One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Misogynist Analysis

Misogyny Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is a Classic American novel that is filled with correlating events that portray women as monsters through misogynistic actions and language. Throughout time, society advocated that man was the dominate role that was in charge in almost every aspect, while women stayed at home and were inferior figures. However, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest shows how society acts misogynistic, or shows hatred towards women, when there is a reversal of these stereotypical gender roles; women are instantly depicted as monsters and uniformly terrifying. McMurphy’s actions in the ward, Kesey establishing women as over-oppressive, and women being portrayed as terrifying figures all illustrate how society acts
misogynistic when there is a reversal in the roles of men and women. The man figure thrives off being dominant and in control, and when that power is threatened or not in place, male figures instantly bash the women society. McMurphy’s actions towards the nurse, such as disrespecting the nurse, indicate misogynistic qualities as it signifies women do not deserve respect.
When McMurphy is enrolled in the hospital, Nurse Ratched has a set of rules set forth that everyone is to comply to so they can become healthy. However, McMurphy being the misogynistic character that he is, starts a war between the nurse and himself as he finds the rules overbearing. McMurphy then shows a hatred of women as he disrespects the nurse and fails to comply to the rules she set in place. He begins by being loud and obnoxious and disrupting the peace in the ward, and when the nurse asks him to quiet down he only becomes more difficult by showing his naked body. The nurse goes to confront him about being loud and “McMurphy steps out of the latrine door right in front of her holding that towel around his hips” (86). The nurse states that he cannot run around the ward revealing his body, but only laughs in her face and gets a kick out of her being uncomfortable. By lacking the wherewithal to comply to such simple rules that were established by the women work force reveals a sense of misogyny in the novel. He is not only disrespecting and establishing his hatred for the nurse and the women in the hospital, he is teaching the other patients that it is okay to have a hate for women. When McMurphy is forced to attend the meetings that are meant to help each patient get problems off their chest, he states that “she’s a bitch
and a buzzard and a ball cutter” (54) for bringing up Harding’s issues with his wife. Nurse Ratched sees that the issues that Harding experiences with is wife are part of the reason why he is wrapped up in a mental ward, and McMurphy only uses misogynistic language to describe the nurse. McMurphy continues to show his misogynistic characteristics has he disobeys the rules of the ward at a higher level; he physically harms another patient. When McMurphy is trying to be restrained for fighting he only “drove a fist square in the center of the white, starched chest” (237) of the aide that worked for the nurse. The fight in the shower only further signifies the hatred of women that McMurphy had. He decided to disrupt the peace in the ward and not only make the life difficult for the nurse but difficult for her workers. Kesey strengths the idea of misogyny as he establishes the nurse and other female characters, such as the nurse, as over-oppressive figures who emasculate the male characters. The purpose of the ward is to enable patients to receive treatment that will help them get better so they can function in society. However, Kesey implies that women are merely characters who are detrimental to the male’s as they castrate them. For instance, Chief Bromden’s mother is portrayed as this overbearing character who turned his father into a weak alcoholic from a big strong chief. The chief’s father was a big man and married a women from Dallas, and he signifies that the emasculating began as his mother made them take on her last name, Bromden. The Chief proceeds to portray his mother as an emasculator as he states, “my mother made him to little to fight any more and he gave up” when the government was trying to take away his tribe and land (188). Thus, a sense of hatred is brought forth as the Chief is stating that women will turn you form a big, strong man into a weak alcoholic, just as his mother did to his father. Similarly, Billy Bibbit’s mother will not let him develop sexually and treats him as an infant to be watched over by the nurse. When Billy goes and has sex with Candy, the prostitute, he gains this sense of manhood and dominance. However, the nurse is portrayed as an emasculator as she threatens to tell Billy’s mother that he has had sex; ultimately taking away the manhood he briefly gained. The nurse states, “Mrs. Bibbit’s always been so proud of your decision. I know she has. This is going to disturb her terribly. You know how she is when she gets disturbed, Billy; you know how ill the poor women can become” (271). Scared of loosing his mother’s love Billy’s voice “scraped the white, bare walls of the seclusion room” and he “lifted his chin so he was shouting at the moon of light in the ceiling” (271). After Billy commits suicide over the situation, and everyone suggests that the nurse is the reason Billy killed himself. Thus, the idea of misogyny is further noticeable in the text as Kesey is applying that women are these over bearing individuals that strip men of their manhood. Within in the novel, Kesey illustrates the demeanor of the women character as terrifying and almost monster like.
This creates a misogynistic undertone within the text as women are not being portrayed as a nurturing figure, they are these terrifying people that the men are afraid of. Right away the image of the nurse is depicted as this huge monster like an image that punishes for any wrong doing. In the beginning of the novel the aides of the nurse are slacking from their job, and as the nurse sees them mumbling together in a group Chief Bromden indicates that she is going to “tear the black bastards limb from limb” and that she “blows up bigger and bigger, as big as a tractor” (5). The nurse is being portrayed as this beast like figure that takes on this hideous form whenever she is unhappy with people and their actions. Fundamentally, there is a misogynistic setting being set forth as the Chief is indicating that a women in power, such as the nurse, takes on these hideous qualities. Rather then being depicted as upset or annoyed with the aides, any nurturing and loving qualities are instantly stripped as she is described as a creature. In a sense women being terrifying figures is further evident as Harding, a patient in the ward, proclaims, “We are victims or matriarchy here, my friend, and that doctor is just as helpless as we are. He knows all Ratched has to do is pick up that phone you see sitting at her elbow and call the supervisor and mention, oh, say, that the
doctor seems to be making a great number of requisitions for Demerol” (56). Ultimately the Nurse is being portrayed as this terrifying figure that must be obeyed, and when disobeyed she can have it so you are addicted to the strongest drugs possible. A misogynistic undertone is being established as it is evident that Kesey is attempting to insinuate that women in the text are centralized on having complete and utter control rather then on helping patients get better. Another character that underlings the misogynic undertone in the novel is Billy Bibbit’s mother; she is a terrifying figure in the eyes of Billy. Billy has dreams of going to college and looking for a wife, however, when he brings these topics up with his mother “she only tickled him with the fluff and laughed at such foolishness” (254). Thus, women are being presented as these terrifying figures that will not let you escape from their grasp. They want to have complete control so they can always establish the rules. Society is based of the status quo of men and women; men love being in control over the women and dictating the rules of a society. However, when a women seizes power in a particular culture there can be a sense of misogyny that is established. Such examples of McMurphy’s barbaric actions in the ward, Kesey establishing women as controlling figure, and women being noted as feared all underline misogynistic qualities that a society takes on when males are upset with a women in power. These qualities all are detrimental to the women society; they are not being illustrated as caring and loving, they are presented as people who create a struggle for everyone else. Just as the society of the mental ward has a hatred for Nurse Ratched, they take on these qualities in attempt to force her to leave, so they can be set free from her grasp. They want a new leader for the ward and by being misogynistic they believe that it will cause the nurse to leave as no one wants to live hated in a society. Furthermore, the ward acts with misogyny as they strive to tire the nurse out from all the stress being created so that she will eventually break down and give up her position.