Comparing Amy of Beloved and RP of One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest

The gentlemen in “One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest” were in search of mental freedom. Fear kept them prisoners of their own minds. Perhaps the main focus of the film was to illustrate the point that we are master’s of own freedom. However, it is difficult to change our pattern of thinking. Sometimes, in fact, we need someone to show us just how it is done. Ken Kesey's character Randall P. McMurphy was always accustomed to being a wild and free spirit. His attitude was completely contagious. Often, when you experience someone with that amount of self, you begin to think that you too can do anything. RP healed more of the men in the ward than any medicine or doctor could have dreamed. Specifically, he healed Billy, gave Cheswick some much-needed self-confidence, and set Chief completely free. Furthermore, he had the rest of the ward convinced they were “no more insane then the average guy walking around the streets!” Nurse Ratched, on the other hand, had a complete opposite effect. Her methods of therapy were cornered on guilt, repression and inflexible rules. She killed Billy. In short, she caused the patients to remain in chains.

In the novel “Beloved” by Toni Morrison the character Amy shares some of the same liberating characteristics as RP McMurphy. Both use their confidence to enable individuals to reach their full potential. Without Amy’s deliberate, confident guidance, Sethe may have never reached Sweet Home. Before she did that, however, Sethe had to conquer her past, which included schoolteacher. Somewhat similar to Ratched, schoolteacher’s philosophy was based on negativity and breaking people down like animals. Like Ratched, he too enjoyed keeping humans in chains.

The name Nurse Ratched was ironic for Mildred. Similar to a wrench like tool, she served as clamp on her patients. Instead of encouragement, she practiced breaking them down through individual control. Instead of spreading positive thinking, Ratched made the “gentlemen” feel a sense of inferiority. For example,she constantly reminded Billy of his dysfunctional relationship with his mother. When he has finally experienced some life catharsis, she robs him of the moment, questioning what this grown man’s mother would say. Ratched may have been even more damaging due to the fact that several of the gentlemen were at the Oregon hospital based on relational problems with women. Her techniques only contributed to their psychological dilemmas. Perhaps Ratched reminded them of the cold attitude of their prior marriages. Ratched’s days were one giant routine filled with zero spontaneity and dynamism. Her inflexibility knaws at McMurphy and violates every one of his freedom principles. Moreover, the nurse may have been more afraid of change than the patients she was attempting to transform. Perhaps she feared freedom from her routine. Her daily therapy sessions were always conducted in a frigid, stoic, methodical manner. Ratched never connected to her patients the way RP does, nor did she ever care to.

The response that the patients at the ward give Ratched is expected and exactly what she desires. They never challenge her authority and speak and gaze at her like weak peasants staring into the eyes of a dominant dictator. When she exclaims that “I feel like we made some progress today” they never question just what progress was made in the meeting. They believe her lies. In fact it is not until RP arrives that they understand they actually have unalienable rights as people. Like schoolteacher, nurse Ratched has trained these men to believe that her routine is the law and deviation will be tolerated. Fear has overcome them so much that they meagerly agree with her. When RP directly challenges her authority concerning the baseball game, Ratched stares into his soul as if to say, “do not question my law”. Cheswick seems be the biggest loggerhead with Ratched next to RP. When the two argue over cigarettes it really symbolizes a subconscious battle of freedom. In a sense his cry “I want my cigarettes, “ is really “I want my freedom.” Cheswick is tired of Ratched’s chains.

Schoolteacher practiced a more violent form of freedom control than Ratched. Still both had goals of possession. Ratched’s was purely mental, while schoolteacher’s was more primitive. Sometimes the mental aspect can hold an individual in more captivity. At least with physical abuse one can immediately distinguish it as corrupt. Mental abuse on the other hand deals with advantageous mind games. In a sense, Ratched also treated her patients like animals similar to schoolteacher. By this I mean she had them on a “zoo” like schedule of feeding, sleeping and daily amusement. In “Beloved” schoolteacher believed that, “…you can’t mishandle creatures and expect success.” (150) Both are controllers obsessed with organization and neatness. It is interesting however that both Ratched and schoolteacher take an academic approach to their control. After all, schoolteacher is an academic educator while the nurse’s profession is within the psychological realm. Both take the attitude that ”...definitions belonged to the definers- not the defined.” They never really give any thought those they are trying to change. (190) Both would prove to have lasting effects on their pupils while leading their respective sessions. When Sethe realizes that schoolteacher is after her daughters, she goes so far as to kill one of her own, rather than subject her to his cruelty. In the same fashion, nurse Ratched makes Billy feel so worthless that he takes a piece of glass to his throat rather than deal with his mother.

If nurse Ratched kept the patients in chains then RP McMurphy was the great emancipator with the key to unlock all of their fears. He arrived on the scene and began to question authority the way he probably had his entire life. Committed for “evaluation”, McMurphy was both the most sane and insane of the patients. By this I mean that he had complete mental capacity to cognitively understand and learn, coupled with the absolute lack of emotional control. Still, he lived his life to the fullest and dared the impossible. Rules and limits to RP were like slavery to Sethe. RP’s philosophy on life was portrayed beautifully when he attempted to lift a large solid marble block off the ground. Besides having some the patients believe he could do it, his confidence was never shaken when he failed. “At least I tried…” he cries, “At least I tried.” Right there he strikes several of the men into believing in themselves the way he always does.

McMurphy liberates Cheswick, Billy and Chief. When McMurphy arrived Cheswick was a typical mental patient. He had extremely low self –esteem and never challenged opinions. He simply accepted his reality as the truth. But slowly he began to idolize RP and observe his every move. He saw that RP was truly free because he was a complete individual. He was free from other people’s perceptions, confident and a great leader. Progressively, it seems that Cheswick put absolute God like faith in McMurphy. RP teaches him how to work a card game and wager bets. Here, Cheswick is like a sponge absorbing all of RP’s personality. He firmly believed RP and sided or bet with him whenever possible. McMurphy’s biggest break through with Cheswick came on the fishing outing. He granted Cheswick the captain’s wheel while he and Candy went below. Never trusted with so much responsibility and fear, Cheswick began to steer confidently and with every knot his self-image expanded. Finally, someone had believed in him.

Billy’s issues were deep and rooted mostly within his relationship with his mother. He and RP befriended quickly. The opposite sex seemed to take a liking to both of these gentlemen. When RP discovered that Billy was self admitted he exclaimed “…you should be out bangin beaver!” McMurphy used Candy to free Billy. On the boat he seemed even a bit jealous when Billy complemented her eyes and hair. Still, Candy’s presence was exactly what Billy needed at this stage in his recovery and like the leader he was, RP realized this. Stuttering, Billy admits that he will miss RP tremendously and shyly asks if Candy will be accompanying him when he escapes. Catching on, RP sets up a “date” between the two. The following morning Billy is a totally new man. Speaking confidently and without hesitation, Billy smiles at his friends and admits to his new joyous experience. For the first time in his life, Billy is not nervous and at peace with his world.

RP McMurphy took an interest to Chief from the start. Although his physical stature played a role, it seemed as if this would be one of RP’s greatest challenges. He wanted to see if he could breakthrough to a colossal, American Indian who was deaf and dumb. Instantly, he presents him “an old Indian game” of basketball. Going out of his way he shows Chief how to put the ball in the basket. Ever the sly one, Chief will not trust and continues to test RP. RP teaches Chief how to raise his proud hand in favor of the baseball game. Still, Chief is reluctant. It is not until the two are about to receive shock therapy that he opens up. The camaraderie reminds one of two friends who go to war together or play on a championship team. Chief talks to RP, a significant notion considering everyone else has fallen for his cunning lie. They strike a bond together and pledge to escape. Chief now has complete trust in RP. Chief extends his family history of lies, betrayal and alcoholism to RP, perhaps for the first time to another human. The two share the same belief in Americana: it’s a hoax. Finally, Chief mercifully takes RP’s life and his spirit enters his body and frees him from the mental ward that had defined his existence. The last scene in the movie portrays Chief sprinting toward his newfound freedom.

The character Amy in “Beloved” was capable of motivating people in mystical ways. Like RP to the boys, Amy was a virtual stranger to Sethe. Still, Sethe began to place trust in her and ”her good hands.” (81) Sethe is like Cheswick or Billy in that she is hopelessly lost, both physically and mentally. Often times in our lives we just need a little encouragement to get where we want to go. Amy provided the same confidence as RP and did it in a quick-witted manner too. “Make you a bet. You make it through the night, you make it all the way.” (82) This form of direct challenge is reminiscent of RP challenging his friends to become stronger individuals. He was always making motivational bets. Amy made smart remarks to Sethe when she disobeyed her wisdom even telling her to just “shut up.” (82) RP must have told everyone in the ward at least once to shut up, most notably Cheswick and Ratched. Even after all the drama of the day Amy can still admit ”…she wouldn’t be caught dead in daylight on a busy river with a runaway.” (85) After RP is shocked the first time he jokingly fools the whole ward with the humorous side of his personality. The two were extremely magnetic people.

For every nurse Ratched there will always be someone like RP who bends her granite rules and “for every schoolteacher there would be an Amy.” (188) These characters seemed to balance each other well in their roles. Violent individuals like schoolteacher will always represent evil in this world. Manipulative, control centered people like Ratched will also prove to be obstacles. Still, McMurphy eased the tension that Ratched inflicted upon the ward. Moreover, Amy made Sethe forget about schoolteacher’s “lessons” and started her on her way to freedom. Both RP and Amy were gifted liberators who could make someone believe in him or herself before they even knew what hit them.