Jordan

Journal Entry #1

During the first quarter of One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, I've developed some ideas about Nurse Ratched and the narrator, Chief Bromden. I’m going to share these with you, and let me know your thoughts in the comment section below.

One thing I've noticed is that Nurse Ratched rarely uses physical force to control patients. Instead, she uses manipulation to imprison them in their own minds. In the story, we rarely hear of patients acting up or defying her laws. She uses unchanging routines, and near-pointless rules (such as locking up toothpaste) to make a display of her power over the patients.

Another thing that ties in with this is the atmosphere of the mental institution. As described by Chief Bromden, the walls of the institution, as well as the uniforms of staff, are both a plain shade of white. “The walls are white as the white suits, polished clean as a refrigerator door, and the black face and hands seem to float against it like a ghost,” (pg. 12). This adds to the dreary, blank imagery when picturing the asylum. Perhaps this is another method of diminishing any happiness or positive feelings that may take away from the effectiveness of Ratched’s tyranny.

Chief Bromden is, in my opinion, the most interesting character.  While we hear almost nothing about him, we catch glimpses of his previous life, as well as how he sees the world around him. He is clearly an intellectual through his use of advanced language. However, his world view is warped, and it is likely that he is delusional. For example, “She’s swelling up, swells till her back’s splitting out the white uniform and she’s let her arms section out long enough to wrap around the three of them five, six times,”(pg. 7). He collects information from other patients by pretending to be deaf and dumb, a tactic that makes the others feel he isn't a threat if he overhears their conversations. This makes him a good candidate for the narrator of the novel, since he plays the role of an observer.

Here is some food for thought. What do you think is the cause and/or motive behind Nurse Ratched’s controlling behavior  Does this perhaps come from issues in her life? Secondly, do you think there is a good reason for Bromden to go to such lengths to collect as much information as he does? I’m interested to hear your responses.

~ Jordan

Journal Entry #2

          The second quarter of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest focuses more on the psychological battle between Miss Ratched and McMurphy. There are also some parts (Bromden's hallucinations) that are making me hint at a metaphorical meaning behind them. Let me know what you think in the comment section.

     

           To begin, I have the feeling that McMurphy is really starting to get to Nurse Ratched. She went from being the undisputed authoritarian of the ward to being constantly challenged by him. Personally, my favorite moment was when the ward patients sat and watched a blank screen after she turned off their sports game. Aside from the comic relief, I feel like one of them is going to reach a breaking point soon. It reminds me of the saying, "this town ain't big enough for the both of us." And the psychiatric hospital most definitely isn't big enough for both McMurphy and Ratched. If I'm right, and one of these two is going to snap, it's going to end in either:

            1. Miss Ratched finally throws away her calm and collected demeanor, and has an angry outburst. This would likely lead to her dismissal as Head Nurse.

            2. She sends McMurphy to the Disturbed Ward, or maybe even subjects him to one of the 'treatments' at the hospital (shock treatment or brain surgery).

            Next, I think I'm starting to understand an underlying concept of the story through Bromden's hallucinations. He describes the world as a machine, and parts that are broken are sent to the ward to be fixed. Maybe this could be metaphorical for the strict standards of society, and how those who don't fit in are cast out as outsiders. Seeing how the author wrote this book in 1962, this probably ties in with the abundant racism around that time. As the book continues, I'll likely develop more ideas as to possible themes of the story.

          All in all, the story is really building up momentum. Here's some food for thought. First, do you think the first or second possibility (as stated in the second paragraph) is more likely to happen? Why? Finally, do you think there are metaphorical meanings behind any other things in the story? Explain.

     ~ Jordan

Journal Entry #3

        This quarter of the book has been the most interesting so far. We can see both McMurphy and Bromden change as characters. The book is starting to wrap up, so I can make a few guesses about the conclusion.

       In this section of the book, Bromden is starting to come out of his shell. For example, he spoke for the first time to McMurphy, and even went on the fishing trip. I think he's starting to care less about whether or not people think he's deaf. This could possibly be foreshadowing to a later part in the book where he stands up and voices his opinion against Miss Ratched.

       At the beginning of part three, McMurphy suddenly stopped antagonizing Miss Ratched. Turns out, he only stopped because he found out she could keep him there indefinitely. I think he began opposing her again because he realized that somebody needs to stand up to her. I think this is good for the rest of the patients, but will end badly for McMurphy. When he was in the Disturbed Ward with the other patients, and they were talking about shock treatment with him, I think this was foreshadowing of the outcome of the book.

       I think Miss Ratched is starting to realize that McMurphy isn't going to break no matter what she throws at him. She's probably letting him have his way for now, seeing as how the little things she does don't sway him. This could be why she let them go on a fishing trip. I guess all there is to do now is wait to see how Nurse Ratched deals with McMurphy, and if/how Bromden has anything to do with this.

       Do you think Bromden is going to have any major part in the ending of the story? Based on the book so far, do you think it will have a happy or sad ending? Let me know what you think in the comments.

     ~ Jordan

Journal Entry #4

       The conclusion of the book has definitely been a plot twist. To me, the most memorable parts were McMurphy being killed by Bromden, Billy's suicide, and Bromden's escape from the institution. I'll share my thoughts on these, and let me know what you think in the comment section.

       When McMurphy got back from his final lobotomy, he was a vegetable. He was an empty shell of a person for Nurse Ratched to keep almost as a trophy. However, Bromden decided to strangle McMurphy so that he wouldn't have to live like that. I agree with this, because it wasn't really Bromden who killed him. He was already pretty much dead on the inside. I personally think it was an act of gratitude, seeing as McMurphy helped him get his self-confidence back and allowed him to escape. He granted Bromden the chance to a much better life than he currently has, so he repaid him by preventing McMurphy's life from being miserable.

       Billy Bibbit's suicide was a huge surprise for me. The reason for this is that Nurse Ratched threatened to tell his mother that he slept with Candy. At first I thought this was a huge overreaction, but then I realized that Billy has major anxiety issues. He probably also has a rough history with his mother, because why else would he be so afraid and ashamed of her knowing that? What made me angry was that Nurse blamed his suicide on McMurphy when it was her fault. I'm not surprised, though, it seems she'd do just about anything to regain control over her patients.

       I think Bromden was always capable of escaping the institution. But, like most of the other patients there, he didn't exactly want to leave. That was the only place he felt comfortable. Throughout the book, there is a continuous increase in his self-confidence. McMurphy teaches him how to have be independent and think for himself. Even though Bromden believes so strongly that the Combine can't be opposed, he himself proved that it can by regaining his confidence and becoming a functioning member of society. Even though he was delusional, he was arguably the sanest character in the book.

      I didn't expect the book to be that good. It definitely gave me some insight on the inner workings of society and peoples' minds. Question time! Did you enjoy the ending, or are there a few things you would have like to have happened differently? Is it reasonable to say that McMurphy and Bromden swapped personalities by the end of the book? And finally, which character or incident in the book can you relate to the most? I'm interested to hear your ideas.

       ~ Jordan
     

Theme Questions and Answers

Q: What are some major themes we can get from the book?

A: Society’s destruction of human impulses, the definition of insanity, the power laughter has in bad situations, the silence of minorities (blacks, homosexuals, Natives), the negatives of sexual oppression, and importance of self-sacrifice, among others.

Q: What do you think the novel was trying to say about society and how people think?

A: I think the author used the Combine explanation to describe our want and need to fit in with the crowd. Society being described as a machine gives effective imagery of a cold and calculating system. Also, machinery describes an almost automated response of prejudice against those who are different.

Q: In the novel, what could the title One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest symbolize?

A: I think this symbolizes McMurphy becoming insane at the end of the book, hence, ‘flying over the cuckoo’s nest.’ The title comes from a nursery rhyme that Bromden recites in the book after being given shock treatment.

Q: Give some real-life examples of power abuse similar to Nurse Ratched’s.

A: Many leaders of totalitarian countries exhibit the same type of tyrannical and controlling behavior she does. (North Korea, Cuba, Germany during WWII).

Q: What parts of the story have elements of sexism?

A:  The women in the book are portrayed as one of two types. One is cold and controlling, like Nurse Ratched and the other nurses. The others are dumb, pretty, and easily manipulated by the men around them. I think this represents the stereotypes of women from the perspective of white men around the time the book was written.

Q: Was McMurphy’s sacrifice in vain? Do you think he made a difference?

A: I think it was people like McMurphy who eventually brought attention to the unfair treatment of mental patients, and helped evolve asylums into what they are today. As we know, he also (perhaps) permanently took away Miss Ratched's control over the remaining patients.

Q: In what ways has society changed since the author wrote this book?

A: Our society has begun to be more accepting of people from all minorities, in this country at least. We see this through a shortage of discrimination on gender, race and sexuality.

Q: If you were Bromden, how would you describe the ending of the book in regards to the Combine?

A: I think I would describe it as one man not being able to break the machine. However, if his defiance catches on and there are enough people to oppose it, its structure will crumble and the harshness of it will come to an end. This is similar to what happened in our society.

Q: Which characters or events could be metaphorical for something in the ‘machine?’

A: If we assume the world is the Combine, then some characters in OFOTCN are specific parts of the machine. Nurse Ratched would represent a high, tyrannical authority that runs the machine with others. McMurphy would be something like a broken gear: not very significant, but in the end can do a lot of damage. The black boys would be parts that ensure the Combine isn't challenged or defied.

Q: What social issues at the time could have influenced Kesey to write the book?

A: The white male superiority lingering around the 1960s, and the oppression of minorities. This time period represented a period of social and cultural change for America (civil rights movements, women’s rights movements).

Response to Book Review

     David Skinner, an author, wrote a book review on One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. I found some of his ideas quite different from mine, and I had mixed feelings about his review.

       

       To begin, he describes Bromden as a cliche, hippie-like character. I don't really see how this is true. Being an individual who has been treated badly by government since he was a child, it is reasonable to understand Bromden's dislike of authority figures. David describes him as a 'suspicious hippie.' Bromden doesn't fit this in my opinion. He is a mistreated, delusional man who analyzes what he is given to the best of his ability. It's not exactly his fault that all his experiences with powerful people have been bad. There is some truth to David's statements, but I think he could have put it in a much more accurate way.

       Secondly, David said that chief has 'occasional lapses into authorial omniscience' because the detailed memory of one of the black boy's mothers being raped when he was a child. Personally, I don't think Kesey meant this in a literal sense. When Bromden saw how hateful the black boy was, I think he realized that this hatred must have had a source. Because of this, he saw the flashback of a traumatic thing happening to the black boy as a child. It's unlikely that everything chief described actually happened, but the point Kesey was trying to make was that bad people usually have been hurt in the past. This hurt causes them to be so hateful. So no, this wasn't actually a lapse into omniscience.

       These two things were the 'flaws' David pointed out in the story. I don't think of them as flaws, but rather things that make Kesey's writing style more unique. I pretty much agreed with everything else he said about the book, since he talked mostly about the conflict. I don't necessarily think David was right about those two things, but I suppose it's all a matter of opinion.

       ~ Jordan