One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest

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One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest

One of the first important factors in this novel would have to be the title, it originates from a children’s rhyme; “One flew east, one flew west, one flew over the cuckoos nest”. In the rhyme, it goes on to say; “goose swoops down and plucks you out”, the symbolic title helps to give us the impression that McMurphy attempts to “swoop down” and “pluck” out the patients of the psychiatric ward. But he is faced by a nurse, appropriately described as “as big as a tractor”, an excellent simile to emphasise the power of Nurse Ratched. Ken Kesey, the author of “One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest”, describes the nurse’s appearance by saying that she has “skin like flesh-coloured enamel”, yet another simile demonstrating her non-human appearance.

Randle McMurphy - a loud, dirty and confident man. His free  stuns the other patients, who have changed in their time in the institute and therefore do not show their emotions as ‘normal humans’ or sane people do. Throughout the entire moment of his introduction, not a single voice rises to meet that of McMurphy;                                 “What happened, you see, was I got a couple of hassles at the work farm…”, he stats a conversion without even waiting for someone to ask him why he is at the institute, he does not give anyone the chance go speak unless he speaks to them.

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McMurphy’s uniqueness as a sane man in the novel clashes with the oppressed ward, which is controlled by Nurse Ratched. Through Chief Bromden’s narration, we manage to establish that McMurphy is not, in fact, ‘unhinged’, but rather that he is trying to manipulate the system to his advantage. He believes that doing his six month service in the hospital is far better than the hard work at Pendleton Work Farm, this mere fact haunts McMurphy later when he discovers the power Nurse Ratched wields over him - that she can send him for electric shock treatments and keep him committed ...

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