Cuckoo's nest VS Lord of the flies
Ken Kesey's novel, One flew over the cuckoo's nest, is about a rude man called Randal McMurphy, who arrives at a mental hospital, even though he has no actual mental illness. As the novel goes on, McMurphy becomes the person in charge of the other patients in the district though there is an increasing disagreement between McMurphy and Nurse Ratched. She is a despised nurse amongst the patients. Because of the continuous commotion caused by him, he receives a lobotomy, suggested by Nurse Ratched. One of the friends McMurphy made while being at the hospital named Chief Bromden, asphyxiates him after his lobotomy to guarantee he does not just live as a symbol of Nurse Ratched's power. What does this title signify? First of all, you need to understand the cuckoo bird itself. The fact that they are not able to make their own nest or are also fed by a bird who isn't their actual mother, makes them independent. How does this relate? The title is clearly figurative in its intent. The “cuckoo’s nest” is the infirmary, and the one who “flew over” is clearly McMurphy. The full nursery rhyme is quoted in Part 4 by the chief, as he recalls his childhood while waking up from a shock treatment. This was part of a childhood game he used to play with his Indian Grandmother.
One flew east, one flew west, one flew over the cuckoo’s nest . . . goose swoops down and plucks you out .A children’s song chanted by Chief Bromden’s grandmother. (McMurphy is the goose who swooped down and plucked the chicks out of the nest—the patients out of the psychiatric ward.)
William Golding's novel, Lord of the flies, is about a group of very immature British boys who survive a plane crash onto an abandoned island. Since there are no adults, the boys must find a way to stay alive. There is a chosen leader called Ralph, who, all the way through the novel, becomes overruled by Jack, the manipulative boy of the group. Because of the ever-increasing division, the boys progressively tumble down into a primitive state; some more than others. Lord of the flies is a reference to the Hebrew name for Satan, which means "God of flies or Lord of the flies" itself. This symbolizes the devil or evil that can be in a human being, with this reference, we can relate this to how some of the kids such as Jack and his tribe become heartless and commit pitiless actions. In these two novels, there is this big isolation from society that causes people to lose their connection to the outside world or become frightened by it and being isolated for a very long period of time causes one's state of mind to change. When given the opportunity, people can become cruel and unjust to gain power. But increasing isolation can cause one to gradually become more and more savage and primitive. We can see how in both novels, the theme of savagery and evil is mostly used.
Nurse Ratched is an awfully controlling character in the novel. She makes the patients feel as if they need to stay in the mental hospital, although some don't need to stay. She is trusted to do her job, which is to be in control of the ward, so there isnt really a superior power doubting her actions. Consequently she is able to get away with manipulating the patients to make herself more dominant. The patients of the mental hospital are totally isolated. Even though some of them have the right leave the ward, some, such as Billy Bibbit, are frightened to leave the hospital out of terror of society because they have been in the hospital for such a long period of time.
Just like Nurse Ratched, Jack is also a very manipulative character which allows him to easily grasp power on the island. He knows what interests the other boys on the island therefore he takes advantage of that to help him obtain Ralph's place as leader. Because the boys are on an inaccessible island, Jack is able to be cruel and unjust to obtain such power because there are no consequences for his deeds. As time
