NOTE: Free essay sample provided on this page should be used for references or sample purposes only. The sample essay is available to anyone, so any direct quoting without mentioning the source will be considered plagiarism by schools, colleges and universities that use plagiarism detection software. To get a completely brand-new, plagiarism-free essay, please use our essay writing service.
One click instant price quote
Ken Key s One Flew Over The Cuckoo s Nest deals with control, manipulation and destruction. These elements are portrayed in the novel by what is referred to as the Combine. A combine is a farming machine that is used for cutting, threshing and cleaning. In One Flew Over The Cuckoo s Nest the Combine is a metaphor for society and how it controls, manipulates and destroys. The Combine exists both inside and outside the ward. In the novel, Nurse Ratched is a high ranking official (165) of the Combine and has the black boys under her command.
The Nurse s psychiatric ward is a repair shop for the Combine where people who do not conform to society s accepted behavior are outcast and are to be repaired. In One Flew Over The Cuckoo s Nest the Combine does three main things. The Combine controls the patients of the psychiatric ward by instilling great fear into them and then manipulates them by playing on these fears. Finally the Combine seeks to destroy anyone who resists conforming. At the beginning of One Flew Over The Cuckoo s Nest the patients in the psychiatric ward are kept under control because they have been made to be afraid. There are two types of patients in the ward: Acutes and Chronic's.
Acutes are those still sick enough to be fixed (13) whereas Chronic's are so mentally damaged they can t be repaired (14). The characters, who are mostly Acutes, fear that if they stand up for themselves they will be subjected to worse treatment and may even end up as a Chronic. Ellis and Ruckly are examples of Acutes that were turned into Chronic's by the use of shock therapy for the former and a lobotomy for the latter. The patients fear they will become like Ellis and Ruckly if they resist.
Also, all the characters in the ward except Scanlon and a few of the Chronic's are there voluntarily, there are only a few men on the ward who are committed (183). All of these patients have been made afraid of leaving and facing the outside world so they succumb to whatever the nurse wants. Harding for example has been made afraid of not being accepted by normal society as well as his wife and therefore accepts the so-called psychological help that the ward provides. His wife when speaking to him looks down upon him, Dale, when are you going to learn to laugh instead of making that mousy little squeak? (172). When Mc Murphy asks Harding why he does not leave, Harding says that he wants to leave the hospital with all the traditional red tape and complications I want my wife to be here in a car at a certain time to pick me. I want them to know I was able to do it that way (257).
He fears that what is waiting outside of the hospital walls is much worse than the little security he has in the ward and refuses to leave until he has become someone who is accepted by society. One specific example from the novel that shows that the patients are being controlled by their fears is the incident involving Mc Murphy s attempt to change the TV schedule so they could watch the World Series. Even though Mc Murphy is viewed as their leader and they all have monetary interest in the outcomes of the game, when it comes time to vote and therefore go against Nurse Ratched all but Cheswick remain silent. Billy Bibbit tries to explain that they do not want to vote for the change because of the resulting long-term consequences when he says, Some of us have b-been here for fi-fi-five years, Randle. And some of us will b-be here maybe th-that muh-muh-much longer, long after you re g-g-gone, long after this Wo-world Series is over (115). Harding adds She always has the capacity to make things worse for us.
A baseball game isn t worth the risk (117). It is fears like these that keep the patients of the ward from rebelling against Nurse Ratched and the Combine. Once fear has been established in the patients, the Combine uses it to manipulate. This is evident early in the novel by the use of the logbook where patients note the flaws of everyone else in order to lessen their own fears of inadequacy. Bromden reveals The guy that wrote the piece of information in the log book, he gets a start by his name on the roll (14). The Combine s manipulation is even more evident at one of the group meetings Chief Bromden mentions where the patients were coerced into revealing all their deep shameful secrets, they were telling things that wouldn t ever let them look one another in the eye again (48).
By the end of the meeting they were all demoralized, Everyone hushed. They were somehow ashamed (49). Harding, who is the most insecure out of all the patients, was manipulated into defending the Nurse early on in the novel. After he has been torn to pieces at the first group meeting Mc Murphy tries to console him saying that the group acted like a flock of dirty chickens at a pekin party (57). Refusing to see what has happened he belittles Mc Murphy and tries to justify it all.
He refers to him and the others as rabbits and says, We need a good strong wolf like the nurse to teach us our place (62). The most evident case of a patient being manipulated is when Mc Murphy convinces himself that he should give in to the Nurse s demands. After talking with the lifeguard, Mc Murphy comes to the realization the he will not be let out of the psychiatric ward until Nurse Ratched sees fit. Mc Murphy then questioned if he was better off at the work farm, He d been close to a month in this nuthouse and it might be a lot better than a work farm but it wasn t better to the point that he d want to spend a couple of years here (162). This causes him to temporarily give in to the Nurse and the Combine. Chief Bromden and the others take immediate notice when he says, I could see it coming.
The next day he surprised everybody on the ward by getting up early and polishing that latrine till it sparkled. (163). Later that day when Cheswick tried to stand up for himself over the issue of cigarettes He looked at Mc Murphy and got no look back (164). Bromden notes Mc Murphy doesn t stand up for us any longer (164). Mc Murphy himself comes out and says to the rest of the patients I ve got worries of my own without getting hooked with yours Alla you! Quite bugging me goddammit! (174).
Through the Combine s manipulation Mc Murphy completely abandons his morals for fear of having a long, indefinite stay in the ward, He was giving in because it was the smartest thing to do (165). These fears that lie within the patients allow the Combine to manipulate them. Despite all the tactics employed by the Combine there are those who resist. These unfortunate few are ultimately struck down and destroyed.
An example of this is shown of this is at the beginning of the novel by the character of Taber. Taber refuses to take his medicine without knowing what it is. Due to this act of defiance, Taber is later seen wheeled out of the lab on a Gurney bed and is ultimately taken to shock treatment and then to a lobotomy. Taber is then labeled a successful dismissal (40) and released but in reality his true self was destroyed, he was adjusted he s a new man (40). Another example is that of Billy Bibbit.
Towards the end of the novel Billy, who was normally an insecure man openly defied the Combine by sleeping with Candy, a prostitute. This was this first time Bibbit did something of his own accord and not what the Combine wanted. It gave him a sense of achievement, He looked pleased with his success (300). But the Nurse played on Billy s biggest fear, his mother s disapproval, which shot down any success he had and caused him to kill himself. The strongest example of a rebel being destroyed in the novel is that of Randle Mc Murphy. From the moment Mc Murphy stepped onto the ward he made it clear that he would not submit himself to the Combine s desires.
Mc Murphy used every opportunity available to disrupt the Nurse s plans, from interrupting her meetings to disrupting the everyday schedule. Mc Murphy also encouraged others to rebel. This made him a prime target for the Combine to bring down. Mc Murphy s spirit was first destroyed when he realized that all his rebelling would only lengthen his stay in the ward indefinitely. After that Mc Murphy did not behave like his normal self and any attempts that were made to regain his former self were forced and labored. For example when Mc Murphy made an attempt to shuffle cards the cards splash everywhere like the deck exploded between his two trembling hands. (176).
Even after Mc Murphy s seeming triumph of having the patients go on the fishing trip when no one was looking he was dreadfully tired and strained (245). Finally, Mc Murphy, after further attempts to rebel, which culminated in the late night party he had involving the two prostitutes and the choking of the Big Nurse, was physically destroyed by the lobotomy he was given. After which he was put next to the Vegetables (307) had nothin in the face, just like one of those store dummies the Big Nurse could use it as an example of what can happen if you buck the system (308). The Combine destroyed Mc Murphy like all those who resisted.
The Chief describes the Combine in One Flew Over The Cuckoo s Nest as a machine. This machine discards anyone who does not run in tune with it. The Combine is really a metaphor for how society controls, manipulates and destroys anyone who does not abide by its standards. In One Flew Over The Cuckoo s Nest, the Combine maintains control over those in the psychiatric ward by making the patients fearful and then manipulates the patients by using these fears. The Combine ultimately destroys anyone who resists them. Society controls us in the same way.
We are told what to do and think throughout our whole lives. People are afraid to act any differently from what is commonly accepted for fear of rejection by other members of society. Everyone is taught to act a certain way and become a part of the machine. Anyone who deviates from this train of thought is looked down upon and in some cases called insane and sent to be rehabilitated to what society feels is acceptable. Groups of people who take part in activities dubbed abnormal by society are called cults and are outcast.
Society discards and destroys anything it does not agree with. Although society seeks to control and oppress individuality, it is ultimately up to the individual to be like Mc Murphy and have the strength of character to express himself even though his expressions might not conform with society s values and standards and irrespective of the consequences.
Free research essays on topics related to: psychiatric ward, mc murphy, nurse ratched, one flew over the cuckoo, flew over the cuckoo nest
Research essay sample on Flew Over The Cuckoo Nest One Flew Over The Cuckoo
