One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (Pages

131-158)

By: Faith, Victoria, Alishya, Jessica

Summary

• Ratched declares the proposal defeated.

• McMurphy’s personal rebellion against Nurse Ratched.

• When McMurphy wins his bet, he does so with the other patients’ help as they all join him in protest.

• Insanity is no longer a characteristic of the patients alone.

• Now, with the help of an unified force he is beginning to see the established order as defective as well.

Themes

• The first theme in this novel is false diagnosis of insanity. McMurphy pretends to be ill so he can stay in the ward of the hospital. Also, Bromden fakes being deaf. The nurses are giving these patients false diagnoses.

• The second theme would be power because the antagonist Nurse Ratched feels as if she is in control over the hospital until McMurphy shows up and upsets it.

• The third theme would be confinement. This is important because Nurse Ratched will not let them outside without a signed petition. Therefore they are all limited to the space inside and their general freedom.

Characterization – McMurphy

McMurphy- He is trying to gather the rest of the patients up by influencing them on thinking that nurse Ratched is as evil as her name insists. He becomes very angry and his hate for nurse ratched is ratcheted up a notch after the vote was not a success. He then becomes very happy as chief is the 21st vote that wins the majority vote. This happiness isn’t a normal happiness its almost as the only reason he is happy is because he got the edge over nurse Ratched. He feels his plan come to fruition as the other patients pull up chairs beside him and begin to watch the blank t.v. Screen.

Characterization – Nurse Ratched

Nurse Ratched- She begins by thinking that she has the upper hand in the voting when it is not a majority. As she is still on her high horse and thinking she is in control chief puts up his hand to make the majority of the vote. She can tel at this point that she has lost control and this is rare for everyone ti see as nurse Ratched is known for being a hardened soul and never losing composure. She is frustrated and thinks by turning the panel off for the t.v. That this would give her the upper hand and upset McMurphy. She is wrong, McMurphy and his following do not seem phased by this and this enrages her even more.

Characterization- Chief

Chief sees everyone being “pulled out of the fog” by McMurphy and knows what is going on. After the vote was taken and they began to watch t.v. He felt conflicted as to whether or not he should go clean the staff rooms. He realizes the the staff may have caught on to him not being deaf. He has never seen the ward like this and he is surprised. We see just how creative chiefs mind is. He senses a tenseness in the air in the meeting.

Gender Roles

• The women in the novel are powerful over the men. The nurses and assistants have control over the male patients.

• McMurphy tries to change who's in power by making Nurse Ratched lash out in front of the other patients and nurses.

Symbols

• The only symbol in our section was the fog machine. In this case fog symbolizes a lack of insight and an escape from reality.

• Bromden thinks the fog is coming from the vents and the staff controls it.

• He also feels like he can hide behind the fog and escape from reality.

Guided Questions

1) Which patient is the most rebellious?

2) How does Nurse Ratched respond to rebellion?

3) Do you think McMurphy should have gone to jail instead of coming to the hospital? Why or why not?

4) How does society view mental illness in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest vs how they view in it our society?