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Conor Cook English IX-B September 21, 2000 Radical Rebellion George Orwell's 1984 and Ken Keys One Flew over the Cuckoos Nest are two excellent and closely related novels. Set in two very different times, these two novels are essentially about the rebellious fighting spirit of individuals. Authority in 1984 is depicted in the form of the Party, which rules over Oceania. In One Flew over the Cuckoos Nest, Nurse Ratched and her staff are the authority figures. 1984 s protagonist, Winston Smith, fights against the Party, and Mc Murphy fights Nurse Ratched in One Flew over the Cuckoos Nest. These two men have several character similarities. The Party and its leader Big Brother play the role of authority in 1984.
The Party is always watching the citizens of the Republic of Oceania. This is exemplified in the fact that the government has tele screens through which they can watch you wherever you are set up almost everywhere. Even in the countryside where there are no tele screens, the Party can monitor its citizens through hidden microphones disguised as flowers. The Thought Police are capable of spying on your thoughts at anytime, and can arrest or even kill you on a whim. Not only does the Thought Police find and hunt down felons, but it also scares others into being good citizens. The Party strives to eliminate more and more words from peoples vocabularies.
Thus, the Party can destroy any possibilities of revolutions and conspiracies against itself. Its ultimate goal is to reduce the language to only one word, eliminating thought of any kind. The Party makes people believe that it is good and right in its actions through the Ministry of Truth and through the slogans printed on the Ministry of Truth: WAR IS PEACE; SLAVERY IS FREEDOM; IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH. The Party in 1984 plays an evil authoritarian role.
In One Flew over the Cuckoos Nest, Nurse Ratched, known as the Big Nurse throughout the psychiatric ward, is the authority figure. Unlike the Thought Police in 1984, the Big Nurse is not allowed to punish patients on whim. She must have strong reasons for punishment. Nurse Ratched is, however, similar to the Party in many ways. Nurse Ratched and her staff are constantly monitoring the mental hospital patients behavior. Through glass windows in the patients quarters, nurses are capable and seeing almost all that occurs on the ward.
The nurses try to keep the patients under control through several different methods. One of these methods is the medication given several times a day. The second method is punishment. When patients misbehave, they are often sent to the Disturbed Ward where they are given electronic shock treatment.
This treatment, if given too many times, can cause permanent brain damage. Chief Bromden, the narrator of One Flew over the Cuckoos Nest and a patient on the ward, is one such case of permanent damage, having gone through shock therapy over one hundred times. Chief Bromden, a six foot seven giant, sees himself as three feet tall and is thought to be deaf and mute, neither of which he is. These painful punishments help to keep patients in line. At the end of One Flew over the Cuckoos Nest, Randal Patrick Mc Murphy, the main character of this novel, attacks the Big Nurse, and consequently, Mc Murphy is given a lobotomy, which eliminates all freedom of thought and mentally destroys Mc Murphy. 1984 and One Flew over the Cuckoos Nest both use authority figures as the evil element in the novels. At the end of each of these novels, the authority figures, unfortunately, are victorious.
The characters who rebel against the authority are even more important than the authority itself. In 1984, Winston Smith is the rebellious protagonist who fights against the oppressive party and inhumanity of life in Oceana. Winston is a man of average intellect. He is, as all other the citizens of Oceania are, under the oppression of the Party. Big Brother is always watching, monitoring every thought and action.
The fact that Winston fights against the Party separates him from the rest of society. Winston's attitude for life changes as the story progresses. He starts off as a pitiful man with little to live for. After he begins his rebellion against the oppressive state, however, Winston begins to gain courage from his rebellion.
Winston believes he must strive to destroy the Party and its oppressive nature. In many ways Winston succeeds in his rebellion. He falls in love with a character named Julia and for a short time is happy. Julia and Winston conspire to disrupt the Party in any way possible, regardless of who they hurt. Both of these rebellious crimes are highly illegal. In the end of 1984 Winston's fiery revolutionary spirit ends up bringing him to his death when he and Julia are captured by the Thought Police for unorthodox behavior.
The two of them are tortured and killed because of their offense. Randal Patrick Mc Murphy is the protagonist of One Flew over the Cuckoos Nest. Unlike Winston, Mc Murphy comes into the hospital with a lust for life and never loses it. Mc Murphy shows other patients how to laugh and live again, saying, You have to laugh at the things that hurt you just to keep yourself in balance, just to keep the world from running you plumb crazy. Also, Mc Murphys rebellious behavior is contrary to specific people, while Winston is fighting against a faceless organization. Mc Murphy is stubborn.
After receiving a shock treatment, Mc Murphy is told that he can go back to his ward if he just admits he was at fault in his behavior. In response to this Mc Murphy tells the Big Nurse she could kiss his rosy red ass before hed give up the goddam ship. Mc Murphy has a rebellious fighting spirit which is accompanied by his temper. This hurts Mc Murphy more than it aids him. During an argument with one of the black aides a fight breaks out. This is the opportunity the Big Nurse has been waiting for, an excuse to send Mc Murphy to the Disturbed Ward.
This fighting spirit eventually ends Mc Murphy. Towards the end of One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, Mc Murphy attacks the Nurse Ratched. Because of this and numerous other acts of misconduct, Mc Murphy is given a lobotomy, which disables all real thought. Mc Murphy was a stubborn, ill-tempered character with a fierce fighting spirit. Unfortunately, these character traits are what destroy him in the end. There are many parallels between 1984 by George Orwell and One Flew over the Cuckoos Nest by Ken Key.
The two novels have similar authority figures and protagonists. Both novels express the importance of standing up for what you believe in and fighting against authority no matter how difficult. Even though they are both defeated at the end of the novels, the reader empathizes with each of their struggles. The oppressed Winston Smith fought against the evils of the Party while other citizens accepted it and all its lies. Randal Patrick Mc Murphy battled Nurse Ratched right from the start. He was a leader among the other patients and brought new light to the ward.
His fighting spirit, stubborn attitude, and ill temper, however, ultimately defeat him. These two novels were and still are very powerful and moving. Like all novels ever written, 1984 and One Flew over the Cuckoos Nest both have their weaknesses. They are, however, well written, gripping, and overall good reads.
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