Kathryn

Journal Entry #1

    The beginning of the novel One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest was quite boring, I found, but as I got a few chapters farther it became more interesting. I thought it was kind of neat and original to write a book about a mental institution, and all the struggles and unique challenges they face.

    One thing that came to my attention was the setting of the novel. Chief Bromden, the main character and narrator of the novel, describes the walls as plain white, along with everything else in the institution, such as the workers suits. "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." I find this adds to the already depressing mood the novel has, making it easier to visualize the scenes.

    Another thing that caught my attention was Nurse Ratched. She's much different than you'd expect an employee at a mental institution to be like. She's a woman of few words, but when she does speak she is strict, not necessarily in tone, but in words. The patients don't really argue with her decisions, even if they don't agree. And she rarely uses physical force to deal with a patient. Instead, she sort of gets into their head and makes them do as she wishes.

    Also, everyone at the institution thinks that Chief Bromden, is 'deaf and dumb,' so they feel more comfortable and open when they are with him, allowing him to have an advantage over the patients and even the workers. He can report what the other patients have told him about their past, or even unknown present, and he would be rewarded with being able to sleep in longer than the other patients.

   McMurphy is an interesting character too, he doesn't seem to be bothered by Nurse Ratched's presence, and he doesn't really care what she says or thinks. I'm guessing he's testing her to see how far he can push the limits before she snaps, and since she is normally quite calm, it would be satisfying for McMurphy to get a reaction from her.





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Journal Entry #2

   The second quarter of the book was much better and more enjoyable to read than the first. There was more conflict and things were starting to speed up a bit, making it more interesting.

   The battle between Nurse Ratched and McMurphy became much more obvious. I find the conflict somewhat amusing and my favorite part of it was when Nurse Ratched told the patients they couldn't watch the game and instructed them to turn off the t.v. than return to their rooms. All patients disagreeingly followed her instructions, except McMurphy. He sat there staring at the blank screen, intrigued, almost as if the t.v. was on and he was actually watching it. The other patients joined him, this drove Nurse Ratched crazy.

   I enjoyed this part because the patients finally stood up to Ratched. I realize that she is most likely so controlling because she is stressed from having to look after all these patients, but some of her decisions and rules are unfair, like not allowing them to watch the game.

   Also, the self-conflict with Chief Bromden starts to show a lot more in the second quarter of the novel. I think he's maybe suicidal. He wants to let go but at the same time his life isn't that bad. His hallucinations don't help him either. He also doesn't really agree with McMurphy and I think he feels a bit of anxiety when McMurphy pushes or stands up to Nurse Ratchet, because he, and some of the other patients, feel safe when Ratched is calm. And by having McMurphy pushing and testing her, she's definitely not calm, and she's more easily agitated.

   Bromden also refers to the institute, and the workers, as a machine quite a lot in the second quarter. He talked about how the world is a machine, and if something (referring to someone) is broken or 'unwell' they are sent somewhere to be fixed, they're sent to an institution.




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10 Discussion Questions: Character

1. Q: Why do you think Chief Bromden acts 'dumb and deaf?'
    A: I think he acts like that because he doesn't really like being social. I think he finds it easier to be in spectator mode then to socialize with the other patients. He's most likely scared that he'll say something while talking to someone that he doesn't want to workers to know. Also, since the other patients are comfortable around him and are more open, I think he enjoys hearing all of their secrets from their past.

2. Q: Why don't the patients ever voice their opinions to Nurse Ratchet?
    A: I think the reason none of the patients voice their opinions is because they are, in a way, scared of Ratched. She has a silent power against all of the patients and they feel that saying something to her might get them into trouble.

3. Q: Instead of just having plain white walls and suits, why don't they use a little color to improve the patient's moods?
    A: Maybe since the patients are at the institution, it is assumed there's something wrong with them, or they've done something wrong, therefor the institute is representing a prison-like appearance and effect. I think that the employees and Nurse Ratchet believe that these people are in a way, 'bad guys.' Not in the sense that they've committed a crime, but that they aren't right in the head, so they should be locked up. And since jails aren't rainbow colored and joyous, neither should the institute.

4. Q: Why does McMurphy challenge Nurse Ratchet so much?
    A: I think that McMurphy has a child-like attitude and personality, causing him to act even more immature than the other patients. This also makes him more competitive and open for challenges. Much like some high-school students would challenge their teachers by tested their limits, McMurphy is challenging 'the boss' to see how far he can go and how much he can get away with.

5. Q: Nurse Ratchet is very strict and hard on the patients, why?
    A: I think that Ratched means well, she just doesn't know what to do exactly. She's in a way, a mother figure I find for the patients. She's the care taker and main worker at the institute. I think she has such a firm and assertive tone because she feels like she's responsible for these patients and how they turn out, and even thought it never directly says it, I get the feeling that she really does care about the patients.

6. Q: Do you think McMurphy meant to help out all of the other patients, or was it just his personality that helped them naturally?
     A: I think that at first, he wasn't trying to have an effect on anyone, but as it got further into the novel, he noticed that the patients reacted to him in a positive way. He used this to his advantage, ex. watching the t.v. even though it wasn't on, just to get on Ratched's nerves. He helped a lot of the characters develop and make a lot of progress.

7. Q: How would you have liked the novel to end?
    A: Personally, I wanted McMurphy to live. I would've liked it more if he hadn't gotten so much shock treatment and turned into a vegetable. It would've been a happier ending to a messed up story if McMurphy and Bromden escaped together.

8. Q: What are some ways that the author developed characterization?
    A: The biggest, most obvious way that the author used characterization was through McMurphy. The beginning of the book was very boring until he came into the picture. The patients all stayed the same, until McMurphy met them. He helped them to come out of their shells, he even managed to get Chief Bromden to talk, which is something he had never done at the ward before.


9. Q: Why do you think the voluntaries stayed at the ward?
    A: I think maybe they stayed because they were afraid of the world outside of the ward. Just leaving the ward for one day to go fishing, they all got judged simply because they weren't society's view of 'normal.' It makes sense to me that they all wanted to stay, it's the only place that they really knew they'd be accepted.

10. Q: Who was your favorite character?
      A: Although McMurphy was entertaining, I really liked Chief Bromden. He seemed so quite and sweet. He never did anything wrong and was just a really nice character. He seemed, to me anyways, like a very likable character.


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Journal Entry #3

    The third quarter of the book was much more alluring than the other two in my opinion. A lot of things happened involving Bromden and McMurphy, and a lot of changes were made.

      McMurphy, despite keeping his cool with Nurse Bromden, went back to protesting rebelling against her. The tub room was taken away and for some reason, this made McMurphy furious. He said he wanted some cigarettes so he got up and walked over to the glass room where Ratched was sitting. He thrusted his hand through the glass window and grabbed a pack of his cigarettes, this left Ratched speechless as McMurphy apologizes and brushed the pieces of glass off of her shoulders. I'm not 100% sure if he actually did really like the tub room, or whether he just wanted an actual reason to stand up to Ratched.

  Also, Chief Bromden spoke for the first time in his ten years at the institution. Bromden's stash of gum was discovered and taken away. McMurphy then offers him a piece of his gum, and Bromden accidentally replies with, "thank you." I think this was a really good part of the novel because it shows how much the patients are changing and improving. Bromden used to never socialize, and he definitely would never talk, but now he hangs around McMurphy and some of the other patients, and even though he didn't mean to, he spoke.

   I'm really glad that Bromden finally spoke, because if he didn't than he would've never been invited on the fishing trip that McMurphy arranged for himself and some other patients. This was the first time Bromden had left the ward in about 10 years. He was captivated by the fact that everything had changed. He says that the combine, the houses, and even the children had changed. Although there was conflict with the captain of the boat at first, McMurphy managed to get everyone aboard anyways.

   While they were fishing, they all seemed to be having a really great time. McMurphy definitely has a positive effect on the patients, I think they all feel comfortable around him. He treats them all equally, and accepts everyone no matter what. Even though Nurse Ratched will most likely expand McMuphy's time at the institute, I think other people's time will be lessened, since they are all improving significantly.

Just curious what you guys think, do you think that it's going to be a typical happy ending where McMurphy and Nurse Ratched end up agreeing to disagree and settling their differences, or is the ending going to be different where maybe Ratched once and for all over-powers McMurphy, meaning she won the 'battle' or 'conflict?'

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Journal Entry #4

   The last quarter of the book was definitely the most interesting and eventful, I find more happened in this quarter than any of the others put together. It wasn't what I expected and wasn't at all predictable.

   Billy sleeps with Candy, the prostitute that McMurphy was friends with. Nurse Ratchet discovers this and takes Billy to a separate room and tells him she's going to tell his mother that he slept with Candy. When Ratchet returns, she finds that Billy has committed suicide by cutting his throat. I think he did this because he might have had a bad history with his mom, and was maybe even scared of her.

   McMurphy ignored his chance to escape from an open window, and instead choked Nurse Ratchet. Ratchet survived McMurphy's attack, but I wouldn't exactly same the same for McMurphy.

   Chief Bromden sees that McMurphy is back and goes over to him. He tells McMurphy that this is their chance to escape. Then he realizes that McMurphy isn't exactly there, he's just staring off into the distance. Bromden decides that this is no way that McMurphy should live, after all that he did for the people of the institute. McMurphy gives him a hug before saying, "I'm not going to let you live like this." Then, Bromden smothers him to death with a pillow. To me it seems like Bromden did this to sort of repay McMuphy for what he did. He helped everyone, including Bromden, to come out of their shells and to make progress in their recoveries.

   Chief Bromden then goes into the tub room, picks up the Hydro-Therapy sink, then throws it through a window. He starts running from the institute as the other patients are cheering for him.

   I think that this is where the title One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, comes into play. I think maybe the institute is representing the 'cuckoo's nest,' and Bromden was the one who flew over the cuckoo's nest, as in he escaped it, he got over it.

  All in all it was a decent book, I wouldn't read it again but only because it's not really the type of book I usually like. Plus I don't really read books voluntarily. Although it was very well written and it had a good story.

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Response To Novel Review:

  David Skinner, an author, wrote a book review on One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. I don't completely agree with his opinion, and I found his review a little hard to fully understand.

   He says, "the central conflict of the story is beautifully simple. On one side is a bad guy, Nurse Ratched, who wants to control her ward as much as any comic-book villain ever wanted to rule the world." I don't really agree with this because I don't see Ratched as villain. My personal opinion of her was very different actually. I saw her as more of a caring person, she just didn't really know how to show it. I think she meant well in the things that she did, like getting patients to tell on each other's past. Maybe she did this so she can learn more about the patients and see things from their eyes a little more. I don't think using the word 'villain' was necessary nor do I think she's anything close to a villain.

  In my opinion, his review was too thought out. What I mean by that is he thought about it too hard, and thought to himself ridiculous questions about the novel, which gave him equally ridiculous answers, jumping to conclusions. I also think his review used interesting english, personally it was very hard to interpret, I think he tried too hard to make it sound like a sophisticated, professional review.

   Although, even if I don't agree with his opinion, he's entitled to it just as much as anyone else is.