Ratched Vs Mcmurphy

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Heather Glasmire Honors ELA 10 Hofsass 22 May, 2024 McMurphy vs. Ratched: The Struggle For Power Who is really in control at the ward? One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, written by Ken Kesey, is a novel about a psych ward where a woman, Nurse Ratched, wields immense power over all of the patients until a man, Randle McMurphy, gets admitted and becomes her competitor for power. McMurphy wins the power struggle against Nurse Ratched by creating a lasting impact on the patients with ideals of resistance and rebellion. When McMurphy starts group therapy sessions, he gets to see how much power Nurse Ratched really has. After being sent to a work farm, McMurphy goes insane in order to get sent to a mental institution where he thinks he will be able …show more content…
While Ratched is viewed as the one in control, by showing the other men that they can go against Ratched, he is now viewed as a man in power. Before the second vote on watching the World Series, the Big Nurse, in total command of the situation according to the Chief’s vision, fogs up the ward “thicker than I ever saw it before” (p. 127). Billy Bibbit looks “like he’s a mile off” and things, including the Chief, begin to float in the eerie mist: “I never seen it this thick before, thick to where I can’t get down to the floor. . That’s why I’m so scared” (p. 128). But when McMurphy gets his majority, when he lifts the Chief “out of the fog and into the open” for the twenty-first vote, the change is dramatic. Acting collectively, the men have voted to have a say in their lives; the Big Nurse has been unable to keep them from doing so. At that point, “there’s no more fog anyplace.” Bromden, a man who struggles fighting “the fog,” gets helped by McMurphy. He shows him that he can come out of the fog and that he is powerful enough to do it. All of the men struggle with the fog. They can not get out of it due to Nurse …show more content…
"'One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest': Rhetoric and Vision." The Journal of Narrative Technique, vol. 78, no. 1, pp. 113-117. 9, No. 1 -. 3, 1979, pp. 113-117. 171-83. The. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/30225674. Accessed 22 May 2024. Kesey, Ken. A. One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest. New York City, Signet, 1963. Martin, Terence. A. "'ONE FLEW over THE CUCKOO'S NEST' AND THE HIGH COST of LIVING." Modern Fiction Studies, vol. 78, no. 1, pp. 137-137. 19, No. 1 -. 1, 1973, pp. 113-120. 43-55. The 'Standard' of the 'Standard'. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/26279134. Accessed 22 May 2024. ---. "One Flew over the Cuckoo‘s Nest and the High Cost of Living." Contemporary Literary Criticism, edited by Judith Leng, vol. 93. 525, Farmington Hills, MI, Gale, 2024. Gale Literature Resource Center, link.gale.com/apps/doc/TVAYAC301482415/LitRC?u=pl2631&sid=bookmark-LitRC&xid=fc07ef1b. Accessed 22 May 2024. Originally published in Modern Fiction Studies, vol. 78. 19, No. 1 -. 1, 1973, pp. 113-120. 43-55. The 'Standard' of the 'Standard'. One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest. Contemporary Literary Criticism, edited by Jeffrey W. Hunter, vol. 93, no. 1, pp. 113-117. 341, Gale,. Gale Literature Resource Center, link.gale.com/apps/doc/H1138600000/LitRC?u=pl2631&sid=bookmark-LitRC&xid=d776d328. Accessed 21 May 2024. Themes and Construction: One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest." Exploring Novels, Gale, 2003. Gale in Context: High School,
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