A writer is not just a storyteller but also that of a prophet or teacher.
Discuss with close reference to a novel you have studied.
The Novel "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's nest" which details events occurring in a mental hospital, explores themes such as conformity verses individualism, sexual liberation verses sexual freedom and the struggle for power and authority. These themes are both poignant and relevant to us today. Ken Kesey portrays his two main characters Nurse Rached and Randle Patrick McMurphy as examples of contrast to teach the reader the apparent faults of society, and what can result from it's rigid expectations on the individual.
Kesey is a man known for his pro-activism. He was jailed for six months for marijuana possession and he took part in legal drug testing: tripping on L.S.D. He eventually landed a job working in a psychiatric hospital and it is through these experiences, the arch-evil Nurse Rached seems to have been created.
"The big Nurse," antagonist in the novel, represents (among many things) conformist organizations which control our world. Her behavior is authoritative, mechanical and controlling. This is portrayed through robotic-'esque' narration by Chief Bromden.
"I see her sit in the centre of this web of wires like a watchful robot, tend to her network with mechanical insect skill, kowing every second which wire runs where."
Kesey uses Nurse Rached to make an interesting link between conformist's motives and their desire of retaining all power and control. When a patient, Taber asks what is in his pills- Kesey introduces to the reader a genuine human interest. Rached replies that the pills can be taken "other ways then orally." In this example, she is expressing her power and forcing Taber into an imaginary corner. Her mechanical behavior is so inhuman that she is unable to have a genuine human discussion with a patient. However, in order for Rached to control the ward she must appear to be working in the interests of the patients- a faux human side created that adds believablity to her role.
Her supposed "therapeutic meetings" begin with her picking out a patient and humiliating him in front of the group. She appears to be genuinely concerned, but on a deeper level her purpose is to pit the patients against each other, thus creating chaos and discord among them. She does this successfully for years, maintaining control over everybody.
But then something changes.
Into this ward appears Randle Patrick McMurphy, a protagonist Kesey introduces as a "gambling fool", a sex-crazed fun loving joker who only feigns being mental to escape a conviction. His character, in essence, teaches the freedom of speech, sexuality and individuality to both the patients and to the reader. This message comes across clearly because McMurphy is the antithesis of everything Nurse Rached represents.
In an effort to teach about the importance of individualism and the rigidness of conformity, Kesey uses McMurphy's insubordination in an incident between Rached and her ward rules. McMurphy is awake early in the morning, singing, asking for toothpaste. It is ward policy to have toothpaste locked up, it can "only be used at a certain time".
"What would it be like if everybody was to brush their teeth whenever they felt like it?" McMurphy asks sarcastically, aware of how ludicrous such a pointless rule is. Rached cannot answer properly because she appears to feel uneasy seeing McMurphy without any clothes on, as he is only wearing a towel.
This confrontation serves to highlight how ordered Rached is, her rules so draconian, monotonous and repressive- are exemplified examples of some that still exist in our own society. Routine is still the driving factor for most "normal" people throughout the day and perfect monogomaus families are all that are considered as good for society.
Rached's reaction also touches on a major theme in the novel: the contrast between repressed and liberated sexuality. By appearing in front Rached with only a towel covering himself, she is threatened by the sexuality she attempts to repress. Kesey advocates sexual freedom throughout the novel through ideas of "free love" as being part of self expression. Examples of this being McMurphy's two prostitute friends. Because of this message, Kesey teaches that repressing sexuality can be damaging on the individual.
Rached represses her sexuality which helps transform her into a robot. Billy Bibbit is unable to express his desire for sex because his mother's grip on him forces him into innate childhood before eventually committing suicide. Harding, on the other hand, is afraid of the social implications of revealing his sexuality which turns him into a coward. Through it all, McMurphy doesn't discriminate Harding. Instead he appears to want to taint the virginal Rached along the way, while also taking a chance and offering Billy a choice to lose his virginity. McMurphy cares about the individual well-being of all of the patients. Rached doesn't. All she seeks is the knowledge of her own power and authority, kind of like a dictatorship government.
For example, after the patients, McMurphy and Doctor Spivey agree that it might be a good idea to throw a carnival, and the patients begin to get excited, her hands appear to shake. Fear of the thought of losing power cripples her for a second, but it doesn't last because she knows she has the "combine" behind her, she knows her authority is only threatened marginally.
"I believe an idea like this should be discussed in a group meeting" - "Everybody knows that's all there is to the carnival".
By not allowing collective bargaining, Rached is demonstrating her dominance over McMurphy, his idea- and the ward. She wouldn't have allowed a carnival even if for some insane reason she actually thought it was a good idea- because it would shift power from her to McMurphy. Like a dictatorship, she dislikes any idea that is not her own. This highlights again, her mechanical personality so often described by Bromden: for machines only operate by a certain programming code, they are incapable of outside thinking or compassionate consideration.
Rached uses the authority of the 'combine' to eventually lobotomize McMurphy after his attempt to kill her and success at exposing her breasts. However in doing so, her power over the ward is gone. Through it all, McMurphy had inspired the patients to think for themselves, although it was an uphill battle; he knew Rached wasn't his only obstacle to social change. The patients apathy was a burden for a long time because they didn't have the energy to fight against Rached, against the system. Until she took it too far.
"Lady, I think your full of so much bullshit," Harding says before signing out voluntarily, a choice he had disposable to him for years. Kesey teaches that Nurse Rached now represents the ruling class who took power so far- that even an oppressed homosexual in the nineteen fifties saw through her "bullshit". On the flip side, Kesey teaches that the patients were the uninformed mass who had to be compelled to action through McMurphy, who served as the catalystic force of change...though at the price of his own life.
Ken Kesey's ultimate message is simple. Personal, sexual and individual freedom are easily quashed by predisposed rules and expectations of society. He points a finger at an over-protective society that seeks to obliterate 'difference' with rules, laws and biased perceptions. Through Rached and McMurphy, he highlights power struggles that exist between leaders and activists and the positive and negative differences between order and disorder. He is asking the reader in so many ways and in so many words: to become 'our own McMurphy'. To make sure to follow our beliefs, morals and dreams. To protest when injustice is a prevailing reality, to inspire, to not allow people to put others down- to take a stand for those around us who are oppressed...no matter the cost
1 comment:
Wow! Simply Brilliant, I loved it
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