One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Oppression

Throughout the years, millions of people have been admitted to mental institutions for a variety of reasons. However, mental hospitals have been under scrutiny for years over their methods of treatments of their patients. Set inside an Oregon mental hospital, in his book One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Ken Kesey argues that self-worth is discovered by breaking the system of oppression.
Summary
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1962) written by Ken Kesey is about the journey to discover one’s self-worth by breaking free of the oppressed system aimed against the patients. In his novel, a woman is the head nurse over the male patients in the mental institution. Kesey portrays the women in his novel as castrators due to their terrifying and threatening
The hospital is run and controlled by Nurse Ratched. She has a strong position of power, which is further strengthened by her ability to determine the fates of her patients, such as the types of medications and treatments they need to take. She uses the ward to put the patients against one another, which helps further strengthen her rule. Nurse Ratched mainly uses her power to keep as much of the outside world away from her patients as she can. However, when McMurphy arrives, he uses a change of setting as a way to undermine Nurse Ratched. To the other patients, McMurphy is a taste of freedom and of the outside world, which is a threat to Nurse Ratched. McMurphy is able to change the scenery of the ward for the patients. He is able to get a new day room in an old tub room that is away from the Nurse’s station and he is also able to get some of the acutes and Chief Bromden out on a fishing trip. These setting changes help some of the patients escape from Nurse Ratched’s control and from the fear that she has instilled in them. By the end of the novel, because of McMurphy, Chief Bromden is able to change the setting for himself and eventually escapes from the hospital