Betting on something isn’t always the greatest idea. Winning is great and all, but there’s also a pretty good chance that you will lose. McMurphy makes a bet that almost becomes a turning point in the story. Let’s explore the tension that this bet causes in the ward.
Reader #1-From the moment McMurphy got to the ward; Nurse Ratched did not like him. She knew there was something bad about him, and that he would turn the ward upside down. The bet made their relationship is going to worsen because he was determined to make her snap. As the novel progresses the Nurse Ratched tries to figure out what is wrong with McMurphy and how to get him out of the ward. “He isn’t extraordinary. He is simply a man and no more, and is subject to all the fears and all the cowardice and all the timidity that any other man is subject to”(Kesey 157). Nurse Ratched proves that she is not going to let McMurphy change and go to a different ward. She will not let him get to her, and is determined to get him to obey her. Later in the novel this is going to change the way people will think of the Nurse and the ward. The relationship between McMurphy and Nurse Ratched is going to test the wards strength. Reader #2- McMurphy discusses the ward with the other patients. He asks them why they act the way they do. when he realizes the only person in his way is nurse ratched he makes a bet with the other patients to be able to get under her skin. this is a turning point in the novel because nobody has ever dared to go against the nurse before. They all believe she is unbeatable and no-one can overthrow her schedule. "that is exactly what the new patient is planning: to take over. He is what we call a 'manipulator,' Miss Flinn, a man who will use everyone and everything to his own ends." This quote said by the nurse is ironic, because how she describes McMurphy is exactly how she actually how she acts toward the patient's.this might cause a war later on in the book between these two kingpins and im sure it will be a even match up.
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When reading One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, there is always that underlying question of whether or not he actually belongs in a mental institution. Does he belong, or is he just managing to cause trouble in the ward? Let’s see what the readers think.
Reader #1-No matter if we think McMurphy is actually a psychopath or not he is very smart and likeable. I don't think that McMurphy is taking advantage of the others in the ward. Honestly he’s starting to figure out that nurse ratched is very manipulative and she is stealing power from the people in the ward. McMurphy tries to provide service for the other patients, unlike the nurse who takes it away. McMurphy is behind many of the games in the ward and had suggested opening a second day room as a game room, the plan that nurse ratched recently shut down. McMurphy likes to challenge the nurse and asked to move their card game somewhere else because it was too loud where they were. McMurphy to me belongs in the ward still because he does seem a little different, even though he is very smart he still had past experiences that lead me to believe he belongs there. Reader #2-In a direct response to question three, yes, McMurphy is taking advantage of the other patients. Hs uses their fear and shyness to gain control over them, leading them into doing things and actions they normally wouldn’t. McMuprhy seems to be in complete control of himself, just over the top in what he does. His first impression was loud, booming, and seemed to frighten many of the acutes, and even stir the chronics. He notices everything, and has recognized the ‘threat’ of Nurse Ratchet. He sees how the black boys are her, in a way, enforcers, even though she doesn’t like them, and they don’t like her. McMurphy’s and Chief’s relationship is evolving, seemingly slowly, but it has begun to pick up. He is a leader, but he does not lead from far away and in the shadows. He charges headfirst into conflict, just rolling with the punches. Reader #3-In Cuckoo’s Nest, McMurphy is the one who seems to be in charge of all the games going on in the ward. I believe McMurphy is not using the other patients for his own benefit. He is indeed trying to help them fix the society around them in the ward. There wouldn’t be anything in it for himself. Yes, he would receive money for winning the bet, but he is earning money everyday with different bets. “Who wants to lay me a pore little dollar that I can’t put this dab of butter square in the center of the face of that clock up there, or at least on the face?”(Kesey 104). This quote shows that McMurphy is already getting money from the other patients. Therefore, winning the other bet would not make much of a difference to McMurphy’s current lifestyle in the ward. I believe that the real reason McMurphy is doing this bet is to help make the ward a better place for the other patients. The games and escapades are to teach the Big Nurse and the rest of the people in charge of the ward. That things need to change for the better, or the whole ward will be turned upside down by the patients and McMurphy. Reader #4-McMurphy is taking advantage of the other patients in the ward. He knows that he’s superior over the rest of the patients due to the lack of knowledge they have. McMurphy has the advantage to be more outgoing over the others. He doesn’t have certain disabilities like others in the ward, therefore, he shouldn’t be in there. “He stops laughing and whispers, ‘Why, you sure did give a jump when I told you that coon was coming, Chief. I thought somebody told me you was deef.’”(Kesey 84). When McMurphy says this, you can tell he knows and realizes things others don’t. He serves as a service to others in the ward due to his ability that others don’t. With his service, he speaks the mind of the other patients, taking advantage of them. Reader #5-McMurphy takes advantage of the people easily, for example he asked Bromden if he could move a panel as a favor, he can move it about a half a foot. Later on he makes a bet with the other patients that someone could lift the panel. With already knowing Bromden can lift it, McMurphy wins the bet. Even though McMurphy is hustling other people this is McMurphy’s first time in a mental institution, he’s been in and out of prison but he doesn’t belong in the institution. Even though he has a gambling problem, gets in lots of fights, and got arrested for rape he does not deserve to be put in a mental hospital meant for other people with greater needs. McMurphy knows that he doesn’t belong because during one part he stood up and challenged the doctor by saying “ do I look like a sane man?” But McMurphy wants to use his powers to get at other people. He doesn’t have good history with Nurse Ratched he says “I’m not crazy I’m smart, two qualities that she won’t be expecting.” too surprise Nurse Ratched and get under her skin. Reader #6-I think mcmurphy is taking advantage of the other patients. He acts perfectly normal yet tells the doctor that he belongs there. As mcmurphy says “ah. no if that's the case. This is my first trip. But I am crazy doc, I swear I am.” (kesey 47) I believe that he is taking advantage of the doctor in that part of the book. if he can take advantage of a worker he can definitely take advantage of a patient. he gets into their heads and plays with them. he makes them think stuff that he wants them to to help benefit him. Reader #5-McMurphy has a lot of games involving the ward. Sometimes I think he shouldn’t belong in the ward, but then again I feel like he should because he sounds a little crazy sometime. Other times I feel like he’s completely fine and doesn’t belong in there. When McMurphy is trying to get new privileges he is mostly fighting with nurse ratched about getting his clothes that from the workers and trying to be able to get to use the toothpaste at a certain time. McMurphy isn’t really taking care of the patients because he’s not really doing anything that involves the patient’s, he’s mostly caring about himself at this point. Reader #6-McMurphy does not take advantage of the other patients in the ward. Instead he makes them aware of what he can do, while letting them feel like they have won. McMurphy is out of place in the ward, but him being there can help change things. He brings hope to the ward that the nurse isn't so unbeatable after all. He doesn't care who you are or what type of patient u are. “he left that hand in front of me, as big as a dinner plate.” I think while McMurphy places himself above other people, but he tries to help everybody out together as a whole. He knows the only way to beat the nurse is with teamwork. McMurphy tries to stretch the rules of the ward, in my opinion to feel the nurse out. Although I believe he is fighting more than the nurse and it's the whole system! Reader #7-In the book, we have learned what kind of person McMurphy really is. He is a patient in a ward, yet he seems like he could manage perfectly fine in the outside world. He knows this, and it seems like some of the other patients believe this too, but while he is in the ward, it seems almost as if McMurphy takes advantage of the other patients in the ward with him. As i brought up earlier, we all know McMurphy is very different from the others in the ward. We know this because earlier on in the book McMurphy says, “They don't bother not talking out loud about their hate secrets when i'm nearby because they think i'm deaf and dumb, everybody thinks so. I'm cagey enough to fool them that much.” which shows he knows he is smart but the staff does not think or know this. McMurphy also is known as the “main leader” and all the other patients follow by his example. Mcmurphy knows this and can get them to think or do things a certain way, so with that alone, he seems to have a gripe on the patients and takes advantage of them in this way as well. Reader #8-McMurphey is taking advantage of the other patients in the ward. McMurphy is taking advantage of the people in the ward by using the ways of gambling he used outside of the ward. For example he made a bet with patients in the ward that someone could lift the control panel, when he already knew that it is possible because Chief was able to do it. This is taking advantage of the other patients because they didn't know someone could lift it up, but McMurphey knew it was possible so he could pocket some money, off the people with an actual illness. I believe that he shouldn't be aloud in there because he doesn't actually have a mental illness. He has a gambling problem that can be fixed by just therapy, he doesn't need all the medicine to fix that problem. In a sense he is helping other patients but he is very well taking advantage of them. He takes their money without hesitation. Reader #9-McMurphy admittedly does not belong in the ward and says he’s there by choice to avoid the laborious tasks he was dealt in prison. The ward is specifically for mental patients who need help and McMurphy doesn’t fit that description. He’s a misfit by the standards of the outside world so he’s been placed with other misfits. Symbolically, he represents change in the strict order of the ward and hope for the patients who have longed to expose the big nurse for her manipulative ways. I think the patients fear his methods sometimes because if he ticks Nurse Ratched off too much, they could all be punished. Everyday he’s doing something new to challenge the big nurse and he stuns them with his behavior. “I hear McMurphy out there in the latrine as I come out of the covers. Hear him singing!...Everybody’s thunderstruck. They haven’t heard such a thing in years, not on this ward...How come the black boys haven’t hushed him up out there? They never let anybody raise that much racket before, did they? How come they treat this new guy different?” (Kesey, 91-92) McMurphy is constantly testing big nurse’s limitations and this, to the people of the ward, is like an act of war. He targets her because he knows she’s the one who holds the major power around there and if he corrupts her, he’s essentially tapped into the system of the combine. Overall, his intentions are in interest of all the patients but he doesn’t seem to be personally concerned with their well being. He just finds great entertainment in getting others out their comfort zone. Reader #10-mcmurpy is in the right position to take advantage of people, with the fact that he isnt severely ill, in the book he asks Bromden is he can move a panel as a favor, he can move it, but only for about a half a foot. later he makes a bet with the other patients that someone could lift the panel, knowing bromden could lift it already, mcmurphy wins the bet. mcmurphy is hustling over these people being his first time in an institution. Mcmurphy has only experienced a prison. Mcmurphys only problem is that he gambles alot, gets into fights, and does illegal activities doesnt put him in the right circumstances to enroll himself as a patients in a mental hospital. Mcmurphy admits to needing that type of medical help when he challenges the a doctor saying “ do i look like a sane man?” yet he has desire to use his power against everyone else. he then spooks the nurse telling her that he isnt crazy but smart. Good, evil. Fun, boring. Fire, ice. There are a lot of opposites and contrasting ideas out there, and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is no different. Let’s take a look at two of the biggest opposites in this novel, McMurphy and Nurse Ratched, and how opposites in general affect each other.
Reader #1-Nurse Ratched and McMurphy both have very different characteristics in the story so far. McMurphy is a loud, sexual and confident person. Bromden says “nobody’s sure if this barrel chested man with the scar on his face and the wild grin is playacting of if he’s crazy enough to be just like he talks” (kesey 19) From this quote you can tell McMurphy is a loud and confident because he talks to everyone and always has a smile on his face, unlike everyone else in the ward. Unlike McMurphy, Nurse Ratched is very cold and sometimes rude. McMurphy during the first group session explains to the patients in the ward that he is going to “play her game” Nurse Ratched doesn’t like this because McMurphy is going to change how Nurse Ratched acts, and he does this by finding Nurse Ratched’s weak spots. They conflict with each other because McMurphy shouldn’t really be a patient in the ward, and because of this he knows that the Nurse is just attacking the men at their weakest parts because she knows that she’ll get a response that way. Due to this McMurphy decides to include all the patients in how he’s going to destroy the nurse by playing “her game” Reader #2-Nurse Ratched is very odd in this novel. She really doesn’t display a lot of emotion, but you know from reading each chapter, that she isn’t a good person. Nurse Ratched takes her authority and uses it to her wrong advantage. She mildly attacks the patients with small threats that force them to give her what she wants. The nurse likes to keep things in order or “adjustment” but it’s not the typical “order” you would think of. Her idea of it, is all the patients doing what she says and following rules that don’t even help them. McMurphy is the opposite of Nurse Ratched. He has a really big personality when he first enters the ward, and isn’t afraid to show it off. Unlike Nurse Ratched, he truly want the patients to be helped and benefited. You would think the nurse, being a nurse and all, would want to help the patients get better, but she doesn’t do anything to help them at all. McMurphy isn’t actually mentally ill like the rest of the patients, so he can see that Nurse Ratched doesn’t do her job correctly, and wants the patients to see that too. It’s clear the two aren’t fond of each other. McMurphy thinks Nurse Ratched shouldn’t hold her job, and Nurse Ratched will and wants to take any chance she can, to make sure McMurphy has an awful experience at the ward. The two are always butting heads when decisions need to be made. She doesn’t want to give McMurphy want he wants and McMurphy is always trying to expose Nurse Ratched’s true self, to the other patients. Reader #3-There is a lot of tension between McMurphy and Nurse Ratched. That seems to be all their relationship is. They both are the kind of person who wants control and respect by everyone. They both want to win over everyone. They kind of battle for this in different scenes in the book. They never say it out loud, but everything just seems like a competition between them. For example, the text says “She’s lost a little battle here today, but it’s a minor battle in a big war that she’s been winning and she’ll go on winning.” (Kesey 113) This was after the meeting where McMurphy essentially “won”. The conflict was involving the idea of a second day room. Reader #4-In Ken Kesey’s “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”, two characters are controlling in the power struggle over the hospital ward. These two characters are Nurse Ratched, who is in charge of the men in the facility, and Randle McMurphy, who is a patient in the ward. Throughout the novel each character tries to convey their power to show the ward who has more control. McMurphy wants everyone in the ward to be by his side, so he can disobey the rules of the ward and try to get out of there. Nurse Ratched wants to keep everything in complete control. She is very mean and an unpleasant person, so all the patients are afraid to do anything that will disobey the rules of the ward. That’s why McMurphy is having trouble competing with Nurse Ratched, because she has more control over the patient's. Since McMurphy and Nurse Ratched want two opposite kind of power in the ward, there is a lot of tension between the two. McMurphy doesn’t like to follow the rules and in one part of the novel he walks around in a towel and Nurse Ratched yelled at him. McMurphy says to nurse, “Towels against ward policy too? Well, I guess there's nothin to do except..” Nurse Ratched stops him from taking his towel off and says, “Stop don’t you dare! Get your clothes on this instant!”. They keep fighting back and forth at each other. Therefore, this shows that tension between two people can cause many problems in their relationship. That tension might cause someone to turn into a person they aren’t. Tension usually never works out in a relationship and can cause the two people to become a stressful and unhappy person. Reader #5-McMurphy and Nurse Ratched are a lot alike which makes their relationship complicated. The book says “ she’s too big to be beaten.. we mustn’t let McMurphy get our hopes up any different, lure us into making some kind of dumb play” (Kesey 113). They both like to be in control and be the leader, because of that both characters seem to dislike each other and there’s a lot of tension between them. Since they both like being in charge they can’t get along because they are so similar. McMurphy doesn’t want another leader he wants to be the only leader and that’s why he wants to take down Nurse Ratched. McMurphy has been getting all the patients on his side instead of the nurses which is affecting the relationships between the nurse and the other patients. Overall McMurphy and Nurse Ratched are very similar people which causes a lot of problems between relationships. For a lot of people, there is a time in our lives when we don’t quite let others know who we really are. Sometimes, we just don’t really want people to know who we really are. Using One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, let’s explore a little bit why a person might pretend to be not quite as able as they actually are.
Reader #1-In the Book “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s nest” by Ken Kesey McMurphy finds out that Bromden isn't actually who he says he is. One night Chief thinks that McMurphy had fallen asleep, his breathing got slower and slower, till he thinks he's been out for awhile. Then Chief hears McMurphy start laughing and he whispers “Why you sure did give a jump when i told you the coon was coming, chief i thought you was deef”. McMurphy is starting to imply that Bromden is lying about him being deaf. Chief may be acting like he's deaf to get information out of people because they’ll think they can talk about certain things in front of him because he can't hear them. The downside to acting deaf is because you can't speak at all or well enough for people to interpret what your saying. It's quite weird that Chief would be faking something like this, as i would think it would be a hassle for him. Reader #2-In reality people tend to act like they’re not capable of doing something to get out of it or to get special treatment from others. Chief Bramden has been pretending to be someone who he isn’t is. He’s pretending to be deaf so people would give him special treatment. Overall I think chief Bramden is pretending to be deaf so people won’t talk to him and also to spy on others. McMurphy soon catches Bramden on the act and I wonder if McMurphy will let out Bramden’s secret later in the book. Overall pretending to be someone you’re not is a waste of time. Reader #3-Chief has a conversation with McMurphy and he indicates that Bromden is faking his inabilities to speak and hear. People might pretend they are less able than they are to avoid being apart of something. In the text Chief says, “You had a choice: you could either strain and look at things that appeared in front of you in the fog, painful as it might be, or you could relax and lose yourself.”(Kesey 131). Chief might pretend to be deaf and have an inability to speak as a way to distance himself from “the combine”. Bromden’s theory of the world is that it is this machine called the combine and people get involved to put people like him in those asylum institutions. Bromden doesn’t want any part of this machine. He just wants to keep to himself away from the rest of the world. Pretending to be less than someone already is could be their way to prevent stress and anything worse happening to them. Reader #5-In “One flew over the Cuckoo’s nest” Chief gave a hint towards McMurphy that he’s faking his deafness and inability to speak when Chief quickly hurried to bed when McMurphy said one of the black boys were coming over to their beds. This is proven when McMurphy says, “Why, you sure did give a jump when I told you that coon was coming, Chief. I thought someone told me you was deef.” (Page 84) Now for the benefits of pretending to be deaf is that you could not be targeted as easily for certain reasons. But the drawback on this is that people would probably think that you’re crazy, and you won’t be able to talk to other people. So Chief’s maybe thinking that life on the ward seems to be like a prison where you can get abused easily. So why would anyone pretend they’re less able than they are? It’s probably out of fear of getting attention drawn to you, weather it would be good or bad. Reader #6- In the book Chief Bromden reveals to Mcmurphy that he can speak and listen by actually talking to him. He tells him that he hasn't spoken in years and Mcmurphy believes him. he tells him how his whole life he was ignored and not really payed attention to. he just acted to being death and not able to speak so he can just listen. Chief bromden doesn't really like the way the ward hadels thing with the patients, he thinks the zapping and other so called treatments are horrible. the good thing about people thinking he's death is no one bothers him as much and he's just himself and doesn't have to bother with people's problems. i sometimes pretend i don't know how to do something at work so i won't have to do it and it works or just anthing in general like something at home. Reader #7-A person might pretend they are less able than they are in order to gain power. At the end of chapter 6, Chief Bromden and Mcmurphy are getting into bed and Mcmurphy tells Bromden that someone may be coming. Later in the night Mcmurphy started to laugh and said “Why, you sure did give a jump when I told you that coon was coming, Chief. I thought you was deef.” (Kesey 84) Mcmurphy is finally catching onto Bromden’s act, and he’s figuring out that Bromden may be smarter than her seems. Chief Bromden has been on the ward for years, and he’s adjusted to an everyday schedule. He goes through the motions and hopes that no one will ever realize he fake act he has to put on. The benefits of Bromden keeping his secret would be that he gets to listen in on every conversation and have information that others don’t. But a drawback would be that if anyone found out, he could be severely punished for it, which could lead him straight for the shock shop. For example, some people pretend they’re not good at things so that when they need to use the skill at a crucial point in their life, no one would be expecting it and they would have the advantage. Reader #8-Chief Bromden fakes his deafness, intelligence and his inability to talk. He does this because he just wants to slip through the cracks. He doesn’t want to participate in group discussions, so by pretending he's not able to partake in these activities, he's almost forgotten about. Not completely forgotten about however, McMurphy seems to have notice Chief, and he’s not letting him get away easy. McMurphy says this to Chief, “Why, you sure did give a jump when I told you that coon was coming, Chief. I thought somebody told me you was deef” (Kesey 84). McMurphy says this because he wants Chief to know that he's paying attention to him, that he notices him. This is unlike anyone else, because no one seemed to ever care whether Chief was faking it or not. Reader #9-Chief and McMurphy have a conversation where McMurphy indicates that he thinks Chief is faking his inability to to hear and speak. Someone may pretend they are less able than they actually are, to fit in. Chief has been in the institute so long that he may not want to change his ways. Chief has become accustomed to the day to day life on the ward and does not want to be treated differently if he showed he was able to speak and hear. A of the positive of Chief making people think he is unable to speak and hear are that he is mostly left alone(which he enjoys). There is a drawback to Chief faking this. He may be getting medicine and treatment meant for people who can’t actually hear or speak. This could possibly be making his schizophrenia flare up even more. This can easily be compared to pretending to be good at something that you actually aren't. Reader #10- A person can pretend to be less able than they really are for many different reasons. Chief Bromden has been pretending to be someone who he really isn’t throughout the whole book. He could be pretending to be deaf because he doesn’t want to talk to anyone and just likes to be alone and keep to himself. McMurphy soon catches on to chief pretending when Mcmurphy says “Why, you sure did give a jump when I told you that coon was coming, Chief. I thought somebody told me you was deef” (Kesey 84). I wonder how Chief is going to react to what McMurphy said to him and if McMurphy is going to tell anyone. In conclusion pretending to be someone you're not can eventually cause an impact on you and others. Reader #11-people are always gonna act like someone they arent, or say they are in a situation they really arent in, either to fit in, have more friends, or to get treated differently. chief Bromden has been pretending to be someone he isnt. He wants to be treated specially so he makes people believe he is in a situation where he is disabled in some aspects. Chief bromden is pretending to be to be deaf so people wont talk to him and also to make others feel like they dont have to worry about talking on subjects in front of him. Mcmurphy finds out bromden is just acting. deciding what he will do with that evidential information will be tough for Mcmurphy decide. in the end being yourself and playing fair is well worth it. Groups can be defined as a number of people or objects that are located together or share something in common. Aware of it or not, everyone is classified in some sort of group. For example, in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, all of the patients are groups together as ones with a mental illness. Based on the group you are in, it can cause you to act in certain ways. What causes this and why does this happen? Let’s see how we can use the novel as an example.
Reader #1-The group therapy sessions aren't helping anyone cope with their problems. The acutes stay quiet for the most part and nobody opens up because there are so many people around. Everyone is uncomfortable with the environment and they are afraid of the big nurse. The group focuses on the log book, which is where the patient's pretty much rat out the others, they write down what they say or do. They are pretty much doing all of the dirty work for the nurses. The meetings are the same every time, the nurse asks what the patients have done and never admitted to, nobody answers at first because they're scared, she stares at the acutes and puts them in a “trance” and then they spill. “That triggered something, some acoustic device in the walls, rugged to turn on just at the sound of those words coming from her mouth. The acutes stiffened. Their mouths opened in unison” (Kesey 50). One thing they do is only point out the flaws or stuff that they did wrong, so it’s not a therapy session it’s a forced confession. These sessions are not helpful to the patient's’ mental health at all, it makes them feel worse about themselves. It helps the nurse because they are admitting to things they have done, but they don't come out of these meetings anymore mentally stable or happy then they were before. in some cases they come out worse. The patients are too afraid to stand up for themselves, the big nurse isn’t welcoming or accepting so they just let her walk all over them. She intimidates them so they can’t get better. Reader #2-The group sessions have a sort of passive aggressive cycle, with very little being accomplished. I feel as though it is not helping Chief or McMurphy. People behave rather strangely at times, and this is one of them. As the group continues to erode and deteriorate each other, Chief is beginning to notice more, and in a way, evolve, improving himself and his attitude. Others in the group are helped a little bit, albeit in a non acceptable way. We may not see that right away, but I predict as the story goes on, We will continue to see improvements in both Chief and McMurphy, or at the very least, we will see them beginning to change Reader #3-Various things cause certain people to act out and behave differently. Given on the situation, one might feel threatened or attacked, causing them to lash out or cause a scene. In ¨One Flew Over the Cuckoo´s Nest¨, they gather everyone and have a therapy session. During this session, some people attending were affected and made fun of. Knowing facts about mental illness, teasing and making fun of is a way of coping with your problems. The group was formed so that everyone had a chance to share and talk about their problems. When you attend these groups, you begin to notice a pattern based on the individuals talking. Some like to talk the whole time, some say a few things, and others say nothing. McMurphy was an individual who enjoys talking while Chief was an example of one who doesn't say much. Many times during these sessions someone is made fun of and are made helpless because they cannot defend themselves. These meetings are not always the most helpful. Reader #4-During the group sessions the Big Nurse tries to get the patients to talk by asking them questions continuously until someone answers. During this group session, Pete was a topic of discussion because he wouldn’t stop causing commotion. The text says “Pete never tried anything like that again, and he never will. Now when he starts acting up during a meeting and they try to hush him, he always hushes.” (Kesey 55) Due to Pete acting out the whole group put their effort into getting Pete to be quiet. After a while, the Big Nurse got frustrated and made the black boys take Pete out of the meeting and back to the day room. During the sessions, The Big Nurse has the role of asking the questions, the black boys are their to help out the big nurse, and the patients are their to answer the questions the Big Nurse asks so she can record their progress. However, most of the patients stay quiet during these sessions until one speaks up then they all chime in. These sessions are not helpful because whenever the nurse asks a questions the patients are scared to answer because they feel like they will be judged. Also the nurse asks questions that the patients already know about themselves, so admitting them to her isn’t going to do much to help them. The patients are afraid to stand up for themselves because they fear being moved to a different part of the ward. They believe if they act out against the nurse they will be put into the Disturbed ward, and they might have to endure shock therapy or even an operation. Sessions in the ward, do not help any patients in the ward because they are afraid to be themselves due to the fear of being judge or moved to a worse part of the ward. Reader #5-One day in the ward, the Big Nurse got all the patients together for their group therapy session and it was the first one in the book so far. Big Nurse says to the patients “Now. Who will start? Let out those old secrets.”They all just sat there in silence and didn’t say a word. Since no one decided to speak up, the nurse decided to bring up “past history” from that one book that everyone writes in about each other. That made everyone uneasy and sparked something in their brains to make them want to speak up all of the sudden. They all started yelling out confessions, saying things like “I tried to take my little sister to bed.” and “I killed my cat when I was six…”. It was very chaotic and odd because it seemed like they were all trying to out-do each other with what they have done. One patient, Pete, was sick of hearing everyone yell out all these things to please the nurse and he belted out saying, “I’m tired!” He kept saying it over and over again. The Big Nurse got aggravated and called the black boys to take him away since he was causing unnecessary commotion. I don’t think there’s roles in the group therapy sessions because it depends on their emotions that day. Obviously, there will always be one patient to talk first but, I don’t think it will always be the same. The sessions seem pointless to me because the patients don’t get to talk about their feelings and Big Nurse doesn’t give them advice on how to cope or encourage them to do good. The whole time they were confessing she repeatedly said yes and it was creepy. She made it seem like she was satisfied with it. All of the patients are honestly helpless because if they do decide to stick up for themselves, Big Nurse will just call in the black boys and they will do something to torture the patients and then nothing is solved. They’re all terrified and stay quiet because they don’t want to have to interact with the black boys. Reader #6-Chief bromden’s experience in the therapy sessions is weird. The group sessions are basically them talking about what they have done or tried to do in their life for them to get into the mental institution. The group focuses on them trying to deal with them being in there and overcoming the things that they had done. The patient’s don’t stand up for themselves because their scared too. They think that standing up for themselves is going to cause something bad. When the patients are talking about what they did to get in there as said in the quote ‘’ I tried to take my little sister to bed’’ there all talking about what they have done and overcoming what they did so can atleast get some grief about it. Reader #7-the group therapy sessions seem to be kind of awkward. i don’t think anyone really talks. they seem afraid. in the past, pete tried to tell them something about himself for once, but he just got punished for it. so now him and the others are probably just afraid to open up. nurse ratched is always the one to start criticizing or “picking on” someone. In the text, it says “Mr. McMurphy… my friend… i’m not a chicken, Im a rabbit. The doctor is a rabbit. .... All of us here are rabbits of varying ages and degrees… we need a good strong wolf like the nurse to teach us our place.” (Kesey 64) Nurse racthed is the wolf and the patients are rabbits. those are the roles people take during these sessions. Reader #8-People act in certain ways when they are in groups for a variety of different reasons. Like in the therapy group they all were silent for a very long time. In the text it states “ And, she’d put all the acutes in a trance by sitting there in the silence for twenty minutes after the question, quiet as an electric alarm about to go off.” The group is probably acting this way because it is hard to talk about your feeling in front of people you’re are not familiar with. Especially when you have a mental illness like the people in the group. When the group finally cracked they all started talking about doing insane and illegal things. for example “I tried taking my sister to bed.”. That is something that you don’t normally tell people. But this probably helps them because the can get the bad things they did off their chest without getting in trouble. Reader #9-I think that the group sessions are very awkward. None of the patients enjoy participating, and no one is willing to even make eye contact with Nurse Ratched except for McMurphy. He is the only one who who will talk and share his opinion. Patients are taken back by this. The group focuses on the big nurse and McMurphy because they are interested that he is actually standing up to Big Nurse. Everyone is always silent, but Pete always complains about being tired. No one ever stands up for themselves because they don’t want to get in trouble and be sent for a lobotomy. Although, McMurphy is determined to get under Ratched’s skin without being sent to the disturbed ward. Reader #10-In the book so far, we learn a lot about how the patients can be and act, especially during their group therapy sessions. These sessions usually consist of silence but at the most recent therapy session, they started to complain and ask tons of questions such as "Why does the dorms have to be locked on the weekends?". For some odd reason the staff seems to just let them do so instead of stopping and controlling the patient's. This is a very significant part of the book because it is showing how the staff tries to keep them contin so they have no say in anything. That is why McMurphy finds this very strange considering the staff and nurse Ratched normally would have dealt with this situation by now. There are lots of things that go into making a great character in a story. Great characters are dynamic, elicit strong emotions, and seem to jump right off of the page. Randall P. McMurphy, a newcomer to the mental ward in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, is one of those characters. His arrival not only creates a lot of turmoil in the ward, but holds a lot of significance to our narrator, Chief Bromden. Let’s see what that significance is according to our readers.
Reader #1-Mcmurphy doesn’t fit into the typical 3 Categories that the institute provides. The types of patients in the wards are called Chronics, categorized as a walker, wheeler, or vegetable. And then there’s the acutes who are the type that can barely function. The Chief admires Mcmurphy because his way of approaching others is different than anyone who’s ever been here. The chief gets nervous at the way Mcmurphy approaches him. The chief was thinking that “He wasn’t fooled for one minute by my deaf-and-dumb act; it didn’t make any difference how cagey the act was, he was onto me and was laughing and winking to let me know it.” (Kesey 24) The Chief knows that Mcmurphy is smarter than anyone here, and that he doesn’t fit into any of the ward’s categories because he feels he’s outsmarted them already with this one unforgettable look he gave the Chief. In the ward the woman they call the “Big Nurse” runs the place. By the way that The Chief describes her, it seems like everyone has to fear for her, because she is a very strong-minded individual. She shows her authority through the way she treats patients and has a keen eye for anything she sees out of place. The way that power is gained in the ward is cooperation. The chief has a power that no one else knows he has. They all think he can’t hear and that he doesn’t have anything going on up in his head. But really, he’s seeing everything that goes on with the patients, and staff and no one knows about it because he cooperates and puts on a harmless act. Mcmurphy is different because he’s loud and rambunctious. He also seems to be functioning well. He’s also tried to take authority quickly, rather than just letting the day go by like all of the other patients. Mcmurphy is not like anyone in the ward. He’s smart just like The Chief, and he’s going to do anything and everything in his power to make that ward his. Reader #2-McMurphy isn’t like the other patients in the ward, he is more open and friendly than the other patients. The type of patients in the ward are different from McMurphy. When he is walking around asking people to play cards and talking about random things and just being very open. The other patients are frightened by him. He just wants to make a good impression on everybody since he’s gonna be there for a while as he says that on page 19 ‘’ It’s my first day and what i’d like to do is make a good impression straight off on the right man if he can prove to me he is the right man.’’ overall McMurphy is different from others because he’s more outgoing than the other patients. Reader #3-It is clear that McMurphy doesn’t fit into the typical mold in the ward. The patients in the ward are very reserved and quiet. You can tell that it makes them uneasy when McMurphy is loud and when he laughs. In the book, it says “Yet he looks like he’s enjoying himself, like he’s the sort of guy that gets a laugh out of people.” (Kesey 23) McMurphy introduces himself to everyone in the ward, one by one, and the patients don’t really know what to think about it. The Chief admires McMurphy because he seems to be the most exciting thing/person to come into the ward in a long time. The Chief likes how McMurphy is very confident and fearless. McMurphy is very different when he talks about his gambling as well. Harding holds the power in the ward, but you can tell that McMurphy wants it and thinks he is going to get it. Reader #4-McMurphy doesn’t fit in with the other patients in a variety of ways. Before Mcmurphy got to the mental hospital you can tell it wasn’t a social environment and people just kept doing their regular routines. When McMurphy arrived in the text it says “After he checks the day room over a minute, he sees he’s meant for the acute side and goes right for it, grinning and shaking hands with everybody he comes to”(Kesey 18). He’s being friendly to everyone and just wants to get to know them in a social way. When McMurphy was being social some of the patients were uncomfortable and were fidgeting and twitching because they weren’t used to that kind of interaction. Since McMurphy is very social i believe he will keep gaining power from the other patients every day he’s at the hospital. Overall McMurphy is very different than the other patients because of his personality. Reader #4-The patients in the ward are much more disabled and mentally ill than Mcmurphy. They all keep to themselves and aren’t as open with why they are there. They follow the rules, for the most part, and they aren't trying to take control of the ward. They are just sliding by, doing the same thing everyday until Mcmurphy gets there. When Mcmurphy walked in the ward he made sure that everyone noticed him, shaking the hands of every patient and he even laughed. Chief was shocked when he heard it he said “Not like that fat public relations laugh. This sounds real. I realize all of a sudden it’s the first laugh i’ve heard in years” ( Kesey 12). It’s almost as if he didn't recognize the sound, like nobody in the ward ever laughs. Harding used to hold the power in the ward, but it quickly changed after Mcmurphy made it very clear that he is the craziest man in the ward. There are the chronics, acutes, and the vegetables, all a different amount of crazy. Mcmurphy doesn't fit in any of the groups, he is his own kind of crazy. Someone who they have never seen before and this is significant because he is bringing something new to the ward, maybe happiness maybe rebellion. It is still too soon to tell, the Big nurse if nervous about him messing up “the outfit”. Reader #5-The types of patients at the ward are Chronics, Acutes, Vegetables, Wheelers, and Walkers. Acutes are the ones who are the most close to people without mental illnesses. Wheelers are people who are patients that are in wheel chairs. Lastly, Vegetables are patients who are brain dead and cannot function for themselves. The Chief admires McMurphy because McMurphy is different than everyone else at the ward. He does everything for himself, and he doesn’t let anyone do anything for him. In the ward, the three black boys and Big Nurse hold the power. The three black boys force people into doing things. For example, in the beginning of the story Chief was hiding in the closet because he didn’t want to be shaved. When he left the closet, the three black boys hit Chief with brooms and forced him into the room to get shaved. The Black boys however, look up to the Big Nurse. Whatever the Big Nurse says to do the three black boys do it. To gain power in the ward you make others fear you by forcing them to do things they do not want to do, and that is how the three black boys and the Big Nurse have power. As I said before, Mcmurphy isn’t like everyone in the ward because he is very independent. He doesn’t give into the force of others, and functions by himself. Reader #6- It is significant that McMurphy doesn’t fit into the typical mold of patients in the psychiatric hospital. Most of these patients can either be cured or not, and this is how they’re divided. They are mostly depressed, confused, and lost. Chief Bromden pretends to be more confused than he really is. He acts like he’s death and doesn’t have a clue about what’s going on, when he really does. He admires McMurphy because he’s fun, entertaining, and bring something new to the hospital. In the story, it states on page twelve that, “Yessir, that’s what I came to this establishment for, to bring you birds fun an’ entertainment around the gamin’ table.” McMurphy is came across to be a mistake that he was placed in the ward. He knows what’s going on unlike some others in the center. It’s important to have him in this environment to maybe gain control of the ward. Reader #7-The book mentions that they’re two types of patients, Acutes and Chronics. Acutes are believed to be cured and Chronics are people that can’t be cured. McMurphy doesn’t fit into any of these places because he can be cured but he chooses not too. The chief admires McMurphy because she views him as an ordinary man with no problems, she ends up spending all her free time with him to help him. “My name is McMurphy, buddies, R.P McMurphy, and I’m a gambling fool.”(Kasey 12) In the book McMurphy introduces himself as a gambling fool and is known for his brassy voice and his confident, iron- heeled walk. It is believed that McMurphy doesn’t want to be cured because he wants to take over the whole ward and he doesn’t want to go back to his old life. Reader #8-In the book One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, McMurphy is different from all the rest of the patients in the ward. When Randle McMurphy, a new patient arrives his appearance is seen by his brassy voice and his confident walk. McMurphy is a redhead and has a devilish grin and had introduced himself as a gambling fool. McMurphy tells jokes and everyone enjoys his humor. Chief explains that the way he “talked reminded him of a car salesman or a stock auctioneer because of his loud talk and his swagger”(13). McMurphy exclaims that he had some hassles at the work farm, so the court ruled him as a psychopath. McMurphy is different from the rest because he challenges the ward, which is the direct opposite of the nature in the hospital. The two types of groups in the ward are called Chronics and Acutes. Chronics are the ones that can still get around if there fed but are mostly “vegetables”. Acutes are known as the ones that can be fixed. McMurphy is overall different from the rest because technically he made his way into this ward because he didn't wanna work in the pea fields. Reader #9-McMurphy in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest” is not a type of the person who seems to fit in with the typical mold, or groups, of the ward. As said from Chief Bromden on page 11 “Even though I can’t see him, I know he’s no ordinary admission. I don’t hear him slide scared along the wall, and when they tell him about the shower he don't just submit with a weak little yes, he tells them right back in a loud, brassy voice that he’s already plenty damn clean, thank you.” Now normally there are Acutes, who are young patients who can still be “fixed” and don’t have many problems, then there’s the Chronics which are older people with lots of problems and won’t be able to recover. But both groups have a sense of fear in the ward when it comes to the Big Nurse and the black boys. So when McMurphy enters in the ward, everyone was in a state of confusion by how McMurphy was acting like a tough, confident person. And that’s probably the reason why Bromden admires McMurphy for how he’s friendly, and not scared of things as easily as the others in the ward. Making it so that McMurphy managed to stand out in the ward, when he’s only just arrived. Plus when McMurphy went to the same room with the Chronics and Acutes, he took the time to shake hands, talk, and have fun with the other patients before getting stuck with the thermometer. Reader #10-There are many different patients in the ward, but there's a specific patient that sticks out to Chief Bromden. A new patient came to the ward named McMurphy and Bromden feels like he's different from everyone else. All the other patients are kind of separated. The more younger patients are called “Acutes” All they do is walk around and tell jokes. Then there's the Chronics that are called walkers because that's all they do. Bromden thinks that McMurphy has his own kind of group because when he first arrived he didn't care what people thought of him, he just went up to everyone and introduced himself. Hes also breaking rules already because hes suppose to go to the “shower when they enter the ward. McMurphy is his own kind of person so that's why Chief Bromden feels he's different from the other patients. Reader #11- during the book, it is mentioned that there are 2 different types of patients at the ward. The acute and the chronics. Acute being the type of patients that can be cured who come in to the hospital. The second type of patient is a chronic, being the type of patient that cannot be cured. As quoted on page 12 McMurphy introduces himself saying “ My name is mcmurphy, buddies R.P Mcmurphy, and i'm a gambling fool” (kasey). Mcmurphy is described to have a confident brassy voice and a high heeled walk. Mcmurphy doesn't fit into to any of the patient categories because he isn't there to for help, but to escape the farm life and take over the institute for mental help. Reader #11-In the book One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest the character McMurphy stands out more than others. Perhaps because he is not really mentally ill like other patients, but really because he is loud, brings a lot of attention to himself and doesn't care about and does not follow the rules. He's very opposing to the rules in the ward and became the alpha. There are two types of patients in the ward chronics and acutes and McMurphy is none of those. Reader #12-As soon as Mcmurphy enters the ward Chief Bromden can tell he is different than the other patients. Most patients are either chronics or acutes. Chief describes the chronics as “machines with flaws inside that can’t be repaired”(Kesey 16) and acutes as teens who can be repaired, but Mcmurphy doesn't really fall into either categories. One way he is different is that he doesn’t just submit like the other patients do when they are admitted. Mcmurphy enters very loud and introduces himself to the entire ward and even tries to make some bets calling himself a gambling fool, all while avoiding the aides who try to put him through the normal admission process. Mcmurphy doesn’t think he should at a institute of psychology but the court ruled him psychopathic because he got in a couple fights at the work farm. Mcmurphy is nothing like any of the other patients as Chief says. Reader #13-In the ward, there are Acutes, the people that come in with smaller/ less severe conditions. They usually can be “fixed” and get out of the ward. Chronics, the people who have suffered from traumatizing things like war. They can't really get out of the ward. The Chief is one. Vegetables are people who are basically brain dead and can't do anything for themselves, the black boys feed them purees because they have no teeth. They pee themselves as well because they have no control over their bladders. Wheelers are mostly chronics who can't walk and even some vegetables. I think Chief admires McMurphy because he stirs things up in the ward and brings some entertainment. Also, McMurphy doesn't care about the rules or how things work and he wants to be head “bull goose looney”. It seems to me like the black boys and the Big Nurse have most power in the ward. The black boys are like the Big Nurse’s minions and they do whatever she tells them to. They clean up the ward and make sure everything is always in line and the patients are doing as told and following the rules. To gain power in the ward, basically, you just have to scare all the other patients. McMurphy is different from all the other patients because he isn't actually “crazy” (to me at least). He just got sent to a ward by the court and he chose doing that instead of going to jail. Also, he's much louder and has “swagger”. He's big and tough looking and likes to be in charge. He’s the complete opposite of all the patients and you can tell because when he first comes in, all the patients become uneasy and nervous. Reader #14-McMurphy stands out in the crowd when it comes to being a patient in the ward. In the ward, there are two types of patients: the acutes and the chronics. The difference between the acutes and the chronics is that the acutes actually have a greater chance of getting cured. The Chief admires McMurphy because McMurphy unlike the other patients, seems pretty normal. McMurphy has confidence. He went around greeting the acutes and chronics as if it were no big deal. He even “competed” by mocking Billy’s stutter and won. He laughed, and it was a genuine laugh. The Chief also admires how McMurphy wasn’t fooled by his “deaf and dumb” act. “But then’s when I remember thinking that he was laughing because he wasn’t fooled for one minute by my deaf-and-dumb act; it didn’t make any difference how cagey the act was, he was onto me and was laughing and winking to let me know it.” (Kesey 24) If McMurphy fit into the stereotypical acute or chronic patient, there’s no way he would be able to go around bragging about gambling, casually greet both the acute and chronic patients, and catch onto the Chief’s act. Reader #15-McMurphy sticks out from other people in the ward because he is different than them. He smiles his wild smile, and pushes the boundaries of a patient. He may be crazy, but his problems may not best be worked out through being in this mental hospital. McMurphy is unlike the other patients because he wants authority and the other patients don’t. He will question nurse Ratched because he has the character trait of a character who doesn't follow rules. The main character, Chief Bromden, admires McMurphy because he’s everything he’s not. He appreciates that there's someone new that will change up the ward and push Nurse Ratched. Reader #16-McMurphy doesn’t fit in at the ward. His personality is very different from the rest of the patients. The patients in the ward are much more quiet than Mcmurphy. I think the chief admires Mcmurphy because he probably wishes he was like him. Mcmurphy is much more confident and loud than others in the ward. The patients think it's unordinary when he is laughing. they don’t see people laugh often. In the text, it says “i see McMurphy notices he’s making the money uneasy, but he don’t let it slow him down.” (Kesey 19)You can tell that Mcmurphy already thinks he is going to end up with all the power in the ward and be the leader. Reader #17-In the book One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, the main character Chief Bromden introduces a new character into the story McMurphy. I feel like him and bromden are become good friends in time and both rebel against the nurse. Bromden, who has been there the longest and is used to everything being the same. He is curious about the new patient, because he doesn't act like any of the other people there. Most of the patients there are shy and unable to carry on a real conversation. McMurphy who has just arrived has a gambling problem, he goes around to meet all the other patients. During this time nurse chases him down to get the welcoming shower.”ya know ma’am that is the exact thing somebody always tells me about the rules”. This quote said by McMurphy is a hint to what will happen between him and the big nurse. He is the only one so far that has really challenged her. Reader #18- McMurphy doesn't fit into the typical mold so far in the book. All of the patients in the ward seem to follow McMurphy because he is different from the other patients. He is outgoing and very social, while the others are kept to themselves and do what they're told rather then do what they want. In the ward, the head person in charge is Nurse Ratched, she is very controlling and manipulative. The staff that work with her, listen and do everything she says and wants. Most of the staff treat the patients like they don't know anything, like they are less than, which in this case they kinda are, but in McMurphy's case, he seems like he know more than any of the other patients. Towards the beginning of the book he says “They don't bother not talking out loud about their hate secrets when i'm nearby because they think i'm deaf and dumb, everybody thinks so. I'm cagey enough to fool them that much.” This Statement alone shows how differently he is compared to the others, which is the main reason he doesn't fit into the typical mold at the ward. |
AuthorWelcome to Miss Hardie's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Blog! Here we will be posting our thoughts and discussing One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey. Please join in on the discussion! ArchivesCategories
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