Nurse Ratched In One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

Our society tends to place judgement on a people who are different and reject the norms of society. In the book, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey, the treatment of the patients to become “normal” in the asylum is voluntarily and involuntarily. Some of the patients are in the asylum due to their sexual orientation, having distorted speech and having physical and mental disabilities. The men that are in the ward are afraid to leave because of the judgment from the public or society. Nurse Ratched is powerful and attempts to exert her will over Randle McMurphy and the patients. Nurse Ratched represents an oppressive society that seeks to undermine and control the freedoms of the individual while McMurphy represents a savior who fights to maintain his individuality until he can save the others.
Nurse Ratched runs her ward like a smooth machine. She has absolute control over …show more content…
Nurse Ratched found out that Randal’s power over the patients grew since he was put into Disturbed. Disturbed ward is where the unfixables go; there the patients received electric shock treatment daily and some have already received lobotomies. She decides to bring McMurphy back to the ward so the patients can see he is not as strong as they think he is. Even though, the treatment he receives takes a toll on him, he does not succumb to the pressure of society.
Later on, McMurphy receives a lobotomy because he attacks Nurse Ratched. Randle sacrifices his mind and life so the other patients can regain their individuality. He became a vegetable, someone who is essentially brain dead, after he receives the lobotomy. Essentially, he succeeds in destroying the nurses’ order in the ward and frees some of the patients from the oppressive society. He is able to make a change by not conforming to the wards rules. However, he was not able to withstand the oppression of modern society and was ultimately destroyed by