...Cynthia K. Nessmith Professor Shawana Stanford American Literature 2130 14 April 2013 Film adaptation of the American novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest novel was written by Ken Kesey in 1962. The film adaptation version was directed by Czech Milos Forman in 1975. My goal in this paper is not only to compare the film adaptation to the Novel but to also explain what I think the symbols represent, critic’s analysis, themes presented in this film, and the significance of the Novel. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest film’s setting begins with a police car driving down the road to people sleeping in bunk beds, ending with a glimpse of a drawing taped to the wall with a crazy face centered in it. A nurse enters a locked down facility, while another prepares medicine for the patients. The police car arrives at the facility with a prisoner in handcuffs that is released to the hospital staff. The characters in this film are as follows: Randall P. McMurphy played by Jack Nicholson, a rebellious convict with a loud mouth and a set of sexual playing cards. He’s courageous and challenges the staff/system of the mental hospital. Nurse Ratched played by Louise Fletcher is a calm, cold, well mannered, and soft spoken head nurse of the mental hospital that plays McMurphy’s enemy. Chief Bromdon played by Will Sampson is a big and tall Indian who is described as “deaf and dumb” (according to the character Billy). Billy Bibbit played by Brad Dourif is a young...
Words: 1717 - Pages: 7
...One Who Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest The book that my book club discussed was "One flew over the Cuckoo's Nest." In the first book club meeting, we discussed the characters and our initial impressions of them. The start of the novel doesn’t really get that interesting till later on. The story is narrated through the story of Chief Bromden, who is in the insane asylum because he suffers from hallucinations and paranoia. At first I found the part in the book where Bromden first describes the fog machine hard to understand. There was no clear indication that Bromden is hallucinating but it’s up to the reader to figure it out themselves. Matt helped me understand the scene by explaining that Bromden believes that the people running the ward like Nurse Rached have a fog machine and that they turn it on in order to make the patients lose themselves, but really the fog machine is Bromdens own hallucinations. "Before noontime they're at the fog machine again but they haven't got it turned up full; it's not so thick but what I can see if I strain real hard. One of these days I'll quit straining and let myself go completely, lose myself in the fog the way some of the other chronics have." (Kesey 37) The main character of the book McMurphy arrives being a very charismatic individual with the other inmates, and even laughs, which Bromden describes as not seeing for years. "This sounds real. I realize all of a sudden it's the first real laugh I've heard in years. He stands looking at...
Words: 702 - Pages: 3
...Anthony Miley 5/29/14 Period 7 One flew over the cuckoo’s nest “ One flew east, one flew west, and one flew over the cuckoo’s nest.” This book was written by and was the first for ken kesey. He has also written the great nation. I believe this is an interesting book because the protagonist of the story is mentally ill, but manages to fight to change the rules in the mental asylum. After taking a closer look at the life and work of ken kesey, it is apparent that this writer deserves recognition as a profound American author. With hard work and determination ken kesey has written one flew over the cuckoo’s nest, which leaves behind a powerful message that can be either be neither ignored nor forgotten. The quote used in the previous paragraph is on which this story is based upon. This book is about a man who is sentence to be in a mental prison and sees the men in there are suffering from the head nurse. He faces the nurse’s authority, and tries to overthrow her rules. This book is seen as a classic novel. Ken Kesey was born in la junta, Colorado, but grew up in Springfield, Oregon where he spent his time in public schools, later intended the university of Oregon in Eugene. He received the Woodrow Wilson scholarship to Stanford University and a saxton fellowship, and won the Fred Lowe scholarship awarded to the outstanding wrestler in the northwest. Ken Kesey was a prankster. He was king of the merry pranksters that traveled the west coast that staged happenings. He also...
Words: 543 - Pages: 3
...One flew over the cuckoo’s nest “ One flew east, one flew west, and one flew over the cuckoo’s nest.” This book was written by and was the first for ken kesey. He has also written the great nation. I believe this is an interesting book because the protagonist of the story is mentally ill, but manages to fight to change the rules in the mental asylum. After taking a closer look at the life and work of ken kesey, it is apparent that this writer deserves recognition as a profound American author. With hard work and determination ken kesey has written one flew over the cuckoo’s nest, which leaves behind a powerful message that can be either be neither ignored nor forgotten. The quote used in the previous paragraph is on which this story is based upon. This book is about a man who is sentence to be in a mental prison and sees the men in there are suffering from the head nurse. He faces the nurse’s authority, and tries to overthrow her rules. This book is seen as a classic novel. Ken Kesey was born in la junta, Colorado, but grew up in Springfield, Oregon where he spent his time in public schools, later intended the university of Oregon in Eugene. He received the Woodrow Wilson scholarship to Stanford University and a saxton fellowship, and won the Fred Lowe scholarship awarded to the outstanding wrestler in the northwest. Ken Kesey was a prankster. He was king of the merry pranksters that traveled the west coast that staged happenings. He also appeared apart of and star of the...
Words: 536 - Pages: 3
...Dialectical Journal #2 Quote: “She looks around to if anybody else is about to interrupt her, smiling as her head turns in her collar” Response: In this passage the Big Nurse, Nurse Ratched, excerpts her authority amongst her patients by demoralizing them without speaking or using force. I have been put in a situation in which a teacher was able to keep her cool and command authority by showing power even when the students were being difficult. This power allowed the teacher to control her class without showing a sign of weakness. Nurse Ratched uses this technique to subdue her patients into making them believe that she’s all powerful Quote: “He had come to life for may be a minute to try and tell us something, something none of us cared to or tried to understand, and the effect had drained him dry.” Response: A patient in the hospital had a panic attack and tried to tell his colleagues something but was unable to and passed out according to this passage. Many times our feeling and emotions make sense to us but we can’t always explain them to the people that surround us. I have often felt a need to express my ideas with family and friends but occasionally I do not express myself correctly. The effort needed to explain something only you can feel can drain your energy. Quote: “This world… belongs to the strong, my friend! The ritual of our existence is based on the strong getting stronger by devouring the weak.” Response: The passage...
Words: 1099 - Pages: 5
...well with most of his colleagues and he acts like a sociopath who can do anything to achieve what he wants. Arguably, he does not show guilt for his actions that might have led to Billy’s death. Specific instances of Murphy’s diagnosis include his manipulative behavior like when he gave the Chief gum so as to make him speak and how he stopped Bibbit’s stuttering. Again, he is a deceitful character who manipulates people and tells lies to take advantage of situations. For instance, he took all the patients from the bus and onto the boat by claiming that they were doctors and consequently hey could use the boat (Advameg, 2015). This was a lie because this action put the patients live in danger. Reference Advameg Inc. (2015). “One flew over the cuckoo's nest”. Retrieved 7 June 2015 from...
Words: 272 - Pages: 2
...people are regulated and controlled, the more they will want to rebel through violence. A third form of escaping can be from a source of entertainment of pleasure. When something extremely admirable is perceived, it can change the mood of whoever it is affecting. If someone is very passionate toward music, they might be able to escape their problems by listening to their favorite song. Other things like games can offer an escape because they take everyone's mind off of their problems and focus them on the game. Escaping is something that people do all the time without even noticing it. When someone feels uncomfortable or troubled they perform some kind of escape to feel better. The theme of escapism appears throughout the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey as well as in A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess. The characters in both novels display their motives for escape in three main ways. They escape by using drugs and medication to alter their mind state and get them out of the present situation. In addition, they can use violence to escape or destroy their surroundings to break free. A...
Words: 2872 - Pages: 12
...Jordan Begley 1-21-14 The Individual and The System One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Many social issues and problems are explored in Ken Kesey's novel One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. Perhaps the most obvious complaint against society is the treatment of the individual. This problem of the individual versus the system is a very controversial topic that has provoked great questioning of the government and the methods used to treat people who are unable to conform to the government's standards. McMurphy is an individual who is challenging and rebelling against the system's rules and practices. He eventually teaches this practice of rebellion to the other patients who begin to realize that their lives are being controlled unfairly by the mental institution. When McMurphy first arrives at the institution, all of the other patients are afraid to express their thoughts to the Big Nurse. They are afraid to exercise their thoughts freely, and they believe that the Big Nurse will punish them if they question her authority. One patient, Harding, says, "All of us in here are rabbits of varying ages and degrees...We need a good strong wolf like the nurse to teach us our place" (Kesey 62). This novel has a very strong theme of government rejecting those who are considered nonconformists in modern society. The government then places these nonconformists in mental...
Words: 488 - Pages: 2
...Anthony Miley 5/29/14 Period 7 One flew over the cuckoo’s nest “ One flew east, one flew west, and one flew over the cuckoo’s nest.” This book was written by and was the first for ken kesey. He has also written the great nation. I believe this is an interesting book because the protagonist of the story is mentally ill, but manages to fight to change the rules in the mental asylum. After taking a closer look at the life and work of ken kesey, it is apparent that this writer deserves recognition as a profound American author. With hard work and determination ken kesey has written one flew over the cuckoo’s nest, which leaves behind a powerful message that can be either be neither ignored nor forgotten. The quote used in the previous paragraph is on which this story is based upon. This book is about a man who is sentence to be in a mental prison and sees the men in there are suffering from the head nurse. He faces the nurse’s authority, and tries to overthrow her rules. This book is seen as a classic novel. Ken Kesey was born in la junta, Colorado, but grew up in Springfield, Oregon where he spent his time in public schools, later intended the university of Oregon in Eugene. He received the Woodrow Wilson scholarship to Stanford University and a saxton fellowship, and won the Fred Lowe scholarship awarded to the outstanding wrestler in the northwest. Ken Kesey was a prankster. He was king of the merry pranksters that traveled the west coast that staged happenings. He also...
Words: 543 - Pages: 3
...One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest as a Tool for Awareness and Education As violence and diseases such as mental illness detrimentally affect individuals across the world, topics like these that occur in literature are censored, and children are shielded from these "harsh," yet unavoidable, realities. Both violence and mental health are reoccurring themes throughout the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kessey, which is why is it often challenged by parents of high school students. Although some concerned parents believe that the violent treatments within One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest are too disturbing and gruesome for adolescents, the book should be included in high school curriculums because it provides education and awareness...
Words: 1607 - Pages: 7
...Communism In A Box One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest written by Ken Kesey is about a psych ward who’s main priority isn’t to care for the insane, but to find frivolous reasons to punish them. The patients are always on edge, scared they will be punished for something they unconsciously did. The only person that makes them feel like the ward isn’t in complete control and that they have some ounce of freedom left is the newest inmate McMurphy. Ken Kesey uses Nurse Ratched, the dictator of this ward, who punishes her patients just as the fascist forms of government do to their people in our world today. The hospital is like a fascist state, one rules and the rest obey. Rules are made up along the way so the patients can be punished for anything that the dictator deems unacceptable. Any attempt the patients make to question authority or show any expression of freedom is met with strict action on behalf of the dictator. One source of control is the “red pill”. “Fredrickson likes a double dose because he’s scared to death of having a fit.” (153) The patients are unaware of the name or effects of this pill, but must do so reluctantly. Some, like Fredrickson take the pill in hopes of never having a fit again even if it is just a placebo. If the patients refuse to ingest it, they will be punished in terms psychiatric techniques including electroconvulsive therapy and lobotomy. They are forced to put their trust in these people involuntarily. Just like in fascism, anyone...
Words: 612 - Pages: 3
...Ms. Latasha Keith HUMN401-1305B-01: Literature and Film Professor Bonnie Ronson January 19, 2014 Unit 2 Individual Project – Canonical Classics of Literature Section 1- Introduction Ken Kesey’s novel “One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest” is set at an Oregon asylum in the 1950s (NovelGuide.com). The book is a study in the institutional process of the human mind, a critique of Behaviorism and a celebration of humanistic principles while exploring themes of individuality and rebellion against socially imposed repression (NovelGuide.com; SparkNotes.com; CliffsNotes.com). These themes and ideas were the topic of discussion during the publication of this novel because the world was introduced to communism and totalitarian regimes. The novel was published in 1962 and received with immediate success (SparkNotes.com). Section 2 – Biographical Information La Junta, Colorado is the birthplace of novelist Ken Kesey. He was born in 1935 and grew up on a small farm in Oregon and Colorado with his family. He married his high school sweetheart in 1956 and they had three children together (Lone Star College). He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Oregon where he participated in wrestling and theater in 1957 (Lone Star College; SparkNotes.com). In 1959, Kesey enrolled in a creative writing program at Stanford University, the same year where he began volunteering with the Stanford Psychology Department (CliffsNotes.com; Lone Star College). The Stanford Psychology...
Words: 2726 - Pages: 11
...of the ward. The patients roam the halls of the institution looking to abide by the strict rules of Nurse Ratched, while under the influence of drugs given to them. Laughter is almost a medicine to these patients, to help them escape the reality of their situations. Randall McMurphy is the distributor of this medicine, and brings humanity back to his fellow patients. After arriving McMurphy is able to make the men laugh and Chief realizes “what laughter can do” () to remind these men that they too are human and not products of a machine 4. 11). In the novel, the cuckoo’s nest represents the mental hospital. The institution is place where patients, represented by birds, are confined to a stable life controlled by bigger birds, or nurses. The title represents how McMurphy is one who managed to not abide by ward rules and instead changes the lifestyle within the institution. He is the cuckoo who managed to fly over what was expected of the patients. The mention of geese within the novel, portrays the patients need to be as free, just as wandering geese who can fly “east” and...
Words: 552 - Pages: 3
...Roles of Domineering and Passive Women Sometimes our expectation of what is good and what is evil can be surprisingly reversed. One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey is an example of this. Prior to the women’s rights movement in the 1970’s, men considered women to have limited roles in society. Men felt that the woman’s place was in the home. Women in the workforce were often looked upon as threats to manhood because they could take jobs and promotions away from men, who were typically the main source of a family’s income. This sentiment is reflected in Kesey’s novel. The majority of women in the book hold positions of authority. These women are portrayed as dominating and abusive with the intent to emasculate the male patients. The only other role of women in the novel is that of prostitutes who are portrayed as good because they allow men to be masculine. The prostitutes help the male patients with “women in authority” issues overcome their anxieties. In his novel, Kesey portrays nurses as threats to male patients in order to illustrate that, in general, women in authority can only result in the emasculation of men, while passive women can help restore the confidence of manhood. The principle authority figure, Nurse Ratched, is ruthless in her mission to dominate and control her male patients. She has the power to intimidate the staff into complying with her demands. When patients do not comply, she manipulates the doctor into ordering shock treatments and even...
Words: 746 - Pages: 3
...When looking at a tragic hero, the first thing that comes to mind is a type of character that starts as a low key person, and then becomes relevant person within society. In the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey, the mail McMurphy is a god like human in the minds of the other patients and gives them life as his time dwindles at the institution. Someone in my mind that reminds me of McMurphy is Barry Bonds. In his life, he started his career as a one of the most looked at players until he was tested positive for steriods. Randall McMurphy and Barry Bonds share the character traits of determination, arrogance, and isolation. To begin, the up forth of R.P McMurphy and Barry Bonds’s glory came to be from the determination they have to be the best at what they do. McMurphy, along the road for his rise amongst the patients at the home, could not have happened if it was not for the lack of enthusiasm he saw in the faces of the people he was with every day of his life at the institution. “Damn, what a sorry-looking outfit. You boys don’t look so crazy to me” (Kesey 19). McMurphy knows these men have been dragged down for being in the institution and believes in himself to help them. One way he gets them to see how his personality is, is by loosening them up and trying to me them feel better about themselves. In comparison to Barry Bonds, the way he went up in the ladder was by playing the game of baseball how every American loved to watch it be played, with lots of...
Words: 1061 - Pages: 5
