Analysis of "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" using a Freudian Perspective

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IBSL ENG

September 17, 2010

Nurse, McMurphy, and Chief Bromden

In the Cuckoo’s Nest, there are three main characters which symbolize the three aspects of a Freudian perspective: the super ego, the ego, and the id.

The Super Ego is represented by the big Nurse Ratched; the one who sets the social morals for the mental patients and decides between right and wrong. As she imposes the ward rules/ policies among her patients, Nurse Ratched is portrayed as the model (Ego Ideal), and the golden rule that everyone has to obey. “It’s ward policy, Mr.McMurphy, that’s the reason.” Her policies are not to be questioned. Also, she has so much power that it affects the Ego and Id, especially in trying to repress the id. “in the Nurses station I can see the white hands of the big nurse float over the controls.. (155) Without the Nurse, there wouldn’t be a story because there would be no drama or force to make McMurphy a tragic hero, and would not cause the events which happened as a battle between the superego and the id, while the ego stood as a median.

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The Ego corresponds to the role of Chief Bromden in the story because of his “act” in being deaf. By pretending he is deaf and dumb, he puts himself in the position of the middle man; the “Mediator” between the ward employees and the patients (because he withholds secrets from both sides). “ Against the wall of the tub room I get a feeling like a spy; the mop handle in my hands is made of metal instead of wood.. (106)  He is also the tie breaker: “Twenty-one! The Chief’s vote makes it twenty-one!”  Being the “deaf” mediator, he ...

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