Power In One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

cuckoos nest paper

Alex Lola
D band
Willett
Don’t stand back, fight back; symbols of power, oppression, and resistance in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey is a novel about a man by the name of Randle McMurphy, who, when sent to a mental ward, challenge all the authority within it and forces the other patients to take a deeper look at the way they are being treated at the ward. This novel is one which brings to light the unfair authority which not only exists within the hospital, but within society at the time. It satires the way gay are shunned and looked down on, how people who are a bit different get out casted and mistreated, it even dares to comment on the overwhelming power that one
can gain through his or her sex. Most importantly, however, it shows to the reader how no one really notices the moral crimes which exist, and that those who do rarely care enough or find the willpower to stand up and attempt to fight the powers which are unfair. The mental hospital and those in it serve to symbolize the concepts of power and oppression in the world, illustrating that people tend to be ignorant to the moral injustices of a harsh tyrant, but learn to speak out when one person finds the courage to challenge the status quo. Harding reveals the cowardice that often gets forced upon those oppressed in a controlled society.
When McMurphy first enters the ward, Harding holds a false position of power, “head of the patient council”. However, this proves to be nothing but a title when McMurphy is at first not allowed to see him without an appointment because he is too busy, but then chats with him later, despite his “busyness”. Along with this false position of power, Harding even goes as far as to argue that nurse Ratched is not only not a horrible tyrant, but even “unselfish as the wind” (58). Later on in the conversation, though, Harding comes to admit that she is indeed all the things McMurphy has called her and accused her of being, but that “No one’s dared come out and say it before” (59). This just goes to show that enough oppression can make one believe anything, and even argue a point of view he knows to be wrong. Harding represents the run-of-the-mill uninformed citizen, the average Joe who spends his life unwilling to ever speak his true thoughts. He will even pretend he does not think these things, due to the fear instilled in him by an unfair tyrant. This constitutes as borderline brainwash. Nurse Ratched, like many of the power figures in the world today, uses fear as well as gifting of false power, in an effort to control her ward. Harding is one of the suckers that buys into it, as many people do. He is used to bring forward the concept of ignorance due to fear instilled by a larger
power. Chief Bromden brings light on how labeling someone and taking away their true identity can take away all their power, and bring more to the person who is doing so. In the novel, the chief pretends to be deaf and dumb, and is therefore said to be crazy and deserving of being committed to the ward. However, later on the reader finds out that he only pretends to have this condition. Despite this though, the chief is labeled as a chronic patient. Supposedly, something inside him malfunctions, rendering him unfit to function within society. Despite his actual intelligence the labeling makes him believe that he truly may be crazy; “Chronics are in for good, the staff concedes. Chronics are divided into Walkers like me, can still get around if you keep them fed” (19). One of the authority’s main powers over others is the fact that when told something enough, one begins to believe it. The chief unveils to the reader that one must not buy into the labeling set upon him. If one just accepts what everyone tells him that he is, he will never truly be himself. He will be stripped of his identity, and forced to assume the title which has been given to him. This is a way to manipulate others into never fighting back, or questioning anything. If one assumes that he is nothing but what someone else tells him, he will never think that anything he truly believes is right, and will not find the courage to ever stand up and share who he really may be. Kesey uses the chief to represent this concept, in an effort to warn reader against falling into this kind of trap. The nurse uses this trap on the patients, which makes it easy for her to manipulate them to her every whim. Through the authority she exerts, Nurse Ratched serves to shed light on the silent oppressors in everyday life. Throughout the whole novel, the nurse constantly strives to manipulate her patients to quench her thirst for power. Kesey uses her to represent how power hungry the leaders in today's world can be. In both the novel, and real life, many people do not realize that they get used as pawns in the never ending struggle for power. In fact, some even find the nurse to be "our sweet smiling angel of mercy" (57). Although many of the patients fail to see how the nurse manipulates them to no end, McMurphy sees right through her method of retaining control and reveals it to the ward; "what she is is a ball cutter... People who try to make you weak so they can get you to toe the line, to follow heir rules, to live like they want you to" (57). This proves that even after a few hours McMurphy can recognize the totalitarianism that exists inside the hospital. This stands as a symbol for how things work in the world. People rarely realize that the leaders in their life, anyone from bosses to political figures, do what they do for control. One goes about his daily routine and never truly sees how harshly oppressed he may be. Yes, one may not be beat, or starved, but that does not mean that he is treated the way he should be, or that that he is not being taken advantage of. Oppression can be a masked thing as well. She is used to help make the reader realize the harsh and unfair authority of the leaders that may be in their life. However, McMurphy challenges this leadership, and poses a threat to the wealth of power which the nurse has accumulated. Because McMurphy refuses to accept the harsh rule of the nurse, he is a symbol of resistance, showing that one naysayer has the ability to potentially crumble an authoritarian empire.
Throughout the whole novel McMurphy continues to question the nurse’s authority. At first he gets rejected by the other patients, but slowly he begins to win them over in his fight against the control over them. Before he came however, the patients had no idea to the extent that they were being manipulated. Kesey uses him to represent the importance of a resistance movement to an oppressed community. Throughout the whole world people constantly get oppressed and controlled and taken advantage of to the pleasure of there oppressors. They become mere pawns and get used to gain more and more power, and then get discarded if they prove to be of no use. Any lack of resistance keeps them from even thinking of breaking the chains around their wrists. That is why someone has to stand up, and shout that he will not stand for it. If but one person does, the rest will follow. McMurphy symbolizes that person. He empowers the people around him, and lets them know not to put up with the things that bother them, that they do not need to be trapped inside the ward. In fact, he has a real problem that “you bitch for weeks on end how you cant stand this place, cant stand the nurse or anything about her and all the time you ain’t committed… you’re not exactly the everyday man but your not nuts” (168). McMurphy
brings to light the fact that the word crazy gets used quite arbitrarily in the ward. He shows that the word gets used as a way to chain the patients down, and keep them that way. McMurphy unveils the masked tyranny within the hospital, and eventually helps others to realize this injustice too. Constantly people get forced to deal with a harsh despot, but rarely find the courage to stand up to them and break free of oppression unless someone else does so first and leads the charge. This concept is what Kesey tries to portray through the symbolism in his characters. Characters such as the chief and Harding represent people who become mere pawns in the nurses thirst for power. This happens due to fear instilled by the nurse, and the labels put on the patients, stripping them of their identities and rendering them unable to fight back. McMurphy becomes a symbol resistance, a beacon of hope for the oppressed. Harsh autocrats exist everywhere in the world, constantly striving to gain every ounce of power they can. The problem is that few people are willing to accept the fact that they are oppressed, and get manipulated to create more power. One has to take a look into the people in his own life. Do they take advantage of him? Are they true friends or just part of the oh so common “I, it” relationship? No one should ever sit back and stand for injustices, nor exert their power in a way that obstructs the freedom of others. As Ronald Reagan said “Concentrated power has always been the enemy of liberty”