Health

Health

Thesis statement

One Flew over the cuckoo's Nest presents views about society. The characters present throughout the novel realistically represent how cruel and repressive the world can be to those who are suffering from mental illness.

Introduction

In 'One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest' we see the patients take part in group therapy, which involves all the patients sitting together and discussing and problems they would like to share or any progress they have made. Nurse Ratched claims that this has therapeutic value, however early on in the book we can see that it is a means of control for the nurse, as she has the chance to humiliate patients in front of each other. For example, in the first group meeting we witness the nurse is able to make each patient reveal a secret about himself in front of the entire group, whom he can no longer face because of the shame of his revelation. 'I tried to take my sister to bed' 'I - one time - wanted to take my brother to bed' 'I lied about trying, I did take my sister! So did I! So did I! And me! And me!'. The patients successively admit to the disgraceful acts they had committed, each trying to outdo the other, in an attempt to satisfy the Nurse. This is the result of the group therapy sessions, which are simply used as another means of control by the nurse.

Analysis

Nurse Ratched creates the illusion of freedom of speech by allowing her patients to express themselves in the group therapy sessions. However, Nurse Ratched uses manipulative techniques and the patients' psychological weaknesses to pin them down and force them into behaving as she wishes 'He [Cheswick] looked at McMurphy and got no look back, and went down the line of Acutes looking for help. Each time a man looked away and refused to back him up, his panic doubled' This is an example of the way the nurse can exert her control over the patients once their ring leader, McMurphy, abandons them in their struggle against her. Nurse Ratched, often referred to as 'The Big Nurse', is seen as a formidable force by the patients on the ward, until the arrival of McMurphy, who presents the nurse with a challenge to her authority. As the plot progresses, we see McMurphy defeat the nurse's influence on the inmates by undermining her authority, and the other patients seem to follow suit. One example is with regard to a vote taken during one of the group therapy sessions where McMurphy requests to have the television schedule changed so that he can watch the World Series. When the Nurse refuses, McMurphy suggests that the patients take a vote. 'All twenty of them, raising their hand not just for watching TV, but against the Big Nurse, against her trying to send McMurphy to Disturbed, against the way she's talked and acted and beat them down for years.' In this incident, the patients follow McMurphy's lead, as he provides ...