Nurse Ratched Analysis

Nurse Ratched proves her authority by publicly emasculating Harding and Billy Bibbit by using their private information against them during group therapy sessions and belittling them in front of the other patients. Nurse Ratched is aware of the fact that she controls the power during the group “therapy” sessions, and she uses this time to exercise her dominance. During one of the sessions, she chooses to address Dale Harding and his troubles with his wife. He has been admitted into the hospital due to his feelings of inferiority and she uses this information against him in order to belittle him and make him feel weak: “‘He had stated that his wife was extremely well endowed in the bosom and that this made him uneasy because she drew stares …show more content…
The nurse is almost exposing Harding by saying that this was a direct confession from the man himself. She repeats this phrase later because it gives her words more weight, by saying that Harding said this himself, she is saying that her words are true and not a lie she made up. She is extracting herself from the situation so that all of the focus and criticism is on Harding. This traps Harding in an uncomfortable situation because he cannot remove any blame off of himself, due to him being the source. Nurse Ratched uses specific language further discredit Harding’s insecurity, she refers to his wife as being “extremely well endowed.” She delivers this statement as an almost compliment despite his wife’s bosom being the reason why he is so troubled. It almost seems as if she is poking fun at him for being so affected over such a trivial thing. Alongside this, Nurse Ratched also says that Harding is bothered by the fact that his wife “drew stares from men on the street,” she seems to belittle his problems in front of the patients which hurts his self