ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST

Essay by PaperNerd ContributorCollege, Undergraduate April 2001

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In One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest the total institution was a mental institution. The patients had to live their whole day within the same atmosphere, eating, sleeping and playing in the same place. They played basketball in the court yard and cards in the community room. They all slept in a wide open room. They have group meetings, they would act like they can do what ever they wanted, but in reality head Nurse Ratched is really controlling them, she rations there cigarettes so they cant gamble with them. The nurse treats them all like idiots, she doesn't treat them fairly, for instance she dose not let them watch the world series even after they get enough votes to watch it she still refuses because the meeting was over and the vote is irrelevant.

I think that Nurse Ratched made the patients feel like they were worthless pieces of nothing.

They think nothing of themselves, they have no pride, and they do not believe in themselves, they hate the persons that they are, they are not happy in there skin. (Well that's the ones who are not completely insane). She was teaching them to conform to what she thought was socially correct. When Mac Murphy came into the picture he tought them things that they never knew existed, he tought the Indian man to play basketball and they soon became friends. Mac Murphy started to interact with the patients and taught them to start questioning things that go on in the hospital. He told them to stand up for what they wanted and not conform into what Nurse Ratched thought was the perfect little world.

In order to resocialize the residents to appropriate behaviors Nurse Ratched tries to set examples by disciplining Mac Murphy when he acts out with...