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One Flew Over Cuckoos Nest

Updated December 3, 2019
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One Flew Over Cuckoos Nest essay

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.. k and now William Bibbit! I hope youre satisfied. Playing with human lives gambling with human lives as if you thought yourself to be a God! P. 266 Again, McMurphy is thought of as being a heavenly figure like Christ.

However, in this quote, the Nurse says it in a bad tone. She makes him out to be more like the devil in that his rebellious acts in order to make the patients happier ended up killing two of the patients. Also in this quote, the nurse attempts to make McMurphy feel remorse for those that had supposedly died because of his actions. Overall, the Nurse believes that McMurphy was nave in that he mainly rebelled for his own interest rather than thinking about how his actions would effect the others. As I think about it now, you’ve had more than your share of victories, P.

The above quote is said by Nurse Ratched who views McMurphy as a dishonest trickster. For a while, the Nurse’s approach works, as many of the patients on the ward are convinced that McMurphy was acting solely on the basis of greed. However, I believe there is more to his actions. Far from perfect, McMurphy does act out of greed on multiple occasions, however it doesn’t seem to be his only motivation. McMurphy fights the Nurse not only for himself, but for the other patients to benefit as well.

In the end, McMurphy sacrifices his life in order to make the other patients happy and comfortable with their conditions. 4. What does the author say about the character, speaking as the storyteller or observer? Use three quotes. Give an explanation of each one.

His relaxed, good-natured voice dolled out his life for us to live, a rollicking pastfor all of us to dream ourselves into, p. 218 After coming back from the boat trip, the Chief realizes the importance of McMurphys actions in doing what he has done. The Chief says that McMurphy wanted the others to experience life and know what it is like to enjoy it. His sacrificing of his life made McMurphy a hero and one to be remembered. In a sense, he gave the other patients life because he was able to show them how to live by doing other things besides playing cards. Even when he is not laughing, that laughing sound hovers around him, it’s in his eyes, in the way he smiles and swaggers, in the way he talks.

P. 11 The Chief notices that there is more to McMurphy. He realizes his humor and believes that McMurphy is enjoying life even if he has to spend it in the mental hospital. McMurphy also had an interest in the Chief despite what other people said about him. Thus, the chief respected McMurphy for trying to help him rather than being influenced by the others.

I don’t hear him slide scared along the wall, when they tell him about the shower, he tells them right back in a loud brassy voice that he’s already plenty damn clean, thank you. P. 10 One of the major characteristics of McMurphy is his independence and rebellious attitude. He did not take authority very well and it showed throughout the novel.

He did not respect the authority either because several times he talked back and even fought the workers at the mental hospital, including Nurse Ratched. In the quote above, the Chiefs first perspective about McMurphy is accurate and he sees this characteristic through his time at the hospital. Although the Chief and the others respected McMurphy for standing up to his own rights and privileges. 5. How did the setting of this story ad to the plot and overall tone of the story? Use three samples of description and discuss what action took place there.

Shes got the fog machine switched onand the more I think about how nothing can be helped, the faster the fog rolls in, P. 101 In the novel, the author, Ken Kesey builds such an effective tone that the shifts in the attitudes of the characters can be easily detected. In the first half of the novel, Kesey shows the oppression that makes the reader feel as if they themselves are going insane. The fog mentioned above is not literally there, but instead appears when Kesey wants to create an atmosphere that is disparaging. By doing so, the plot was enhanced in that the craziness of the hospital is heightened.

A furnace got its mouth open somewhere, licks up somebody. P. 81 The above quotation is from one of the Chiefs nightmares. The hospital turns into a hot industrial factory where the noise of cold, hard, unyielding machinery is almost deafening. During the dream, one of the old Chronics, Blastic, is hung on a hook and sent away into the machines.

The strange thing is that he actually does die. Bromdens dream is actually a metaphor for the quick disposal of those who do not survive the nurses treatment. It is as if she does not want any evidence that her patients are not recovering. So, the effect the reader is left with is that of how abruptly a death is dealt with in the hospital. Later, the conflict of McMurphy is resolved by electro-shocking him, which is an example of the brutal deaths that occurred in the hospital. And then off down the slope I see them, other hands coming up out of the fog.

Its likethat big red hand of McMurphys is reaching into the fog and dropping down and dragging the men up by their hands, dragging them blinking into the open, p. 124 Through Bromdens hazy attitude, Kesey makes the reader feel the dark cloud of frustration and despair that hangs over the ward. Fortunately, this doesnt last too long, because a new tone is started when McMurphy pledges that he will stop at nothing to crush the nurses tyranny. First, it is a tone that of hatred toward each other that is often seen in a heated battle, and it is displayed at its height when McMurphy and Miss Ratched face off at the meetings.

The nurse and McMurphy square off while the other patients look on starry-eyed. Of course, the entire audience is rooting for McMurphy. This battle comes to a head when McMurphy holds a vote to change the daily schedule in order to watch the World Series. The meeting starts out in the deepest fog to date, but it begins to dissipate for good. In the above quote, the men side with McMurphy, which shows the dedication they have for him and the resentment, they have for the nurse.

When Bromden himself raises his hand, and breaks the barrier that his false deafness has put on, the tone is completely changed. He still played deaf for a while, but the fact that he though about playing deaf showed that he and the tone have changed. After this, Kesey puts an almost nostalgic tone on the story. 6. Extra Credit: Describe one character flaw, which became an obstruction for the progress of the character.

Use three examples from the story, which demonstrate the flaw of this character and describe each. I gotta couple of hassles at the farm, and the court ruled a psychopath. Do you think I’m going to argue with that? If it gets me outta those damn pea fields I’ll be whatever their heart desires. P.13 One negative thing about McMurray’s personality is that he is in denial of the fact that he is considered insane. Randall McMurray may be the sanest person in the whole institution; however his actions did go overboard several times and many would have thought that he was the craziest one because he was completely different than the rest of the patients.

Rather than being quite and listening to the Nurses commands, McMurphy fought for what he believed in and to others that might seem crazy considering his life was on the line. But McMurphy didnt care what happened to him as long as he got what he wanted. To some, that might be crazy but to others it is just a sign of his mental and physical strength. After today no one can say this is an ordinary man were dealing with. No, certainly not.

And he is a disturbing factor, which is obvious. P. 130 After McMurphy fights with the black guard during the first major outbreak when McMurphy broke the glass to get Cheswick his cigarettes, the doctors and nurses meet to decide McMurphys future. To them, he is very crazy because he goes against all of the rules and is a lot more dangerous than the other patients. Even a doctor who has observed his behavior calls McMurphy a crazy man but McMurphy disagrees. This reoccurrence of McMurphys so-called stubbornness results in many of his crazy actions that eventually get him in trouble.

Of course, the very nature of this plan could indicate that he is simply a shrewd con man, and not mentally ill at all. p. 134 In this quote a boy defends McMurphy in that he agrees he is wild but his behavior is not the cause of his mentality. Rather it is just who he is and McMurphy does these things in order to present himself crazy enough to get out of the work farm and into the mental hospital. At times, McMurphy does act mentally ill especially when he attacked Nurse Ratched.

However, his actions are more of a result of who he was rather than the decisions he made. Overall, his biggest flaw was his inability to discern the fact that he might have been mentally ill in some cases. Book Reports.

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