Essay on use of power in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

        Through the abuse of power, the emasculation of men and threat of castration is created in both ‘Fight Club’ and ‘Cuckoo’s Nest’. Tyler Durden’s ‘Fight Club’ is created to try to return men’s masculinity, which links with the time the novel was written in the 1990’s. At the time, ultimate fighting clubs had been thriving in various American cities, introduced by the Ultimate Fighting Championship in 1993, and were an influence on Palahniuk’s writing. Because of the decline of interest in professional boxing due to the corruption within it in the 90’s, American audiences wanted a new form of entertainment. The Narrator and Durden grew up without a father figure in their lives, and Durden describes the men in society as being a “generation of men raised by women”, and thus tries to restore their masculinity. This could also link to Chuck Palahniuk’s past, as his parents separated and divorced when he was fourteen, leaving him and his siblings to spend their childhood on their maternal grandparent’s cattle ranch. However, Durden hypocritically uses his power to introduce a threat of castration to any men who are a threat to closing any ‘Fight Club’s down, highlighting a theme of emasculation in contrast to Durden’s attempts at restoring masculinity. An instance of this is when Durden abuses his power to gather space monkeys and threaten to castrate the police commissioner until he calls off his investigation, and later also tells the space monkeys to threaten to castrate the Narrator. Durden also threatens to then send the commissioner’s testicles to newspapers, by saying that “If even one Fight Club has to close, we’ll send his nuts east and west. One goes to the New York Times and one goes to the Los Angeles Times”, which creates a similarity between it and ‘Cuckoo’s Nest’ through the use of the same rhyme, but whereas in ‘Cuckoo’s Nest’ it is used to represent McMurphy’s rebellion, here it is used as a representation of castration.

Similarly, Nurse Ratched creates a threat of castration through the abuse of power in ‘Cuckoo’s Nest’ and emasculates the male patients by hiding her feminine nature as a way of controlling them as a part of the Combine. The Combine is a greater organisation that wishes to have power over society, the mental institute being one of the places under its control, and the way McMurphy rebels against it could link to Kesey’s outlook of power being a bad and corrupting presence, as Kesey himself was involved with the Beat movement in the 1950s, which rebelled against repression on society. A theme of castration is created when a patient named Rawler commits suicide by castrating himself, and the Chief remarks that “all the guy had to do was wait”, suggesting that he felt as though the castration was inevitable anyway and would have been done by Ratched if not himself, similar to the way Durden uses the threat of castration to control men. Critic Catherine Cooper commented on this also: “The men are all dehumanised and even emasculated, a fact which is emphasised by the first of three suicides in the novel, Old Rawler’s death by castration.” I agree with her thoughts, and although Rawler’s suicide could be considered a consequence of Ratched’s abuse of power to emasculate the men, the suicides of Cheswick and Billy could be considered partly as a consequence of McMurphy’s use of power to disrupt the ward, which I will explore later in the essay. Also, similar to how Durden comments on the men being a generation of men raised by women, the male patients in ‘Cuckoo’s Nest’ have often been involved in relationships with overpowering women, for example in the Chief’s case he was raised by his powerful mother who made his father “too little to fight anymore and he gave up”, having an effect on the Chief and his father’s masculinity. Though Tyler Durden begins as a man who restores masculinity to men, he becomes one who also abuses power to create emasculation, similar to Nurse Ratched who abuses her power to emasculate her ward of male patients, both characters using it as a form of control, reflecting Kesey and Palahniuk’s possible views on how power can easily corrupt.

        Although there are characters with power in ‘Fight Club’ and ‘Cuckoo’s Nest’ that are shown to use it for the good of others, they are still shown to abuse it in some ways. As explored earlier, Tyler Durden begins to abuse his power in the creation of Project Mayhem, but the Narrator of ‘Fight Club’ is also guilty of abusing power. Though he uses his power of being Tyler Durden for what he believes is the good of others by trying to stop Project Mayhem, which is unsuccessful, he also abuses power to play tricks on people. He uses his power of being a stranger to go to support groups that he does not belong in and admitting that “I never give my real name at support groups” for his own selfish reasons, betraying the trust of others in the group but not having any major consequences. Through Durden’s influence, he also uses the power he is given by him to manipulate both his boss and Raymond Hessel, though arguably his power is used for good when threatening Hessel to trun his life around in a better direction, telling him to “go back to school.” Similarly, though McMurphy generally uses his power of laughter and rebellion to try and liberate the other patients, he also abuses his power to trick them into gambling and card games for his own selfish reasons to earn money. This, however, in contrast to the Narrator’s actions, has the consequence of causing Nurse Ratched to ration the patients’ cigarettes, which ultimately leads to Cheswick’s suicide when McMurphy does not back him up in hopes of obeying Ratched so he could eventually be released from the institution.

Durden and Ratched could also be described as abusing their power to play tricks on people, as Durden uses his relationship with Marla to get her mother’s fat by sending her “some chocolates and probably some fruitcakes” in return, in order to make soap, abusing his power for his own benefit. Ratched similarly abuses her power when the men are voting to watch the World Series, as despite getting enough votes she claims that “the meeting was closed” and does not allow it, so that she can have her way and maintain her control as a part of the Combine. The way many characters abuse power in at least one instance, therefore, could show how in both novels power is represented by Kesey and Palahniuk as something that can easily corrupt and have disastrous consequences, such as the death of Cheswick.

One of the main consequences of the use and abuse of power in both novels is the death of characters. McMurphy’s use of power in the ward to start gambling with patients ultimately results in the death of Cheswick, because he later refuses to back him up when he is protesting against Ratched who created a ration in retaliation to McMurphy. Critic Stuart Fernie discusses that “McMurphy means and does no great harm”, which I would have to disagree with. Although McMurphy means no harm, by rebelling against Ratched and inspiring other patients, he inadvertently is partly responsible, along with Nurse Ratched who abuses her power in an effort to retain control of the ward and control McMurphy, for the death of Cheswick. McMurphy’s use of power also eventually causes his death at the end of the novel. Similarly, in ‘Fight Club’, Tyler Durden abuses his power in the creation of Project Mayhem. Space Monkeys who die whilst on ‘assignments’ are discovered to be buried in the front garden of the house, and Project Mayhem also results in the death of Big Bob, being a consequence of Durden’s attitude towards the men. The idea of including support groups and the character of Big Bob may also have occurred due to Palahniuk providing transportation for terminally ill people and bringing them to support group meetings in his earlier life. He ceased volunteering upon the death of a patient to whom he had grown attached to, similar to how the Narrator becomes outraged and tries to cancel Project Mayhem once he finds out about Big Bob’s death. Like McMurphy, Durden’s rebellion and use of power ultimately leads to his ‘death’ at the hands of the Narrator, who no longer feels he needs him. Though both McMurphy and Durden die due to the way they used their power, they are shown to have had a lasting effect on others, such as McMurphy’s presence described as still “tromping up and down the halls and laughing”, and the fact that the orderlies at the mental institute at the end of ‘Fight Club’ say that they await Durden’s return, showing how their use and abuse have lasting consequences either by causing death or having an influence on the living.

        In conclusion, both through ‘Fight Club’ and ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’, Chuck Palahniuk and Ken Kesey present the use and abuse of power and their consequences in similar ways, showing how having power is a serious responsibility that is easy to be corrupted by, displayed through the way many characters abuse power and cause the death of characters in both novels. Both Palahniuk and Kesey therefore appear to support the view that power is often a negative force, changing people for the worse, much like the famous quote by Lord Acton in 1887 that “absolute power corrupts absolutely”.

Bibliography

Cooper, Catherine, Modern literature’s depiction of nervous ailments [Online]. Available: http://www.literature-study-online.com/essays/bellow_kesey.html (April 2001).

Ellis, Easton Bret (of Gear magazine), Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk [Online]. Available: http://www.rjgeib.com/thoughts/faulkner/fight-club.html (11th December 2005).

Fernie, Stuart, Reflections on “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” [Online]. Available: http://www.stuartfernie.org/nest.htm (20th May 2011).

Kesey, Ken, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (Penguin Classics 2005).

Palahniuk, Chuck, Fight Club (Vintage 2006).

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