Analyzing The Story One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by “Ken Kesey” is a story about a mental hospital and its patients, supervised by Nurse Miss Ratched. The hospital which only has male patients strives in fixing the men back into society. The men are categorized either into two groups being acute or chronic. Bronden the narrator of the story is a chronic and McMurphy the protagonist is an acute. Many other characters in the hospital like Harding, and Billy Bibbit are also chronics. Nurse Ratched develops conflict with McMurphy because he's seen as a major problem to society as he's described as a manipulative male. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is about emasculating the patients to fit into a society where the traditional male qualities are betrayed.
The story …show more content…
She is a woman with all the qualities of a female. “Her face is smooth, calculated, and precision-made, like an expensive baby doll, skin like flesh-colored enamel, blend of white and cream and baby-blue eyes, small nose, pink little nostrils-everything working together” (p.6). Bronden the narrator is “cagey enough to fool them that much” (p.3). Bronden fakes to be “deaf and dumb. Everybody thinks so. I’m cagey enough to fool them that much” (p.3). McMurphy an Acute and “the court ruled that I’m a psychopath” (p.13). “Now they tell me a psychopath’s a guy fights too much and fucks too much, ...whoever heard tell a man gettin’ too much poozle?” (P.14). McMurphy is seen as a threat to the way the hospital runs. “a manipulator can influence the other patients and disrupt them to such an extent that it may take months to get everything running smooth”(p.27). When McMurphy meets Bromden and shakes his hand, Bromden feels a jolt of power. “my hand commenced to feel peculiar and went to swelling up out there on my stick of an arm, like he was transmitting his own blood into it. It rang with blood and power”(p.25). McMurphy's hands are described as very big and rugged. …show more content…
Traditionally a controlling figure is masculine. The hospital works in taking away a male's masculinity from society. McMurphy is ruled a psycho for ducking and fighting too much. This is usually what a controlling masculine male does they fight to show who's more alpha and they have sex. The hospital now is in charge of removing these qualities and turning him into another Mr. Harding who has been there along time and has pretty hands like a female. McMurphy`s hands are as masculine as they come with cuts and scars and is a new patient. These hand will eventually turn into white soft hands emasculating them. From the start they try to show a man that they aren't in control by raping them. When you rape a male it strips them from their pride. Also “pecking at your balls “ clearly symbolizes nurse Ratchet destroying a man's testicules. You`re only a man if you have testicules and if you don't you can clearly see you no longer are. The conflict in the story shows that the hospital focuses on the traditional male qualities and destroys them. The story focuses on seeing men as weak beings abandoning their traditional masculinity and power.
In conclusion One flew over the cuckoo's nest by “Ken Kesey” conflict reveals how the society devalues masculinity and strips it away. McMurphy the protagonist represents the traditional male qualities and he creates conflict with the

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Analyzing The Story One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

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