“The flock gets sight of a spot of blood on some chicken and they all go to peckin’ at it, see, till they rip the chicken to shreds, blood and bones and feathers. But usually a couple of the flock gets spotted in the facacs, then it’s their turn. And a few more get spots and gets pecked to death, and more and more. Oh, a peckin’ party can wipe out the whole flock in a matter of a few hours, buddy, I seen it. A mighty awesome sight. The only way to prevent it, with chicken, is to clip binders on them. So’s they can’t see”
MacMurphy gives this explanation to Harding and the other patients in Part 1 after his first group meeting. The entire group had been tearing into Harding, adhering to Doctor Spivey’s theory of the ‘Therapeutic Community,’ where the patients are encouraged to bring ‘old sins out into the open’. Afterwards, McMurphy tells the other patients that they were ‘like a bunch of chickens at a peckin’ party,’ attacking the weakest one with such blind fury that they all put themselves in danger.
McMurphy is immediately shocked by the behavior of the patients and the staff. It is clear to him that Nurse Ratchard maintains her power through such strategies as divide and conquer. He points out that she “pecks the first peck”, or points out the first weakness, and then just sits back and watches as the patients start to attack each other.
McMurphy tries to lift the control panel, which is clearly too big for him. He makes an attempt and as he does, his arms swell up from the effort. Which in a way is saying the bigger you are the more powerful you are. No single patient had the courage to stand up against the injustices to which they were subjected. McMurphy gave them collective power and a sense that they could resist their prosecutor.
Big Nurse controls the patients entirely. Her control over the men is so well done that she can get the men to belittle themselves by silence. She runs group meetings, which are like torture sessions. The men a broken down by the constant questioning of their peers. Everyone does what she wants most of the time, because they are too afraid of her not to comply.
McMurphy questions the other patients, particularly Harding, about why they accept Nurse Ratchard power over them, and bets the entire ward that within a week he can force Big Nurse to lose control without gaining control over him.
Whether insane or not, the hospital is undeniably in control of the fates of its patients.
Although McMurphy’s power over Nurse Ratchard eventually ends, his sacrifice serves as an inspiration for the Chief. Chief takes pity on McMurphy after he has been lobotomized and kills him. Chief then leaves the institution to take control of his own destiny.
What is sane, and what is insane? Is sanity necessary to conform with society and its norms? This is the most persuasive theme of the book. Mental patients (the insane) do not conform to our ideal norm society.
The Nurse has complete control and power over the patients and the orderlies, however, none of them stand up to her, because they do not want to step out of their comfort zone (the way the ward is run, with Nurse Ratchard’s controlling rules). The patients and the orderlies need to conform to the mini society of the ward; they need to follow the rules because this gives structure and security to their lives. Bromden sees that Big Nurse has designed a ward to churn out people who conform with society.
The main action of One Flew over the Cuckoo’s nest consists of McMurphy’s struggle against the strict rules of Nurse Ratchard. The book portrayals the individuals struggle against a conformity society. From the novel it can be emphasized that conformity is a means of upholding law and order.
Victims
When we first meet the men on Nurse Ratchard’s ward, they have come to see themselves as victims. The men feel themselves to be helpless, weak, and above all vulnerable. The men arte feeling this way because they let Nurse Ratchard victimize them.
At the beginning of the book it is clear how victimized the patients are by Big Nurse. A state so intense that even the voluntarily committed men can not release themselves from it. The mental patients need security just as we all do, and this has lead, in the book, to them being victimized and treated as less than human. The patients are in a very vulnerable position- they were not always strong enough to stand up for themselves and demand reasonable treatment.
The ward hums along on the beams of fear and hatred. The black boys are clearly serving the combine in order for revenge of their white oppressors. In the novel the black men are villains because society has victimized them. They are victims of society.
Freedom
After McMurphy leads the revolt over the baseball World Series, Chief notes that “there’s no more fog any place”, implying that McMurphy is actually helping to bring sanity to the ward. In other word he is bringing freedom to the other patients.
The story is about Chief Bromden’s journey from his insanity to sanity. McMurphy helps Chief Bromden find sanity through helping him find his freedom. The novel ends with a climax, Chief Bromden killing McMurphy and escaping from the controlling and powerful environment of Nurse Ratchard’s ward. He is free from being controlled and is able to lead a life outside the institution.
“One flew east, one flew west, one flew over the cuckoo’s nest….goose swoops down and plucks you out”. This is a children’s song chanted by Chief Bromden’s grandmother. McMurphy is the goose who swooped down and plucked the chicks out of the nest- the patients out of a psychiatric ward.
Mental Illness
The attitude of Nurse Ratchard towards the patients reflects the attitudes of people in society towards mental illness.
Most people have very little idea of the life within a mental institution. They do not realize that ‘patients’ have the same issues as so called ‘normal’ people compounded by the problems that metal illness causes.
