Introduction
One flew over the cuckoo’s nest is a novel that was written in 1965 and adapted into stage plays and even a movie in the 1971. Both the movie and novel are set in Oregon State in a mental hospital. This setting reveals the working of the hospital and the various practices involved in the treatment of the patients and the end results of the practices.
The Conflict in both works is a powerful appeal on the struggle that goes on between the protagonists- Nurse Ratched and McMurphy, as they fight for the souls of chief and the other patients. After seeing how the other patients are treated McMurphy bets with them hast he will make the nurse to lose control of the ward while the nurse has taken it upon herself to break him down and make him to conform as other trouble makers.
Main body
The book has both main and minor characters. Among these are Chief (Bromden) who convinces everyone that he is dumb and deaf. He is obsessed with a sinister force called the combine shatters that he sees in his moments of stress when a thick fog blocks his memory. Nurse Ratched is oppressive, domineering and vengeful. She controls trouble makers by giving them electroshock therapies/lobotomies. Randal McMurphy is a new patient loud and corky. He claims to be in hospital only to enjoy an easier life. He doesn’t seem crazy and brings laughter and life into the hospital. Bibbit is a weak, mama’s boy with a severe stutter totally under the nurse’s control. At thirty his mother still treats him as a child. The other characters with supporting roles include Dr. Spivey, Dale Harding, Cheswick, Turkle, Warren, Miller, plus many more.
The book and film cover a wide range of themes. Among these are oppression authoritarianism, optimism, individual struggle against society, change verses conformity. It reveals that one must never be afraid to laugh at or to rebel against conformity and its proponents. The story and the film have different point of views. The novel is told in the first person omnipresent narrator who sees and reports everything as it occurred. T chief Bromden narrates what he sees in the institution. A hallucinating patient the readers is not sure sometimes whether what he says actually happens or not.
The writer has employed various stylistic devices in the work. The “combine shatters” is personified in the character of Nurse Ratched who has a strong grip on the wards. The book satirizes the hospital administration’s high-handedness and unwillingness to tolerate change or innovation. It has a fast paced comic humor expressed in the funny skirmishes that McMurphy has with the nurse and her staff and entertains the other patients. Parallelism is drawn in an instance where the “possible opening of the Berlin Wall during the upcoming Christmas holidays parallels their own walled-in imprisonment and their powerlessness. The hospital is symbolic of the Soviet Union and the attempts by the people to escape it. It is ironical too that instead of bringing patients back to sanity the hospital compounds their problems.
Lack of chief Bromden narration in the movie is less effective than the book. The long drawn descriptions do not come out clearly and there are flops in the film that are rather obvious. The pointed direction of empathy and revulsion in the original material is not depicted clearly in the screen play. Motives aren’t clearly defined. In the end everyone loses making it even more complex for the viewer to empathize, except probably, to enjoy the excellent theatrics.
Medical professionals and mental institutions are portrayed as high-handed and unwilling to tolerate attacks on the status quo. They are brutal and ineffective. They hold grudges and commit vendettas against their patients. They are keen to serve their own egos rather than the patients. They exert their influence on the patients by subtly rewarding and at times shaming them. Its actions are portrayed as more sinister than those of the usual prison administrator. There is a slight difference in the novel and the film. In the novel the nurse is seen as overly brutal but in the film she is seen to be engrossed in her vacation.
The movie and the novel portray the female characters negatively. In the casting many ladies turned this down owing to the same reasons. Randal makes fun of the big nurse Ratched and her orderlies, targeting jokes at her massive burst. When candy and her friend accept to go into the wards, it doesn’t give a positive bearing on the ladies. They are shown as inconsiderate and could be used by anyone including the mentally retarded.
There are various themes in the works. Individual struggle against the society comes out clearly. McMurphy struggles against the oppressive structures and strict rules of nurse Ratched. Conformity against change, Authoritarianism Optimism and hope also come out in the book. It shows that one must never be afraid to laugh at or to rebel against conformity and its proponents. In spite of McMurphy’s defeat, the author seeks to show that though the battle will be tough and some will be victims there is a chance it can be won. This is seen when Chief carries on with their planned escape and jumps off the ward window. In the movie the inmates are seen leaving the hospital courageously.
Conclusion
Murphy is a victim of circumstances. He takes advantage of the circumstances around him and turns them to his benefit. He is a corky, loud braggart who despite having a knack for breaking rules is likeable. He is a determined leader bent on helping his fellow inmates regain emotional awareness and intelligence. However his defeat rises from the equally vigorous attempt by the system to crush him. He is smothered to save him some dignity.
Works cited
- Kesey, K. One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, Penguin Publishers. USA: Viking press &Signet books, 1962.
- A movie “One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest” directed by Milos Forman 1975.