Throughout history, conflicts arise over various issues. Some of which include power and status. Whether it be people abusing, manipulating, or gaining power there are always darker alternative motives. In this case, a prime example of power being used unjustly can be found in Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Where society is based on the oppressor, the Combine consistently keeps the people restrained, resulting in conflict among the two. Chief Bromden’s schizophrenic episodes involve the Combine, which symbolizes the machine-like nature of society trying to make everyone conform. According to Chief, “The ward is a factory for the Combine” (Kesey 40), the containment of the damaged parts, which are to be repaired and sent back
…show more content…
The Nurse is described to carry herself with much poise; from her stance and wrinkle free, crisp white garment which is almost “machine” like if you will. This explains why she feels little to no remorse over her actions towards the patients, and when expressing feelings of compassion, there seems to still be a lack of genuine sympathy. This raining true when Billy is caught hooking up with a prostitute and has to face the consequences of Nurse Ratched. The Nurse says, “Poor boy, poor little boy” (316), while she remains calm when intruding on him and speaks to the thirty-year-old man as if he were a child. This could be an expression of sarcasm, which defends her lack of compassion and her machine-like way of functioning, never falling short of prim and proper. Nurse Ratched’s demeaning of her patients gives her a sense of power over them and allows her to keep her status as being the human face of the Combine inside the …show more content…
The patients are not allowed open access to television, gum, and cigarettes. Harding’s wife asks for a cigarette, but he says, “We’ve been rationed” (184). The patients realize they are being restricted from the smallest, insignificant items that have no rational reason to be prohibited from but continue to not defend themselves. The patients allow her to do so because as Harding states, “This world… belongs to the strong my friend! The ritual of our existence is based on the strong getting stronger by devouring the weak” (64). Harding is defending the hospital’s system and an even grander retrospect to society as a whole. He himself admits to being one of the weaker mind or status, thus granting the Nurse power to “devour” him and whoever else is considered “weak.” Similar to Darwinism in that the strong stay strong by devouring the weak, survival of the fittest, whether the tactics to withhold power are just or not: It’s accepted. McMurphy symbolizes the individual, because he argues with Harding that they should rebel against authority for their freedom. McMurphy says, “She can’t have you whipped. She can’t burn you with hot irons.” (68). In conclusion, McMurphy is resisting to conform to the Combine’s system setting an example for the rest of the patients, which will result in a struggle for power between the
The Nurse is described to carry herself with much poise; from her stance and wrinkle free, crisp white garment which is almost “machine” like if you will. This explains why she feels little to no remorse over her actions towards the patients, and when expressing feelings of compassion, there seems to still be a lack of genuine sympathy. This raining true when Billy is caught hooking up with a prostitute and has to face the consequences of Nurse Ratched. The Nurse says, “Poor boy, poor little boy” (316), while she remains calm when intruding on him and speaks to the thirty-year-old man as if he were a child. This could be an expression of sarcasm, which defends her lack of compassion and her machine-like way of functioning, never falling short of prim and proper. Nurse Ratched’s demeaning of her patients gives her a sense of power over them and allows her to keep her status as being the human face of the Combine inside the …show more content…
The patients are not allowed open access to television, gum, and cigarettes. Harding’s wife asks for a cigarette, but he says, “We’ve been rationed” (184). The patients realize they are being restricted from the smallest, insignificant items that have no rational reason to be prohibited from but continue to not defend themselves. The patients allow her to do so because as Harding states, “This world… belongs to the strong my friend! The ritual of our existence is based on the strong getting stronger by devouring the weak” (64). Harding is defending the hospital’s system and an even grander retrospect to society as a whole. He himself admits to being one of the weaker mind or status, thus granting the Nurse power to “devour” him and whoever else is considered “weak.” Similar to Darwinism in that the strong stay strong by devouring the weak, survival of the fittest, whether the tactics to withhold power are just or not: It’s accepted. McMurphy symbolizes the individual, because he argues with Harding that they should rebel against authority for their freedom. McMurphy says, “She can’t have you whipped. She can’t burn you with hot irons.” (68). In conclusion, McMurphy is resisting to conform to the Combine’s system setting an example for the rest of the patients, which will result in a struggle for power between the