One Flew over the Cuckoos Nest Literary Essay free essay sample

With great power comes great responsibility. Many people have great power, but tend to abuse it. A common example of this abuse is using people below ones authority to do most of the work, or black mail them. Then there are the people who utilize power carefully whilst not abusing them. In the novel â€Å"One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest† by Ken Kesey, McMurphy ultimately wins the power struggle with Nurse Ratched which leads to the patients recovery, her loss of control over the ward, and Nurse Ratched’s struggle for power. Before McMurphy arrived at the ward, Nurse Ratched had complete dominance over the patients. They did exactly what she said, no questions asked. She kept them there by making them feel insecure and unfit for society. Nurse Ratched had a logbook setup that appeared to be beneficial to the patients. In reality, the logbook was a method for Nurse Ratched to gather information which would be used against the patients for sending them to the main building. We will write a custom essay sample on One Flew over the Cuckoos Nest Literary Essay or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page â€Å"They spy on each other. Sometimes one man says something about himself that he didn’t aim to let slip, to get enough evidence to have some guy reconditioned† (Kesey, 15). Nurse Ratched is exploiting the patients by making them turn against one another, they do not realize this as they are blinded by the fact that they get rewarded. The guy that wrote the piece of information in the log book, he gets a star by his name†¦and gets to sleep late the next day. † (Kesey,15). They desperately need the reward, to feel the slightest bit of comfort, due to the lock of freedom they get in the ward. After McMurphy arrived at the ward, he noticed that most of the patients were not mentally ill, and had no reason to be there. â€Å"I can understand it with some of those old guys on the ward. They’re nuts. But you, you’re not exactly the everyday man on the street, but you’re not nuts. † (Kesey, 195). Most of the men had lost their personalities, confidence, guts which caused them to deem themselves unfit to go back into society. â€Å"You could get along outside if you had the guts†¦Ã¢â‚¬ Sure! †Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ If we had the g-guts. † (Kesey, 195). The men had been drained of all they had by Nurse Ratched, they had nothing left. In order to help them regain what they had been stripped of, McMurphy took them on a fishing trip. The fishing trip gave them some time outside of the institution, they were free to do whatever they wanted knowing they were ot being watched, or in the presence of Nurse Ratched. The fishing trip was very therapeutic to the patients, as it taught them a bit of how to deal with the outside world. â€Å"We were three jackets short, and there was a fuss as to who’d be the three that braved that bar without jackets. †¦ Everybody was kind of surprised that Billy had volunteered, took his life jacket off right away when we found we were short, and helped the girl into it. † (Kesey, 252). Before McMurphy came the ward, Billy would never have volunteered for anything. He would not have the confidence to stick out of the crowd. Billy rising above the crowd is a clear indication of the positive influence McMurphy had on the ward. They learn how to resolve their own issues, and see themselves as men. This gives them a huge positive influence on their confidence. Slowly, they start to realize they have proven themselves to the outside world. At end of the fishing trip, they show everyone their huge catches, and are proud of what they did. The men eventually get their confidence back and their back to how they were when they first joined the ward if not better. During the party McMurphy was throwing for his last day, most of the men had their confidence back, Billy Bibbit also lost his stutter after losing his virginity. The patients discussed about leaving the hospital after a few more weeks, whereas at the beginning of the novels they had no guts to leave. This also shows they no longer fear Nurse Ratched. At the beginning of the novel, the ward had complete control over the patients. The rules that were enforced would run the patients lives, such as the daily routine everyone had to follow, toothpaste locked away, and loud music. They did not get any say in what they wanted. As the novel progressed, Nurse Ratched gradually lost control. †We can see the nurse’s face get red and her mouth work as she stares at him, everybody’s watching what she’s going to do—even the black boys and the little nurses†¦she flips a switch and the TV picture swirls back into the gray†¦Ã¢â‚¬ You’re committed, you realize. You are †¦ under the jurisdiction of me†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ Mr. Harding! You return to your†¦Ã¢â‚¬ Mr. Har-ding! †Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ You men—Stop this. Stop! † We’re all sitting there†¦and she’s ranting and screaming behind us. † (Kesey, 143-144). This is the first incident Nurse Ratched had no control over the patients in the ward. In her furious mentality, she suspends privileges in an attempt to display her authority again, and starts rationing cigarettes. That did not help much as the men still question her authority and her control goes downhill from here as there is not much she can do anymore. As soon as McMurphy set foot in the hospital, she knew he was a threat to her by the way he acted. She tries one of her old tactics and tries to humiliate McMurphy by calling him â€Å"Mr. McMurry† (Kessey, 25). She sees McMurphy as a threat from the beginning as can be seen by what she said, â€Å"That is exactly what the new patient is planning: to take over. He is what we call a ‘manipulator’. (Kessey, 27). His first attempt at changing Nurse Ratched fragile system was to change the routine, but he did not have any supports. He needed a team to make changes to the place, as Nurse Ratched required a majority vote, so McMurphy made a bet with the ward members, to drive her off the throne, without her having any power over him. He disobeys ward policies, such as taking showers when they were not permitted, and brushing his teeth. When Nurse Ratched arrived to work that day, she went berserk but kept it to herself. Another incident was when he claimed someone stole his clothes, and he takes off his towel only to see whale shorts. â€Å"She closes her eyes and concentrates. She cannot have them see her face like this, white and wrapped with fury. She uses all the power of control that is in her. Gradually the lips gather together again under the little white nose, run together, like the red-host wire had got hot enough to melt† (Kesey, 99-10). This was a major incident that lead to her fall from the throne, she could not handle all the trouble McMurphy was causing. Another point when he also broke her down was when they were watching the blank TV imagining the World Series. She was completely helpless as, no one would listen to her. She thought she could shut him down once and for all when she tells McMurphy he is committed, but he reclaims himself by shattering the window not once, but twice. In the end, McMurphy’s last act was choking, and exposing Nurse Ratched’s weakness, he stripped her of her clothes, and exposed her chest to everyone, which she tried so hard to conceal from everyone throughout the novel. This completely broke down Nurse Ratched, and in revenge, she lobotomized McMurphy. She may have gotten rid of him, but he succeeded in destroying the system, and throwing her off the throne. As most people left the Ward after that, or transferred, McMurphy may be gone, but his work will haunt her forever. In conclusion, Nurse Ratched has lost her power forever, as she has no control over the institution or authority left, in exchange for McMurphy’s life, and the freedom of many of the wards patients. The patient’s recovery leads to the loss of Nurse Ratched’s control, which caused Nurse Ratched to struggle for power. In the end, she did not win by getting rid of McMurphy, as he weakened the power she had over people forever. As William Edward Hickson said, â€Å"If at first you do not succeed, try, try again†. McMurphy was a perfect representation of this goal, he kept going against Nurse Ratched to break her down. One should always keep trying to achieve their goal, very few succeed the first time. Works Cited Kesey, Ken. One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest. Penguin Edition. United States of America: New American Library, February 1963