Power In One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest
Evaluation
A feminist lens best fits this novel because of the main conflict of power between Nurse Ratched and Randle McMurphy. Throughout the novel, Nurse Ratched tries to exclude the patients from the outside world and strips them of their individuality and their freedoms. The gender roles in this novel are reversed, with the women as the strong and powerful and who are the ones in charge, while the men are the weak and helpless who fear the women in charge. As patient Harding said, “We are the victims of a matriarchy here.” (Kesey, 162, p. 63) symbolizing that these patients are the way they are because of Nurse Ratched’s power. Nurse Ratched is characterized as an evil figure who strips men of their dignity and their freedom.
Nurse Ratched is the one who oppresses the male patients from their freedoms by excluding them from the outside world and from their sexuality. When McMurphy arrives to the ward, he immediately tries to take Nurse Ratched’s power away from her by defying all of her …show more content…
rules and leading the other patients to go against her as well. Bromden states, “The big nurse tests a needle against her fingertip. I’m afraid—she stabs the needle down in the rubber-capped vial and lifts the plunger—that is exactly what the new patient is planning: to take over.” (Kesey, 1962, p. 27) symbolizing that
It is not until McMurphy sexually attacks Ratched by ripping open her blouse do the patients finally become free. The moment McMurphy attacks Nurse Ratched is the moment she loses all her power and the patients no longer fear her anymore. When Nurse Ratched returns to the hospital, most of the patients have either checked out of the institution or moved to a different ward. She no longer had the power she used to have in order to control her ward, and by the end of the novel, Chief Bromden manages to gain the courage to finally escape the hospital.
However, despite McMurphy’s attack, Nurse Ratched still held the ultimate power over his fate by sending him to receive a lobotomy and rendering him a helpless vegetable.
This symbolizes that any man can be emasculated by a woman no matter how masculine they were before entering into the hospital ward. By having a negatively characterized woman as the main head of the mental institution, Kesey is arguing that overpowering women are a destructive force that strip men of their freedom and individuality, which forces them into insanity.
Conclusion
Ken Kesey presents the problems with oppression in society through his novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. In his novel, Ken Kesey argues that self-worth is discovered by breaking the system of oppression imposed upon a person. Because of the sacrifice made by McMurphy, the patients were able to see the oppression put upon them by Nurse Ratched and they were able to restore their individuality and take charge of their own
fates.
A feminist lens best fits this novel because of the main conflict of power between Nurse Ratched and Randle McMurphy. Throughout the novel, Nurse Ratched tries to exclude the patients from the outside world and strips them of their individuality and their freedoms. The gender roles in this novel are reversed, with the women as the strong and powerful and who are the ones in charge, while the men are the weak and helpless who fear the women in charge. As patient Harding said, “We are the victims of a matriarchy here.” (Kesey, 162, p. 63) symbolizing that these patients are the way they are because of Nurse Ratched’s power. Nurse Ratched is characterized as an evil figure who strips men of their dignity and their freedom.
Nurse Ratched is the one who oppresses the male patients from their freedoms by excluding them from the outside world and from their sexuality. When McMurphy arrives to the ward, he immediately tries to take Nurse Ratched’s power away from her by defying all of her …show more content…
rules and leading the other patients to go against her as well. Bromden states, “The big nurse tests a needle against her fingertip. I’m afraid—she stabs the needle down in the rubber-capped vial and lifts the plunger—that is exactly what the new patient is planning: to take over.” (Kesey, 1962, p. 27) symbolizing that
It is not until McMurphy sexually attacks Ratched by ripping open her blouse do the patients finally become free. The moment McMurphy attacks Nurse Ratched is the moment she loses all her power and the patients no longer fear her anymore. When Nurse Ratched returns to the hospital, most of the patients have either checked out of the institution or moved to a different ward. She no longer had the power she used to have in order to control her ward, and by the end of the novel, Chief Bromden manages to gain the courage to finally escape the hospital.
However, despite McMurphy’s attack, Nurse Ratched still held the ultimate power over his fate by sending him to receive a lobotomy and rendering him a helpless vegetable.
This symbolizes that any man can be emasculated by a woman no matter how masculine they were before entering into the hospital ward. By having a negatively characterized woman as the main head of the mental institution, Kesey is arguing that overpowering women are a destructive force that strip men of their freedom and individuality, which forces them into insanity.
Conclusion
Ken Kesey presents the problems with oppression in society through his novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. In his novel, Ken Kesey argues that self-worth is discovered by breaking the system of oppression imposed upon a person. Because of the sacrifice made by McMurphy, the patients were able to see the oppression put upon them by Nurse Ratched and they were able to restore their individuality and take charge of their own
fates.