Authority In One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

Another similarity between the two protagonists is their attitude towards authority. They both resent conformity and rebel; they do not want to live a submissive life. In One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Nurse Ratched is a strict authoritarian woman who passive-aggressively employs subtle humiliation, unpleasant medical treatments and a mind-numbing daily routine to suppress the patients and keep them submissive. She mentions the patients’ personal problems in front of all of the other patients and embarrasses them. McMurphy finds that they are actually more fearful of Nurse Ratched and her methods than they are focused on their main goal of eventually becoming functional in the outside world. In order to help them achieve this (as he believes), …show more content…
When McMurphy sees Billy, he is so distraught and enraged at Nurse Ratched for driving Billy to suicide that he attacks her and nearly strangles her to death before an orderly, Washington, knocks him out (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest). The film, Dead Poets Society contains an antagonist that is just as horrible, Headmaster Gale Nolan. He is the one who has control and authority and tries to keep it. He uses corporal punishment to gain and keep control over the academy. He also uses the same technique of Nurse Ratchid, where if you take a man’s ego away they will have no pride left and therefore obey everything you say. He embarrasses the students and makes them feel horrible for the little acting out that they do. The administration at the school, precisely Mr. Nolan, feels threatened by Mr. Keating because of the way he teaches and the things he is putting into the students’ heads. The students find out about the unsanctioned Dead Poets Society Mr. Keating was a part of when he went to the school and they recreate it. They sneak off into a cave off campus and read poetry (Dead Poets Society). When Neil’s father found out about his involvement in the play, he tries to force him to