress the patients like she used to. However, Big Nurse will not stand for this and decides to use a piece of machinery to fix McMurphy. She sends him to repeated Electric Shock Therapy sessions and eventually a lobotomy. She would rather run electric currents through his head or remove part of his brain than believe that he is not insane and can think for himself. By second handedly turning McMurphy into a vegetable she thought she was going to turn the ward back into a well oiled machine. However, this just causes most of the patients to leave the ward and live their own life.
ReplyDeleteThe part of the text that most aptly expresses the extended metaphor of man vs. machine is when the Chief is explaining about how the workers from the town were coming to his reservation to attempt to buy it and turn it into a hydroelectric dam. This is the first time that Chief goes unnoticed by people, which continues when he gets to the ward. The natural land being taken away from the tribe to be turned into machinery symbolizes the patients individualism and right to think for themselves being suppressed by the ward, which acts as a machine. The machinery takes away the beauty of life as we know it.
Throughout the text, Ken Kesey utilizes Chief Bromden as the main link to the idea of man vs. machine. Taken literally, Chief constantly makes references to machines in his everyday life at the ward. From the start, the audience can detect the presence of machinery based on the way he describes Big Nurse as she is entering the ward: “she blows up bigger and bigger, big as a tractor, so big I can smell the machinery inside the way you smell a motor pulling too big a load” (5). It is later revealed that Chief worked as a mechanic of some sorts in the war, making the repetitive references sensible. Many of the machine references are hallucinations, “But it’s the truth even if it didn’t happen” (8). Machinery in the ward may not be reality, but it’s his reality. Chief believes in the idea of the Combine, which illustrates how the asylum operates in a machine-like way and is strongly against its control. He is under the impression that the asylum, and the whole world for that matter, are in danger of being taken over by the Combine and made into perfect little machines. The fear instilled in Chief’s mind by the leader of the Combine, Nurse Ratched, is what causes him to remain in the shadows for many years.
ReplyDeleteMan vs. Machine is a parallel to the idea of human self-worth vs. systematic control. When the character of McMurphy is introduced, there are changes that take place in the ward that make lasting effects on all the patients. This man enters confident and boisterous and adds a spark of life in the others. Chief is amazed to see how McMurphy seems to avoid the grasps of the Combine because of this unapologetic attitude. A natural leader, he fights for what he believes in, such as the right to watch the World Series and saving George from a shower, causing the other patients to follow in his footsteps. After a lot of time passes, McMurphy is finally able to break down the Combine by attacking, and thus, humanizing, Big Nurse. When the other patients are truly able to see that she, too, is only human, her authority is diminished in their eyes.
A moment in this story that exemplified the struggle between man vs. machine is when Chief dreams of Blastic’s death. When the workers hang him and cut him open, there is nothing be a “shower of rust and ashes, and now and again a piece of wire or glass” (88). This exemplifies the power that the Combine has. It not only sets up men versus machines, it converts men into machines, such as Blastic in this instance. Even though this was just a dream, Blastic actually died overnight, instilling more fear in Chief's head.
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ReplyDeleteThe theme of man vs machine is very distinct throughout Kesey’s novel. Within the context of the patients themselves, Kesey juxtaposes McMurphy with Chief and the other patients in order to highlight the differences between the two. McMurphy represents those that rebel against the machine while the inmates represent those that yield to it. When McMurphy first arrives to the ward, he immediately stands out. Chief can’t even see him, but he says, “I know he’s no ordinary Admission. I don’t hear him slide scared along the wall, and when they tell him about the shower he don’t just submit with a weak little yes” (11). If this isn’t evidence enough, when Nurse Ratched, the very epitome of “the machine,” tells McMurphy that he, like everyone else, must follow the rules, he blatantly responds, “that’s the ex-act thing somebody always tells me about the rules… just when they figure I’m about to do the dead opposite” (26). McMurphy is the embodiment of man rebelling against machine. Even toward the end of the novel when he should be too tired and too torn down to keep going, McMurphy continues to fight against the system if only to show that it is possible to do so. However, McMurphy does not end up being the one to beat the system. It is his foil, Chief, along with the other inmates who leave the combine and move on, who are able to overcome the dominating machine. It is all owed to McMurphy, though, for showing them in the first place that it is even a conceivable notion, for he gives them the confidence to even try to be ambitious. Thus, as McMurphy is declining, the rest are rising, the ultimate testament of Kesey: (in the words of Public Enemy) fight the powers that be. Kesey shows the reader what happens to those that submit to the machine through not only the inmates, but also society as a whole. This is most clearly seen through the eyes of Chief when he goes on the fishing trip and sees the world for the first time in a long time: “All up the coast I could see the signs of what the Combine had accomplished since I was last through this country, things like, for example-- a train stopping at a station and laying a string of full-grown men in mirrored suits and machined hats, laying them like a hatch of identical insects” (240). Chief goes on to describe the scene: identical men living in identical houses with identical families with identical children. The children which cannot keep up with the accepted standards stand out and are ostracized by society. This incident is clearly reminiscent of the experiences of the inmates, men ostracized by society for not fitting in. By painting the picture in a dismal light, Kesey is showing that it is good to be opposite the norms. This is further displayed by the inmates, themselves “others,” since they come to reach enlightenment and self-betterment by defying the machine, the machine being the Combine, but also Society as a whole.
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ReplyDelete2. The distortions which are most prominent throughout the text are those of Chief, and they are vital to the story, for they create the impression of chaos and discord in the mind of the reader similar to the kind of chaos and discord Chief has in his mind. Especially in the beginning of the novel, Chief’s narration is often disrupted by flashbacks which are integrated into the text in such a way that it almost appears as though Chief himself is also being transported into the past. This can get confusing for the reader, but, as a mentally unstable man, the reader realizes that it is just as confusing for Chief. It becomes even more distorted when Chief describes the mechanics within the Combine: “Before noontime they’re at the fog machine again but they haven’t got it turned up full” (42). Fog machine seems a strange machine to have in a mental asylum, and Chief talks so convincingly of it, except that he is an unreliable narrator, so the fog machine which he brings up often is not actually part of the workings of the Combine, but part of the workings of his own brain. Chief uses the fog as an excuse to escape from his own reality. By getting lost in the fog Chief can ignore any responsibility for himself that he might have and give himself completely to the Combine. Through the course of the novel, though, Chief’s narrative becomes more clear and definitive, which coincides with the confidence he is acquiring through resistance to the Combine. As Chief emerges a more free-thinking and independent person, he is also emerging out of the fog. The distorted style of the beginning of the novel dissipates and is replaced by clarity as Chief assumes responsibility for himself and his actions. All of this is set up by Kesey so that the reader can identify the struggle of man vs machine. Kesey wants the reader to see that the man who submits to the machine, as Chief does at first, is worse off than the man who defies it.
3. McMurphy is the ultimate tragic hero. Throughout the novel, the reader gets the sense that McMurphy is almost too large for life. By the novel’s conclusion, this sense is confirmed. When McMurphy first arrives to the ward, he is different, but his difference is not too extreme. His daring acts fall well within the bounds of his usual behavior: gambling, sweet talking, being the center of attention. However, when McMurphy acts nobly on behalf of his peers, the reader begins witnessing a fatal shift. This newfound chivalry does not mix well with his pride, creating a man who wants to always win, but who still wants his friends to win too. Now, instead of only looking out for himself, he has the added job of having to look after all of the men that he thinks need his help. They do need his help, as seen by the book, because without McMurphy, no one, not Chief, or Harding, or even Billy Bibbit, would have been able to overcome his fears. However, this is at the expense of himself because, while McMurphy is elevating the rest of them, he is deflating. He is a man who has only ever been concerned with himself, so when he has to be concerned and invested in other, he is using up more of himself than ever before. Mingle that with his inherent pride, and the reader bears witness to the perfect storm that is McMurphy: too proud for his own good. Once the reader realizes this as his fatal flaw, it is easy to recognize that McMurphy is on only one path, the path of destruction. Thus, his death in the end is inevitable, and evokes pity from the reader because McMurphy, despite all of his faults, did not need to go the way that he did: becoming the very thing which he fought against. It is like a slap on the face of a dead man to have McMurphy be overcome by the Combine in this way, as if all of his work was in vain. It is for this reason that Chief is compelled to smother “it” at the end; McMurphy was dead as soon as he made a move at the Big Nurse; his legacy lives in that moment and all moment leading up to that; nothing following was actually part of the living man.
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ReplyDelete2. The basis of this whole story is a distorted reality. The Chief comes right out and tells the audience that "it's the truth even if it didn't happen" (Kesey 8). Even though this story could very well all be fabricated by the Chief the audience is intrigued and listens to it. By displaying the mental hospital through the eyes of the Chief, Kesey was able to highlight all the negatives of the hospital, especially in the mental ward. For example, Bromden depicts the scene where the black boys clean the patients as a rape scene. He describes, "I'm the first one to see the Admission, watch him creep in the door and slide along the wall and stand scared till the black boys come sign for him and take him into the shower room, where they strip him and leave him shivering with the door open while they all three run grinning up and down the halls looking for Vaseline" (10). This insinuates that Bromden feels violated by the staff members which could very well be true. This distorted reality gives the sense that patients do no feel comfortable in the mental ward. Also, Bromden distorts his physical appearance as well as McMurphy's. Bromden is extremely tall, as he stands at 6 foot 7 inches. However, he believes he is small. This signifies that the mental hospital makes him feel small and worthless. Bromden has no self-confidence or self-worth as it was all taken away from him when he entered this ward. McMurphy, seen by Bromden as tall even though he is actually smaller than himself, exemplifies what free thought and standing up for yourself can do for you. Once Bromden learns this he begins to feel bigger, taller, and worth more. His self-confidence grows, which makes him see somebody else in himself besides a sick person. This distortion accentuates how the combine makes the patients feel and also draws attention to the patient's change in self-image. These distortions bring a negative connotation to the Combine and display how the treatment there does not help a sick person.
3. McMurphy could be considered the ultimate hero. From the moment he steps in that ward the whole atmosphere changes. The men hear singing and laughing for the first time in a long time. McMurphy is able to change rules in the ward and show these men that the Big Nurse does not have to dictate everything they do. He changes ward policy by utilizing the "democratic" therapy talks to get the tub room open to play games and to not play music in there. These men are subject to change, which only shows them that they can also have power over the Big Nurse. She does not have to be the deciding factor on everything. Also, McMurphy is able to take some of the patients fishing, even if he broke some laws, but they finally left the ward. On the fishing trip Chief saw "McMurphy laughing and saw him out the corner of his eye, just standing at the cabin door, not even making a move to do anything..." (248). Harding then helped get the fish in the boat. McMurphy was showing these men that they could indeed do something for themselves without help. This further grew their self-confidence. Also, McMurphy could be seen as their savior. He stood up for George in the shower when he did not want to be cleaned after the fishing trip. McMurphy refused to admit that he was wrong so therefore he was sent to the Shock Shop. He wore that "crown of thorns" each time even if it sucked all the life out of him. He was proving a point to the Big Nurse. He did this all while still keeping a humorous attitude. He takes the ultimate sacrifice after he gets a lobotomy as the Big Nurse thought the ETS was not sufficient enough. McMurphy becomes a vegetable, but by this point has given the other men enough confidence to sign themselves out of the ward or to escape. Bromden finally sees himself as a strong, powerful man and leaves the ward by using the control panel, a piece of machinery, to break a window. McMurphy help him overcome the fog, find his individuality and saneness, along with the other patients.
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ReplyDelete2. It is clear by the end of the first chapter that the narrator of the text, Chief Bromden, is unreliable. When referring to the rest of the story he states, “it’s the truth, even if it didn’t happen” (8). This brings up and interesting point of self-reality vs. societal reality. What is a truth for one person may not be a truth for another. A symbol of distortion that Kesey employs repeatedly throughout the text is the fog. When the fog appears, Chief loses his perception of time and self-control, but somehow still feels safe and hidden from danger. It is a chance to escape his surroundings, even if it means being submissive to the ward workers and Nurse Ratched. Distortion plays a role in the power held by the Combine because Chief believes that the orderlies are operating he fog machines in the walls and have control over when the patients are conscious of their surroundings. At one point, Chief notes that the fog’s “not so thick but what I can see if I strain real hard. One of these days I’ll quit straining and let myself go completely…” (42). This goes to show that Chief has no faith that the fog will ever be able to be overcome. McMurphy is the person that enters the ward and begins to drag the other patients out of seclusion and into a state of self- awareness, ultimately leading to the downfall of the Combine. Clearly Chief is subject to vivid hallucinations, but, again, it is what he believes to have happened. Having an unreliable narrator adds to the setting of the asylum and the story line would not flow without one.
3. The character of Randal McMurphy can be seen as an unusual, yet ultimate hero. His bravado from the moment he stepped through the ward doors set a spark in many of the other patients, earning him the role as their leader. This following can be compared to Jesus and his disciples. McMurphy, or Jesus, is showing his followers the rights and wrongs in their surroundings and teaching them to stand up for those principles, no matter the consequences. He brings life back into the asylum and others are fascinated by his behavior. In the shower, the other patients heard McMurphy “Singing! Everybody’s thunderstruck. They haven’t heard such a thing in years, not on this ward” (91). Song is not the only thing that McMurphy brings back into the lives of these men. He teaches them all to conquer their fears and make themselves “big” again. He stands up for the little guy, or George in this story, and fights back against the Old Swede’s treatment in the shower by the orderlies. When he is asked to apologize, he refuses because he will not let Big Nurse use intimidation to get to him. His defiance is further admired by his fellow patients. He is ultimately punished for this and an attack made on Big Nurse and is given a lobotomy. This final act of defiance sends a shock wave through the ward and leads to Chief’s escape. McMurphy leaves behind him a legacy of self-worth and anti-conformity. A hero is not defined by their given circumstances, but rather their ability to endure those circumstances and use them to their advantage to help others, which is exactly what McMurphy does.
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ReplyDelete1. I can see both sides of the debate on whether Kesey was “anti-female” or not in his novel. The Big Nurse is described as a cold machine that has no “compact or lipstick or woman stuff” in her bag and her large breasts were, “a mistake … made somehow in manufacturing” because how could an asserting authoritative figure like Nurse Ratched have qualities like a woman? (Sacrasm implied) The way that Bromden describes Nurse Ratched diminishes her to only one thing “authority” in the eyes of the reader; and apparently having female parts can be seen as a sign of vulnerability because “you can see how bitter she is about” having “big, womanly breasts.” (Kesey 6) Furthermore, the essential plot of the novel is about making the patients manly and “big” again, and that means tearing down Nurse Ratched’s dominance over them. Rather than just becoming who they are by standing up for themselves, they have to add that they need to be men and cut the “ball-cutters” out of their lives, as known as any dominating woman — Nurse Ratched. However, I can understand that in this time (around 1960s), women were viewed differently from men. They were seen as desirable-playthings as demonstrated in Candy and Sandy, who were air-headed girls, first introduced as “whores” to the reader, who’s prime role is to follow directions and look pretty. One moment in particular showed me the clear difference between now and then, when Candy did not stand up for herself when the seamen cat-called her. She looked to the patients (McMurphy absent from the scene) with a pleading look but, “nobody went after her.” (243) It was clear that Candy was nothing more than a sex object used to boost the men’s “bigness”. For instance, when Billy Bibbit has sex with Candy, he wakes up to the Big Nurse with the same “cowboy” attitude as McMurphy; he greets the nurse with a sly, confident, and stutter-less, “Good morning, Miss Ratched” as he turns to get up and button his pajamas (313). But, when the nurse begins to mention how disappointed Billy’s mother will be when she finds out he had sex with a prostitute, Billy starts to stutter again, losing his recently acquired masculinity and then kills himself soon afterward before facing any consequence. And so, there is a clear struggle between femininity and masculinity in the novel. I see that there is no difference between a man and a woman, and so, I can understand why some people feel that this novel is “anti-women” because the patients and doctor objectify woman and try to diminish them to only their body. For example, when McMurphy ripped Big Nurse’s uniform, showing everyone that she is indeed a woman, everyone lost their respect towards her and soon overcame her dominance.
3. I believe that McMurphy can be envisioned as a Christ-like figure, more specifically, like a Moses-like figure. McMurphy gives most of himself in order to help the patients realize their potential to be better than what they are and to raise above “the fog” of the asylum. Similarly to how Moses led his people to the promise-land, McMurphy led the patients out of the manipulation and fog of the Big Nurse and into their own promise-land of freedom. Therefore, he can be seen as a hero. Though, he had faults and was just an ordinary man, indicated by how he, “had slumped over with his head hung and his elbows between his knees and looked completely exhausted” after his fight with Washington and Warren (278). Chief sees that McMurphy is just like any other man, and at the end of the novel he realizes that McMurphy stirred trouble, planned the fishing trip, and eventually “gave” his life to show the patients that they can be “big” and be “men” again; and by they end, they are “sick men … no more rabbits.” (307)
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ReplyDeleteElectro Shock Therapy is a key symbol in the novel for putting people down who do not conform to Nurse Ratched’s idea of what the men should be like: calm, composed, and chaste. Bromden originally described chronics as “machines with flaws inside that can’t be repaired, flaws born in” (Kesey 16), while the ideal is a man who transformed to “the sweetest, nicest, best-behaved thing you ever saw” (17). The hospital staff goes to extreme measures to ensure that as many people possible are “cured.” Electroshock therapy is supposedly used for the good of the patient, or punishment in the case of Nurse Ratched’s ward. However, this brings up the point of what is the good of the patient? Is this treatment really good for the patient, or for society? If someone is stripped of their personality in order to prevent non-conformity, this is beneficial for only those who seek conformity, and most certainly not the patient. Instead, the patient is caused physical harm, comparable to the fate faced by those on death row at the time that Kesey wrote the novel, as pointed out by McMurphy. McMurphy’s viewpoint carries out Kesey’s tone, pointing out the issue of harming an individual in order to achieve a homogenous, united society.
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ReplyDelete1. Kesey’s novel can be regarded either way, depending on how the reader reads the book. For example, when looking for an anti-female perspective, it can most certainly be found; the women of Kesey’s novel are prostitutes or stuck up women seeking control and power. When McMurphy initially came onto the ward, Harding explained that the inmates were “victims of the matriarchy here,” a group ruled and oppressed by the Big Nurse. While this does not necessarily perpetuate stereotypes, it does conjure a distinctly negative stance on matriarchy. In this view, Kesey’s novel is vilely misogynistic.
However, I can see the novel in a different light, one that is not necessarily misogynistic. While women were portrayed poorly throughout, there were generally very few women to be portrayed; in an all-male psychiatric ward, the female nurses are the “other,” a minority that in this instance is empowered as they are backed by what Chief Bromden referred to as “the combine.” The prostitutes also hold a sense of power over the men to some extent because of the demand in the isolated, regulated ward. In this novel, the women can be seen as a symbol of oppressive power, but not necessarily because they are women. Instead, they are simply a minority group that is able to maintain power over those who do not conform.
3. McMurphy’s arrival and subsequent actions incite the turnout of the novel; because of his decision to act out and to refuse to conform, McMurphy allows several others, especially Bromden, to get a glimpse of their own potential without the restrictions of society on top of them. By the end of the novel, Bromden is once again talking and laughing with the others after years of dissembling as “deaf and dumb.” Only McMurphy’s character enabled Bromden to fight the constraints that isolated him and grow to his true size; in Kesey’s eyes, at least, this is heroic. Bromden has an epiphany at the end that allows him to see that McMurphy’s actions were exhausting, and were not selfish: “We couldn’t stop him because we were the ones making him do it. [...] It was us that had been making him go on for weeks, keeping him standing long after his feet and legs had given out, weeks of making him wink and grin and laugh and go on with his act long after his humor had been parched dry between two electrodes”(318). As Bromden realizes that McMurphy’s actions were for their own good, so that they could learn, the reader is able to fully appreciate the selflessness that McMurphy demonstrates. In this explanation, Kesey easily portrays McMurphy as a heroic character.
McMurphy can certainly be blamed for the deaths of Charles Cheswick, Billy Bibbit, and even himself, he also must be given credit for the “liberation” of Bromden, Harding, and Bibbit. McMurphy did not intend on leading these men to their death. In fact, it is easy to blame society, symbolized by Nurse Ratched, for the deaths of these individuals, as Cheswick and Bibbit were both chastised by Nurse Ratched before their deaths. On the other hand, as noted by Bromden, McMurphy aimed to change the way the ward was run and, in this change, transform the people inside the ward into their own person instead of what “the combine” wanted them to be.
Kesey lastly shows McMurphy’s heroism in the Electric Shock Therapy. By using religious imagery of the cross and crown of thorns, McMurphy is constantly connected to the ultimate hero of Christianity. McMurphy is known to remain remarkably intact throughout his numerous treatments- much better than most. McMurphy, therefore, is referred to as a Christ figure most frequently, creating a notable sense of heroism surrounding his character.
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ReplyDeleteThrough Chief Bromden’s thorough narration, the world of the Combine is illustrated in full as it is impacted by the arrival of McMurphy. This red-headed Irish fellow stands for the passion, free will, determination, and livelihood that the other inmates lack. For this reason, the idea of the “machine” is most forcefully used against McMurphy, who strives to overcome the limitations of the Combine. One of Nurse Ratched’s most powerful weapons is the Electro-Shock Treatment. This machine, attached to the patient with two electrodes, delivers a shock that is meant to help cure the victim, but is often used as a punishment when someone steps out of line. She uses this as leverage over the patients, such as Acutes who maintain their sanity but begin to think for themselves. McMurphy, who challenges authority at every given opportunity, and encourages his fellow friends to stand up for themselves against Nurse Ratched, inevitably comes face to face with this machinery. However, even when faced with this torture time after time, McMurphy refuses to step down. In the end, his body succumbs to the power of lobotomy, or a “machine” that he is unable to survive. It can be interpreted that while his skin fails him, the soul of McMurphy lives on to forever alter the lives of others. Chief Bromden kills McMurphy in his sleep to spare him a worthless and slow remainder of life. This act in itself proves that McMurphy finally elicited a newfound confidence within Chief that couldn’t take root until Chief was once again “big.” The machines can threaten to slowly kill their mind and destroy their bodies cell by cell, but it cannot take away the effect that the patients had on each other.
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ReplyDeleteThe largest overarching metaphor in the Kesey’s novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, is that of the Combine as a giant controlling machine, manipulating the patients as if they were simple cogs in the grand scheme of their machine. One of the first introductions of the metaphor is its application to the nurse, as Kesey wrote, “she blows up bigger and bigger, big as a tractor, so big I can smell the machinery inside the way you smell a motor pulling too big a load”. The Big Nurse is like a machine, in that she is unfeeling, precise, and calculating. Like a machine, she has a specific function and controls everything surrounding her. As the physical representation of the Combine, she is seen as the one pulling the strings and trying to maintain control and order, or the status quo. However, the Combine makes machines out of everyone, not just the Big Nurse. The machine metaphor is also often applied to the patients as they gradually become worn down and absorbed by the machine that is the Combine. Chief Bromden frequently mentioned seeing wires and circuits within pills, believing that the Combine was manipulating people by making them obey them like machines, to “fix” them. He even dreams of being operated on with heavy machinery and seeing that his internal organs were replaced with rust and broken glass, a symbol of how the Combine takes away men’s will and humanity and turns them into machines. In fact, the Chronics are even describes as “machines with flaws that can’t be prepared.” Because the Combine cannot fully make the Chronics obey them like machines, they can never leave the hospital where the Combine can closely monitor and control them. The section of text that most aptly expressed the metaphor is the quote, “The ward is a factory for the Combine. It’s for fixing mistakes made in the neighborhoods and in the schools and in the churches, the hospital is. When a completed product goes back out into society, all fixed up good as new, better than new sometimes, it brings joy to the Big Nurse’s heart; something that came in all twisted different is now a functioning, adjusted component.” Through this excerpt, Kesey illustrates the true nature of the Combine, how it attempts to manipulate and fix the patients to make them docile and societally acceptable. By comparing the patients to “products” and “components”, Kesey proves that the men are nothing more to the machinery of the Combine than cogs they make to suit their needs and continue their authority and mission.
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ReplyDeleteChief Bromden is the first person narrator of the novel. Chief sees the ward as a Combine, “which is a huge organization that aims to adjust the Outside as well as the Inside” (28). A combine is a farm tractor that takes up wheat and chops it up into tiny piece so that everything is the same and one mush. That is what the ward is trying to do to the men. These men are contained here because they do not fit in with the outside world. Big Nurse is described as a “tractor” by Chief since she is the one in charge of everything. Also, while describing the inside and outside of the ward, Chief uses capital letters. This shows that he views them as two completely different places, almost like another planet since things are so different between them. McMurphy is the “only real man” when he first arrives. McMurphy challenges Bug NUrse and her authority. He stands up to the Combine. Although Big Nurse was able to conform McMurphy with a lobotomy, making him a vegetable. McMurphy was able to clear the fog on all the other men, and by the end of the novel, most of the men left the ward, and faced the world. All the other patients have fallen under the fog of what Big Nurse forces them to believe. McMurphy’s metaphor of rabbits and wolves relates to the idea of society locking up those who do not conform. The men in the ward were rabbits and they succumbed to the wolves that put them there. By the end of the put the men are no longer rabbits. An example of a patient that represents the notion is Dale Harding. Harding is married, but homosexual and since he doesn’t conform with society, he goes away.
A specific moment in the text that expresses the man vs. machine metaphor is when Chief hids the pill in his mouth and spits it out. He sees circuits and wires in the pill. This is a metaphor for the machine being shoved down the throats of the men.
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ReplyDeleteQuestion 1:
I agree with critics that the text can be considered anti-female. My main reason for this is not only its portrayal of women in general, all of whom are negatively portrayed as fulfilling the Madonna-whore complex, but more specifically, my critique is on Kesey’s portrayal of the hand of authority as a woman. Firstly, Kesey’s use of the Big Nurse as a symbol for authority and institutions lacks nuance because he uses a woman to encapsulate the concept of an oppressive system. Women experience sexism and suffer at the same hands of the authority Kesey condemns through his Big Nurse character, so his criticism of authority, at least in my eyes, is weakened by this. Furthermore, his female characters all fit th Madonna-whore complex. This phrase is used to describe men only being able to view a woman as one of two things: either a pure, innocent saint or a bitchy whore. In this analysis, I tweaked the Madonna-whore complex a bit. In this novel, women are either emasculating bitches or likeable prostitutes. Either way, they only serve to further the men’s agenda, with the Big Nurse to fuel their hate and anger, and with the prostitutes to fuel their sex drive and regain their masculinity. The Big Nurse embodies all the negative traits of women; she is controlling and emasculating, removing the patient’s manhood and dignity by having control of their daily lives within the hospital. Candy and the other prostitutes fit the characteristics of women that men enjoy: they are attractive, sexual, and submissive. As literal prostitutes, they are easily controlled by the men for their money. These stereotypes of women, either damning or serving men, are equally stereotypical. The women lack depth and even lack basic human characteristics. They are merely dolls for the author to project his views of women onto; and his views are admittedly simple: he either wants to have sex with them or force them to submit to him, as the prostitutes serve to serve the men’s masculine desires, and the Big Nurse serves as the unlikeable bitch that takes away their manly pride and power.
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I would consider McMurphy a heroic character, but I would not consider him a classic hero or even the ultimate hero of the novel. McMurphy, at his most basic form, is a rough-housing, strong, self-assured, boisterous man. He doesn’t walk, he swaggers. He comes into the hospital and immediately starts breaking boundaries and defying the Combine’s status quo. However, unlike a traditional hero, he is not selfless or righteous. His moral code is, at first, primarily concerned with himself. He has no qualms about taking the patients’ money from unfair bets. Despite this, at his core, he is a hero. He is a hero because he stands up for those too weak or afraid to stand up for themselves. McMurphy is the conduit for the patient’s grievances. Before him, they never would admit to their concerns, as Harding revealed, when he said, “No ones ever dared to come out and say it before, but there is not a man among us that does not think it. That doesn't feel just as you do about her, and the whole business feels it somewhere down deep in his sacred little soul”. Unlike the patient’s reticence to act, McMurphy nevers backs down from fighting against the Nurse and authority, both out of his own values and to inspire hope in the patients. He is essentially a heroic mentor to all the patients, illustrating to them by his own brave actions that they are not powerless. He is still not perfect, though. For example, when they are on the fishing boat, Chief Bromden points out to the reader that McMurphy did not offer to give Candy his life jacket and did not help the men haul the doctor’s fish onto the boat. Outside of the hospital, he appears to act selfishly and for his own betterment, not to help others. Inside the Combine’s reach, like at the hospital, McMurphy is compelled to be a hero, driven by the patient’s faith and conviction in him, forcing him to fight battle after battle even though he knows he is losing the war. However, that hero, I believe, is not naturally McMurphy’s true character. I think he is a hero when it is needed, when he feels no one else can be the savior except him, but he is not the traditional hero seen in media elsewhere.
2. The entire novel is distorted because of the narration. From the first section of the book, Chief tells the reader, “ It’s the truth even if it didn’t happen” (8). Chief is an unreliable narrator since he doesn’t reveal the full truth and he has made up things in his mind. The story is told from his perspective so even if things didn’t happen, they are the truth to him, so it allows the reader to get inside his head. These distortions add to the metaphor of man vs machine. For example, when Bromden spits out his pill and sees wires, that is made up in his mind, but it adds to the idea of the Combine controlling them. Another example is Bromden’s death about Plastic's death. When the workers cut him open he sees,” a shower of rust and ashes, and now and again a piece of wire or glass” (88). Chief’s distortion of Blastic being made of metal is a distortion, even though it was a dream, and shows how the Combine has affected Bromden’s subconscious, to the point that the Combine even affects his dreams.
ReplyDelete3. McMurphy is the ultimate hero. When McMurphy first arrives, he is very different from the others. This was noticeable by just the way the key to the door turned when he first walked in. The tragic hero is someone who was looked up to and was admirable but in the end has a tragic defeat. The other patients see McMurphy as an idol for challenging the Combine and always winning. McMurphy faces a tragic end when Big Nurse gets him a lobotomy which turns him into a vegetable. This is the last thing that he would have wanted. McMurphy was made an example to the patients by Big Nurse to never challenge her. Bromden suffocates McMurphy so he doesn't have to live as a vegetable for the rest of his life. McMurphy’s behavior is also consistent, which is a tragic hero trait. Even when McMurphy was worn down by all the electroshock therapy, he laughed at the nurses. He kept his spirits high and still challenged authority.
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ReplyDelete2. When Chief Bromden first introduces the novel, he declares, “It’s still hard for me to have a clear mind thinking on it. But it’s the truth even if it didn’t happen” (Kesey 8). Immediately the narrator establishes a distorted world with exaggerated elements and imagination, but perhaps those precise elements are what make his story so very real. If Chief hadn’t watched the fog flood his mind as he became lost in his surroundings, or if McMurphy’s livelihood didn’t dissipate the growing fog, would his insanity have been recognized at all? Kesey incorporated these distorted elements to warp the reality of a patient trapped in the Combine. Bromden repeatedly references Ellis being attached to the wall with nails in his hands, splayed out like a Jesus Christ figure. Without Chief’s perception, perhaps this aspect of religion and spirituality would not exist. Instead, a distortion of the mind allows a man of innocence and defeat to be compared to heroic martyr. Additionally, Chief’s references to size are symbolic of shame and confidence. McMurphy’s ultimate goal in his friendship with Chief is to restore him to his large size so that Chief can be “big” again. Through the comments of the “black boys” and his fellow inmates, it becomes evident that Chief’s literal size is above average. However, this distortion morphs size into a measure of the mind instead of physical shape. Although it may not be evident in the beginning, Chief’s declaration in the introduction of the novel seems to hold meaning as his narration becomes less plausible. So in the end, what really happened? The reality itself will be forever unclear, but Chief’s account is the reader’s form of truth. Perhaps the story is only truly seen because without the distortions it wouldn’t exist it all. The truth of Chief’s mind is the framework of the novel and allows for a deeper interpretation and analysis of the character development and underlying themes.
3. McMurphy is a tragic hero who falls under the power of Nurse Ratched’s machinery but prevails in making his mark on those he has touched. Prior to McMurphy’s arrival, the Acutes and Chronics are manipulated by the authorities and turned against one another, supposedly for their own benefit and treatment. Although they might not agree with this process, they do not have the courage to challenge the system until McMurphy comes along and shakes up their world. He calls out Nurse Ratched on her façade of genuine, soft-spoken kindness and compassion. McMurphy serves as the instrument of the patients’ desires and repressed actions. After experiencing a temporary “retirement” from rebellion and defiance, McMurphy once again goes head to head with Nurse Ratched to drag the inmates out of their silence. He essentially sacrifices himself for the sake of their voluntary confinement. By acting as their guide and teacher, the inmates slowly learn how to act for themselves. While on their infamous fishing trip, Harding assists Chief in hauling a large fish out of the water after looking to McMurphy first for guidance. Instead of assisting them as usual, McMurphy bestows his leadership and confidence upon his fellow friends. In his final chapters, this jovial Irish man lacks much of the humor he used to naturally display, for the electroshock therapy has damaged his spirit. Nevertheless, he leads his friends to the very last. McMurphy is the puppet who dances for the inmates when they are too scared to perform themselves. As his final act of heroism, McMurphy finally performs the long-awaited attack on Nurse Ratched, who has wronged the inmates repeatedly with consistent evil. Although this sacrifice leads to his tragic downfall, McMurphy serves as a reminder to his friends of the life they deserve to have and must never take for granted.
Part one: During the first part of the novel the reader is introduced to Kesey’s extended metaphor, Man vs. Machine. Kesey uses this to represent man vs. society, or ‘combine’ as he likes to call it. Chief Bromden is the character that is used as the epicenter of the of the metaphor, or the place from which the metaphor is birthed. Bromden sees everything and everyone in the ward as a machine except McMurphy. Since McMurphy is new to the ward and refuses to conform to the rules and regulations he is the anti-machine, or true man. While everyone else who conforms and allows Nurse ratched do whatever she pleases is seen as a machine. Bromden believes that when the nurse says that she is “fixing” them she really is turning them into robots. He thinks every pill and procedure is meant to put more and more machinery into them. Thus, the metaphor is meant to convey the controlling environment of the asylum and the very homologous behavior every “fixed” person exhibits. Like machines every person on the ward conforms to do his duty without being asked, and like the anti-machine he is McMurphy refuses to conform to keep the combine, Miss Ratched, happy. The most notable moment of this metaphor at work is when McMurphy tells everyone that he can lift the control panel, “his whole body shakes with the strain as he tries to lift something he knows he can't lift, something everybody knows he can lift… when we hear the cement grind at our feet, we think, by golly, he might do it.” McMurphy finally gives up after moving the control panel a few inches. But he walks away saying, “But I tried, though.” By doing this he shows everyone that if you try you may be able to accomplish something that seems impossible. He quite literally exemplified the metaphor man vs. machine through his efforts. He defied the societal norms by trying to do something he couldn't and he proved them wrong by moving the heavy block of cement a few inches. That block of cement represented, the machine, which could also represent the ward as a whole. He shifted and changed the state of that control panel just like he did the ward. He gave the men within that ward a purpose and showed them they could do anything they pleased.
ReplyDeletePart Two: 1) This text portrays women in two ways, a representation of sex or a representation of emasculation. Nurse Ratched is portrayed somewhere between these two representations. She is the emasculator trying to bring down McMurphy but she is also a woman who is hiding her “sexy” features beneath her starched uniform. McMurphy constantly tries to bring her down from her position to the symbol of sex by asking her what her cup size is and telling her she is well endowed, but as the powerful woman she is, she ignores him. Until, at the end of the book, when she can’t ignore him any longer. This is when he attacks her and rips open her uniform showing her chest to the rest of the men on the ward. From then on the only thing the men can picture when looking at her is her bare chest. This finally bring her out of her emasculator position and into the sexual figure all women seem to be in this text. Even though Kesey wrote this book with a woman in charge he is still perpetuating some stereotypes. Miss Ratched is constantly being seen as the antagonist and the evil within the ward, because she has made the rules on the ward she is the reason why no one is happy. This is also exemplified in McMurphy and Dr. Spivey’s friendship, because Dr. Spivey is a man who is also suppressed by the nurse he feels as though he can ban together with McMurphy to bring her down. Kesey wrote the book to stand up to government control, but by portraying the government as a women he has perpetuated sexism within his novel.
ReplyDelete3) McMurphy is an imperfect hero to imperfect people. His presence allows the men on the ward to see that there is hope for change. He brings about their rebellious nature, but for a good cause. McMurphy, when he first comes to the hospital, is immediately taken aback by the lack of laughter. He takes it upon himself to bring the laughter and fun back to the ward because he thinks that the nurse has purposefully taken it away. He also tries to get the men to believe in themselves, he gets them to stand up for what they believe in. He get Bromden to start talking, He gets Harding to the point where he can check himself out of the hospital, and he even gives Dr. Spivey the courage to stand up to the nurse. I don’t think McMurphy is a hero in the traditional sense. He didn’t save lives, he didn’t make the world a better place, but he made the men on the ward better people and he made the environment at least livable. He gave the men a purpose, and although that purpose was to bring down Miss Ratched, it allowed them to break out of their “rabbit” disguises and become the sick men they actually are. Some men went even farther to become cured men who can successfully function in society.
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ReplyDelete1.The 1960’s was a time for much social reform, Kesey incorporates a responses to changing gender roles of the time period. Kesey portrayals powerful women who need to be controlled and submissive women who are used to boost men’s confidence. Prior to entering the ward, some of the patients have already had experience with women in high positions. This is suggested by Chief using his mother’s maiden name, undermining Chief’s father authority. Billy Bibbit’s has lived his life under his mother’s controlled, never doing anything she would disapprove of. His mother’s power over him is further exemplified when Billy commits suicide because he is unable to bear to shame from his mother. Billy is also rejected by a girl he proposed too and she laughed at him, making Billy feel inferior once again. These previous experiences makes it easier from the Big Nurse to assert her power over the patient's. McMurphy can clearly identify that she is controlling the patients by “going for your vitals.” The Big Nurse belittles the patient through her therapeutic sessions where she manipulates the patients to attack each other, like chickens as Mcmurphy describes. On one occasion she singles out Harding’s feeling towards his wife and on another Billy on his marriage rejection. She chooses to remind them of their inferiority powers women. The prostitutes are portrayed positively as they were submissive to the men’s ego.Women in powerful roles are illustrated as a problem that in the book force men into insanity. McMurphy solution towards the end of the novel is to remind the Big Nurse of her femininity, by exposing her. Womanhood is viewed as a weakness.
I think that Kesey most represents the idea of keeping outspoken people quiet through McMurphy. As soon as McMurphy arrived at the asylum, he wanted to be in charge and wanted rebel against anything that was against what he believe was right. McMurphy even tried convincing others to go against the central source of power in the office who was Nurse Ratched. Having this sort of issue in the asylum was out of the kind of balance that Nurse Ratched wanted and the only way to put a stop to it was to try and stop McMurphy. Throughout the whole book, McMurphy tried many different schemes to bother Nurse Ratched, and she always tried to quiet him down. At the end, however, Nurse Ratched won and was able to make McMurphy quiet like all the other patients who had caused problems. She did this by forcing him to have a surgery in removing part of his brain so that in the end he would not be able to do anything. This specific moment ties together the idea of man vs machine because Nurse Ratched wants to "fix" any patient in the asylum who does not conform to what she deems as normal. The only way to fix something that is out of hand is through electrocution or a lobotomy, either of which permanently damages the patient so that their life will never be the same.
ReplyDelete2. Distortions contribute to the text as a whole because not only does it alter what the patients in the asylum saw but it also could have changed the way people outside of the asylum saw the patients and the institution in general. In the asylum, all the patients were given various types of medications that could have caused them to experience their realities in many different ways. In Chief's case, he was given drugs that made him hallucinate and therefore changed his reality. This is important to his story because it amplifies the events that occurred in the asylum. Although some of the stories that Chief shares may sound over exaggerated, Chief always claims that everything that happened in his life did happen, even if it didn't.
ReplyDelete3. I believe that McMurphy was the ultimate hero because he was the only one to change the dynamic of the asylum. McMurphy was a man who craved power and was also very different from the rest of the other patients at the asylum. McMurphy, as opposed to the other patients, would not give in to anything that he found was unjust. With Nurse Ratched, McMurphy did everything he could possibly to do to dominate her. He did not let anything on his mind go unsaid and he was able to change the mentality of many of the patients. McMurphy was able to have patients, who would always back up Nurse Ratched, to back him up. This was a very incredible moment for the asylum because it showed that Nurse Ratched finally had a threat on her hands. At the end of the book, McMurphy risks it all and finally gets sent to the Disturbed Ward which for most patients marks the end of their journey. Despite this, McMurphy did not let up and through all the electric shocks leading up to his final surgery he continued to fight. McMurphy did not give up for what he stood for, therefore he was the ultimate hero
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ReplyDelete1. Although women are looked at in a derogatory light in this text, I do not think the text is anti-female. The women, who are usually oppressed in society, are placed in power positions in this novel. Kesey creates a dichotomy between gender roles, so that the men are oppressed. People are are usually treated as less than by society, like the women and the "black boys", are elevated to the top. I think the women are less about stereotypes, and more used for the men to project onto. The patients see them as oppressive and stern or prostitutes because of the situation they are in, in which they can not have normal relationships. McMurphy claims that a man's power of a woman is all about sex and violence, which is nonexistent within the ward. The women symbolize the control of the combine, not necessarily of how women function in society.
3. McMurphy was the ultimate hero in the text for the patients of the ward. Although he is not the quintessential hero, as he is quite flawed and does cause some issues for the men, he is the best that they have. McMurphy portrays the Jesus archetype throughout the novel. He is an outsider that comes to show them all the way to live life to be less like "rabbits" and more like men. Towards the beginning of the novel, McMurphy observes,"You know the first thing that got me about this place, that there wasn't anybody laughing. I haven't heard a real laugh since I came through that door do you know that?" By the end of the novel, McMurphy has taught them all to laugh and smile again, and act more like people. Instead of just "saving" them as a traditional hero would, he acts like Jesus the Teacher. He teaches them to do things for themselves, stepping aside on the boat to let them act heroic; he even biblically teaches the men to finish to "feed them for a lifetime" instead of for a day. At the end of the novel, he refers to the electrodes as a "crown of thorns" and the electroshock table is even in the shape of a cross to symbolize crucifixion. Even though he is gone, his memory serves on to teach others the way to live life, which is why Bromden end up killing McMurphy in his vegetable-like state, because that was not how he was supposed to be remembered.
ReplyDeletePart 1
Bromden presents the man v machine metaphor through the discussion of the Combine; the Combine is the ultimate machine that takes all the quirks from people and society and shreds individuality to bits so that everyone and everything is the same. The Combine is seen as the government or the establishment throughout the novel. Bromden sees the government in relation to machines due to his experience as a mechanic in the war; he sees wires throughout the establishment related to conspiracy and plots to subordinate them. The Combine had suppressed Bromden all his life; it started when he was living on the Native American reservation as a child, and the white men refused to listen to him, so he stopped speaking; he became a fly on the wall, a product of the machine. The machine is also portrayed through the medications and electroshock therapy that the patients receive. The machinery is stripping them of their personality and their thoughts. Many patients also received lobotomies, which turned them into vegetables, killing their souls.
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ReplyDeleteIn Ken Kesey’s novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, society, government, and societal institutions force the idea of conformity onto people. The machine, known as the Combine, is at war with the people, in this case the patients at a mental institution. Chief Bromden in particular is notorious for keeping himself unnoticed through his faking of deafness. This goes for many of the other patients as well. When they are not treated like human beings, they suddenly lose their sense of self and are forced to believe they are worthless. These are the means through which the Combine acquires their control over the people. Rather than thinking for themselves and challenging authority, they are dehumanized to support the illusion of normalcy in the mental institution specifically, but also in society as a whole. If they believe they are worthless, how can others see them as having worth? This is where McMurphy becomes a highly influential character. He defies the conforming force by reaching out to each individual in the mental institution in simple and friendly ways, allowing each to see themselves as possessing value, and valid thoughts and feelings they may have otherwise previously pushed away. The specific moment in the text that most aptly expresses the extended metaphor of man vs. machine is when McMurphy is receiving the electroshock therapy but continues laughing. In doing this, he is forcibly latching on to his sense of self that the machine is trying to take from him, which is a powerful protest against the machine.
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ReplyDeleteI think that women are not portrayed 100% fairly in this text; however, I think a lot of that comes from the perspective of the novel. Because the story is told from the point of view of one of the patients in an all-male mental institution in the 1960s, there is obviously going to be some disagreements between the ideas of the patients in the book and the ideas of the students in our 21st century, primarily female, classroom. I like that women are given a strong role in the text as the nurses who are in charge. What I don’t like is how the women are blamed for the loss of masculinity in the men. Their loss of masculinity comes as a result of their loss of sense of self, not as a result of being controlled by women. I don’t know that Kesey is perpetuating the stereotypes of women in literature and society so much as representing them. Just because Kesey presents women from the point of view of sexist men against the matriarchy, it doesn’t mean that he necessarily agrees with it. Kesey could be presenting commentary on the representation of women in society and literature, and how they are not often given the credit they deserve, or that they are blamed for society’s ills.
The quote from Flannery O’Connor that “I am interested in making a good case for distortion because I am coming to believe that is the only way to make people see” connects to the text because the story is told from Chief Bromden’s perspective. Through Chief Bromden’s hallucinations and the fact that he is an unreliable narrator, Kesey is able to use any metaphors he wants to illustrate the themes he wants to present to the reader. If Kesey were to just state themes he wanted the reader to believe, the reader wouldn’t be vulnerable enough to convince. However, when telling the story through the eyes of an unreliable narrator, readers are drawn directly into the story, becoming immersed in its events and characters. The distortion forces the audience to really focus in on (and analyze) what message Kesey is trying to send. The method of using distortions and hallucinations is incredibly effective in the setting of One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest because in a mental institution it allows people to really see where the patients are coming from, through the exact distortions their brains create for them.
McMurphy is the ultimate hero in One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest because he brings hope to the institution. Before his arrival, the patients barely had the will to live, and they were just going through the motions of their monotonous daily routines. But when McMurphy arrives, he refuses to let them live this way. He teaches them to laugh and have fun and embrace the cards life has dealt them. When McMurphy laughs, it is described as the first time the patients had heard laughter in years. McMurphy does not allow the other patients to be dehumanized by others, or dehumanize themselves by falling into the trap of their own minds. Instead, he addresses them directly as people, shaking their hands and building relationships. He forces them to interact and stay engaged, reminding them that their lives, thoughts, feelings, and opinions matter, which is exactly what the patients of the institution need. McMurphy becomes their savior, much like Jesus, in that he teaches them to “fish” and fend for themselves in the future, shows them the value of the sense of self they had once lost, and ultimately sacrifices his life for the common good.