Ken Kesely's novel, "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest ". Talks about peoples' ability to use power to control and manipulate situations

Peoples' ability to use power to control and manipulate situations and

people is a skill not many people have. Unfortunately this skill can lead to conflict

as it did in Ken Kesely's novel One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest when McMurphy

and Nurse Ratched meet each other.

McMurphy has been after Nurse Ratched's power right from the beginning.

After the first group meeting he pointed out that the meeting was like a 'pecking

party'. The Nurse starts it with pointing out something wrong with someone and

then the men join in with their criticism. Her book was the same idea. The men

would listen to each other and when one said something that they shouldn't have

they write it down so it can be brought up for 'therapeutic reasons', but when

McMurphy came all that changed. That made the nurse furious, that was her way

of keeping perfect control and power over the patients.

British nurse in nurses' station.

Louise Fletcher as Nurse Ratched in the 1975 film.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (film)

McMurphy had complete power over the patients from when he first came

in. Nobody like him had ever been in the ward before. He came in singing and

laughing, something that no one had heard in a long time. He walked around the

room shaking hands, introducing himself to everyone, even the chronics. He

taught the acutes how to play cards and he taught them to gamble. His very first

bet though was that he could get the best of nurse Ratched within the week, and

he did. She wasn't going to back down though. To try and stop all the gambling

going on she rationed the cigarettes, so they no longer had anything to bet, but

that never stopped them, they used money instead.

The patients admired McMurphy because no one had ever stood up to her

before, and he would do things for...