Paradigm Shift In One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

The Oxford dictionary defines a “paradigm shift” as “a fundamental change in approach or underlying assumption.” In Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower (PBW), Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird (TKAM), and Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations (GE), there is a recurring portrayal of young characters going through paradigm shifts that hasten their comings of age. This illustrates that while a realization within oneself is one method to mature, brutal, external forces are sometimes the quickest. In Chbosky’s PBW, Patrick goes through one of these shifts, and that causes him to mature much faster than necessary. Patrick is a fun-loving, adventurous, youthful character for the vast majority of the movie. However, he attempts to save …show more content…
In Dicken’s GE, Estella’s external force that acts upon her to hurt her is Drummle. She had been raised all her life by Miss Havisham to think “All men are evil.” While this statement is fallacious, it could have potentially served her well. In retrospect, her paradigm shift is not caused by the external force, but every repercussion is. At some point in Estella’s life, she decides that men aren’t horrible and she resolves to marry Drummle because he has money. This was the paradigm shift that sent her on a downward spiral resulting in Drummle’s negligence toward her. It pushed her to mature in a way that no person ever should have to. Although her coming of age took place, it only decreased her self-esteem and made her feel tawdry and …show more content…
Patrick’s shift differs from Jem’s in that Jem’s is a literal growing up from young to older while Patrick is the same age before and after the shift. Jem’s and Patrick’s changes differ from Estella’s in that Estella’s shift ultimately has negative repercussions as opposed to the positive effects on Patrick and Jem. The one thing that they all share is that none of them put themselves into those situations. They were rather forced to shift their morals due to something that happened. For Patrick, it was Brad when he declined the help and brutally pushed Patrick away; for Jem, it was society with Atticus’ loss; and for Estella, it was Drummle with his love immediately followed by negligence. Overall, young characters’ maturations can oftentimes be catalyzed by these forceful acts which leads to those characters revealing messages and teaching lessons about society as a

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Paradigm Shift In One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

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