One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Critical Analysis
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% (Welsh, Farrington) (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
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Nurse Ratched and her authority. But, Kesey’s novel does not demonstrate the idea of “Panopticism” because it is evident that Nurse Ratched’s ward does not strictly follow the theory enough to be considered a Panopticon.
In Michel Foucault’s essay “Panopticism,” he expresses an idea that people are always being watched by authorities in society, which can affect their conscious decisions in everyday life.
This idea is based on a drawing of a prison by J. Bentham; the prison is set up in a circular building with isolated cells, while a central tower in the middle houses guards who are able to watch the prisoners’ every move. However, because of the set-up, inmates can never see the guards. This causes a psychological, rather than physical, effect on them. Foucault believes this concept can be applied to modern society, as people are watched by cameras, monitored by the government, and warned by menacing signs. By letting people in society know they are being watched, it can influence their behavior. Therefore, Foucault states that these techniques guarantee control. But, Foucault states that this authority does not have to be a specific figure in society; just the mere idea of “unverifiable” (320) authority gives them power. Foucault creates this theory and applies it to modern day society, and how our heightened control by others is due to this idea of control. While prisons are strongly accustomed to a “Panopticon-like” setting, institutions today such as schools or stores use part of Foucault’s theory—mainly unverifiable figures watching them, keeping society in a democratic-like manner, and to shape society’s behavior so they not like likely to cause
havoc.
Foucault believes that if people are unsure if they are being watched by authority, it will influence them to act accordingly, whereas the head nurse, Nurse Ratched, is seen all the time in the ward. 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 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 realize they should not go against her; but that does not always mean their knowledge of a higher authority watching them will influence their behavior. Once one patient rebels (mainly McMurphy in the beginning), the patients ‘forget’ that Nurse Ratched is watching them such as while watching the World Series. Even though she banned them to see it, when the whole ward pretended to watch the World Series and yelled in excitement, they knew nurse Ratched would be watching their every move. McMurphy is a small step in the patients’ lives to realize they cannot always be controlled so harshly by this authority, especially when she does not make herself ambiguous. Overall, Foucault’s point that the central power is unverifiable and visible is not parallel to Kesey’s novel, as they do not have invisible power in their society.
Foucault emphasizes that one of the most important ways for this theory to play out is by isolating the people, but with Nurse Ratched’s idea of Therapeutic Community is in contrast to isolation. 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 lets 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 bets with the other patients that “if [he] can put a betsy bug up that nurse’s butt within a week…Get her goat. Bug her till she comes apart those neat little seams, and shows, just one time, she ain’t so unbeatable as you think” (67). McMurphy encourages the patients to see what makes her tick, in order to throw off her rhythm while working in the ward. McMurphy is the person that helps the other patients begin to question authority, and plot against them so they are shown as the smarter group. Overall, Foucault’s theory that people need to be isolated in the Panopticon does not play out in Kesey’s novel, since communication makes up half of the patient’s life on the ward.
Nurse Ratched and her authority. But, Kesey’s novel does not demonstrate the idea of “Panopticism” because it is evident that Nurse Ratched’s ward does not strictly follow the theory enough to be considered a Panopticon.
In Michel Foucault’s essay “Panopticism,” he expresses an idea that people are always being watched by authorities in society, which can affect their conscious decisions in everyday life.
This idea is based on a drawing of a prison by J. Bentham; the prison is set up in a circular building with isolated cells, while a central tower in the middle houses guards who are able to watch the prisoners’ every move. However, because of the set-up, inmates can never see the guards. This causes a psychological, rather than physical, effect on them. Foucault believes this concept can be applied to modern society, as people are watched by cameras, monitored by the government, and warned by menacing signs. By letting people in society know they are being watched, it can influence their behavior. Therefore, Foucault states that these techniques guarantee control. But, Foucault states that this authority does not have to be a specific figure in society; just the mere idea of “unverifiable” (320) authority gives them power. Foucault creates this theory and applies it to modern day society, and how our heightened control by others is due to this idea of control. While prisons are strongly accustomed to a “Panopticon-like” setting, institutions today such as schools or stores use part of Foucault’s theory—mainly unverifiable figures watching them, keeping society in a democratic-like manner, and to shape society’s behavior so they not like likely to cause
havoc.
Foucault believes that if people are unsure if they are being watched by authority, it will influence them to act accordingly, whereas the head nurse, Nurse Ratched, is seen all the time in the ward. 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 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 realize they should not go against her; but that does not always mean their knowledge of a higher authority watching them will influence their behavior. Once one patient rebels (mainly McMurphy in the beginning), the patients ‘forget’ that Nurse Ratched is watching them such as while watching the World Series. Even though she banned them to see it, when the whole ward pretended to watch the World Series and yelled in excitement, they knew nurse Ratched would be watching their every move. McMurphy is a small step in the patients’ lives to realize they cannot always be controlled so harshly by this authority, especially when she does not make herself ambiguous. Overall, Foucault’s point that the central power is unverifiable and visible is not parallel to Kesey’s novel, as they do not have invisible power in their society.
Foucault emphasizes that one of the most important ways for this theory to play out is by isolating the people, but with Nurse Ratched’s idea of Therapeutic Community is in contrast to isolation. 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 lets 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 bets with the other patients that “if [he] can put a betsy bug up that nurse’s butt within a week…Get her goat. Bug her till she comes apart those neat little seams, and shows, just one time, she ain’t so unbeatable as you think” (67). McMurphy encourages the patients to see what makes her tick, in order to throw off her rhythm while working in the ward. McMurphy is the person that helps the other patients begin to question authority, and plot against them so they are shown as the smarter group. Overall, Foucault’s theory that people need to be isolated in the Panopticon does not play out in Kesey’s novel, since communication makes up half of the patient’s life on the ward.