By Ken Kesey
The mental hospital in Cuckoo’s Nest is home to only a few “lunatics” the rest simply have problems adapting and functioning with society. The main character is R.P McMurphy who is transferred from the Pendleton Work Farm to the mental hospital. The head nurse Ms.Ratched is a character who represents authority. The arrival of McMurphy with his personality and rebellious ways interrupt the hospitals stability, by questioning authority. Creating rivalry between the two and unfolding the traumatic story.
The patients in the story are simply having trouble in coping with the problems and stresses thrown at them by society. McMurphy refuses to adapt to the hospitals plans and makes it his goal to get the patients to think for themselves instead of following every rule. Most patients have registered themselves in, as a way escaping from the real world. They inspire pity, understanding and care due to the fact that anyone could surrender to similar pressures and end up in that position.
Nurse Ms.Ratched keeps everything in order and control. Nurse Ratched appears to be caring and well intentioned, yet she is calculating. She keeps patients scared of her by knowing each patients weakness. Seizing patient’s self-confidence with threats. Constantly making a difficult situation even worse for some patients through therapy sessions. With her “therapy” the patients not only confront the presence and responsibility of a problem they also encourage and worsen it by reflecting that they are the problem. Doing nothing to reduce the burden and instead blowing it out of all proportion. Her goal is to keep patients believing they need to stay by keeping them unstable. Ms.Ratched seems to enjoy the weaknesses of others and strengthens from the torment they go though.
McMurphy’s arrival to the state mental hospital causes Ms.Ratcheds domain to collapse. Her routine and undeniable