Not Your Typical Story As humans, we are often very stubborn to accept and understand the lives and thoughts of other people. We cannot truly comprehend the lives of other people until we are able to fully experience what they feel. It is for this reason that Ken Kesey’s novel One Who Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is so enticing. The story reveals the life of Randle McMurphy, a deeply flawed man who faked mental illness in order to avoid laboring in a work camp for his crimes. As a result, he is sent to live in a psychiatric hospital among short and long-term mental patients to serve his sentence. During his time there, he spends his days undermining the authority of Nurse Ratched, the head nurse of the hospital who abuses her power to control
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Often times, people often see mental patients as completely incapable animals who have lost their humanity. However, in the novel, while many of the patients are deeply flawed, readers can see that these patients are as human as any “normal person”. All of these patients have emotions and dreams and deserve to be treated with respect. One of the details that stood out to me was during a conversation between Mcmurphy and Harding, a mental patient of the hospital. During their dialogue, Harding states that he “‘Was born a rabbit. Just look at me. I simply need the nurse to make me happy with my role’”(57). Harding’s comparison to rabbits reveals that he feels he has no power or will to lead his life. He is seeking to be happy but the social stigma around him pushed him to believe that he no longer has the ability to seek out his wishes. This negative social image is demonstrated when Mcmurphy brought his fellow patients out to a fishing trip. When bystanders realized that Mcmurphy’s companions came from an asylum, these people immediately assumed the mental patients to be violent and incapable beings even though they did nothing wrong. It is because that Mcmurphy does not care for social ideals that both he and the reader can truly see that all of the patients have the same basic drive to feel fulfilled and content like everyone else. It is this different perspective …show more content…
In the story, the character who changed the most was Chief Bromden, the narrator of the novel. While he started out a timid and fearful chronic mental patient, he slowly regained confidence until he returned back into society. Throughout the majority of the novel, Chief often talks about hiding in the “fog”, which is, in reality, a state of mind that Chief is in that makes him fearful and docile. However, after spending a significant amount of time with Mcmurphy, he describes how, “This time I came fighting out of it[The Fog] in less than a day, less time than ever”(289). Rather than succumbing to fear, Chief had learned to confront his fears and regain his confidence once again. He longer allowed himself to be manipulated by others, especially Nurse Ratched. Like Chief, many others followed suit. Harding mentioned how his friends are, “‘No more rabbits, Mack. Maybe they can be well men someday”’(307). While most stories usually revolve around the main character learning and developing over time, this novel follows a different path. Mcmurphy never really changes in the novel, but his actions cause everyone around him to mature and develop. It is this different style of storytelling that makes this novel distinctive and more appealing to more typical stories. Reading about all of these characters gives the
Often times, people often see mental patients as completely incapable animals who have lost their humanity. However, in the novel, while many of the patients are deeply flawed, readers can see that these patients are as human as any “normal person”. All of these patients have emotions and dreams and deserve to be treated with respect. One of the details that stood out to me was during a conversation between Mcmurphy and Harding, a mental patient of the hospital. During their dialogue, Harding states that he “‘Was born a rabbit. Just look at me. I simply need the nurse to make me happy with my role’”(57). Harding’s comparison to rabbits reveals that he feels he has no power or will to lead his life. He is seeking to be happy but the social stigma around him pushed him to believe that he no longer has the ability to seek out his wishes. This negative social image is demonstrated when Mcmurphy brought his fellow patients out to a fishing trip. When bystanders realized that Mcmurphy’s companions came from an asylum, these people immediately assumed the mental patients to be violent and incapable beings even though they did nothing wrong. It is because that Mcmurphy does not care for social ideals that both he and the reader can truly see that all of the patients have the same basic drive to feel fulfilled and content like everyone else. It is this different perspective …show more content…
In the story, the character who changed the most was Chief Bromden, the narrator of the novel. While he started out a timid and fearful chronic mental patient, he slowly regained confidence until he returned back into society. Throughout the majority of the novel, Chief often talks about hiding in the “fog”, which is, in reality, a state of mind that Chief is in that makes him fearful and docile. However, after spending a significant amount of time with Mcmurphy, he describes how, “This time I came fighting out of it[The Fog] in less than a day, less time than ever”(289). Rather than succumbing to fear, Chief had learned to confront his fears and regain his confidence once again. He longer allowed himself to be manipulated by others, especially Nurse Ratched. Like Chief, many others followed suit. Harding mentioned how his friends are, “‘No more rabbits, Mack. Maybe they can be well men someday”’(307). While most stories usually revolve around the main character learning and developing over time, this novel follows a different path. Mcmurphy never really changes in the novel, but his actions cause everyone around him to mature and develop. It is this different style of storytelling that makes this novel distinctive and more appealing to more typical stories. Reading about all of these characters gives the