...Judith Guest’s novel, Ordinary People, and movie One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, directed by Milos Forman, both share a number of traits that correlate with one another . Such traits include vulnerability, perfection, and emotional imbalance. Both Ordinary People and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest captivate the emotions of the audience by addressing these three traits through a point of view, setting, and imagery. Since Ordinary People has two perspectives of a father and son, the point of view in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest focuses on Nurse Ratched’s confrontation with Billy. Furthermore, the vulnerability that Con develops after the death of his brother also applies to Billy when Nurse Ratched humiliated him in front of the other...
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...challenged which lead into the release of the movies: Cool Hand Luke (1967) and One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975). In Cool Hand Luke, Lucas Jackson is placed at a southern prison where as in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, R.P. (Randle) McMurphy was placed in a mental institution. They were the rebellious and Christ-like figures that were chained into a restricted society. One will see through the many similarities between the two movies’ including the characters, conflict, symbolism, and theme. The similarities between the...
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...Kesey and Weir both explore the struggle for independence by enforcing similar settings and contrasting characterisation in their two individual texts, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Dead Poet’s Society. At first glance, many would argue that there could not be two settings more dissimilar than a men’s mental institution, and a boy’s private school. However, both texts are set in heavily instituonalised arenas, where the individuals within the communities have had their independence and freedom stolen by overpowering figures of authority. Although the setting of the two institutions is contradictory in various ways; the warm, bricked and neat academy against the blinding white hospital walls; the oppression and rigidity between the two is evident. Both pieces introduce an...
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...The Power of Rebellion Rebellion is the only power against tyranny in this world. Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest addresses the power of rebellion against a tyrannical force through the relationship between protagonist R.P. McMurphy and antagonist Nurse Ratched. Through the use of diction, figurative language and symbolism, Kesey illuminates rebellion kindled by McMurphy as a force that degrades the power of Nurse Ratched. The use of diction in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is a key component to revealing the influence of McMurphy’s rebellion. The use of diction can be seen as Nurse Ratched’s “remote patience” begins to diminish following the destruction of the glass pane in front of her nurses’ station (Kesey 207). In this instance, Nurse Ratched’s forced patience with McMurphy is wearing down due to his repeated defiant acts. The word “remote” to describe Nurse Ratched’s patience, a patience she forces in order to maintain her calm, collected façade, reveals the influence of McMurphy’s rebellious actions. No longer is Nurse Ratched able to adequately mask her intolerance with the patients, which in turn demonstrates the breakdown of her control over said patients. Diction once again exposes Nurse Ratched’s loss of power as she “jerk[s] the adhesive as tight as she [can]” on McMurphy’s bandage (207). This rough physical movement indicates that Nurse Ratched is not pleased to be bandaging the hand of the man who shattered glass just to test her patience...
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...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...
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...The majority of individuals in society are often deceived by fallacious beliefs on those suffering with a psychological illness. The novel, One Who Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, written by Ken Kesey, educates readers on the prominence of proper education on mental health, as well as, the severity of the treacherous treatments directed towards the predominantly oppressed group. The renowned tale is narrated by Chief Bromden, who is described as a “deaf and dumb” Native- American, inhabiting the Oregon Psychiatric Institution. Conversely, the protagonist of the novel, Randel McMurphy, is introduced as a polar opposite to the majority of the ward’s patients. McMurphy, distinguished as an American of Irish decent, proclaims to be a well-known gambler,...
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...The Fog in Kesey’s novel, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, symbolises PTSD and other trauma that has caused Chief Bromden to be put into the ward. The fog makes it so he can escape from the real world, but it also suffocates him and frightens him. As the fog dissipates, it symbolises how his emotions changed throughout the novel, making him a stronger person both physically and mentally. Throughout the novel Chief Bromden feels as though he is falling into a fog, that he is convinced is being pumped into the ward. Progressively getting lighter and lighter until it does not affect Bromden anymore, Kesey used the idea of the fog to represent the change bromden experiences in the entirety of the novel. With its many symbolic uses during the novel the fog can be seen as many different things both supporting and keeping bromden away from his goals. In the novel, Kesey points to the fact that Chief Bromden was a soldier in World War II, and during his time in battle, they used fog to hide the troops when they were under attack or surveillance by the enemy, this memory is instilled in Chief’s mind, causing him to fall back into the fog whenever he feels frightened or violated. The fog is not truly there, although, he has come to believe...
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...To construct an image is to confer importance. Discuss The construction of “one flew over the cuckoo’s nest” is done so in a manner that looks to confer importance to not only its general community, by society as a whole. This importance is constructed by the use of several techniques such as symbolism, colour and conflict. Instances such as nurse ratchets introduction, and the ward patient’s unofficial fishing trip are scenes where these techniques are at their most prominent. Nurse ratchets entry onto the ward floor that Mcmurphy has been assigned too has great importance in developing her character. Her walk down the corridor, through the barred and locked door, with a red light positioned above it (which is often seen with many persons entrance) is a method of conferring importance to the imminent threat that the actor going through the door poses to the freedom of the patients. Symbolism of the colour red which is, in western society a classic ‘warning’ signal or ‘danger’ is used to show the imminent threat that Nurse ratchet poses too the protagonist, Mcmurphy. Likewise, the red light is shown in Mcmurphy’s entrance to symbolize his inherent nature to ‘disband’ and rattle the establishment. The viewer can tell that his presence in this institution has little chance of being beneficial to the proprietors. The camera shot used for nurse Ratchets entrance confers again the importance that she poses to the patients, or in particular Mchmurphy and his freedom. And again...
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...Following his many years working the night shift at a mental hospital in California and his frequent use of LSD, both recreationally and scientifically, Ken Kesey penned his seminal work, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Written during a time of great social change in the United States, that included the emergence of the Civil Rights and Beat movements, his novel details the workings of a mental ward through the eyes of the seemingly deaf and dumb Chief Bromden. As a result, the reader is allowed a first-hand look at what it means to be considered abnormal by society and at the brutal “therapeutic” treatment the asylum enforces in oreder to make these people “normal” again. Ken Kesey realized the prevailing notion of conformity in the post-war era and it’s almost omnipotent grip on society, yet he concurrently understood the...
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...The Hero’s Quest In the book “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” by Ken Kesey, the author depicts R.P. McMurphy as a hero throughout the book from the narrator, Chief Bromdens p.o.v. R.P. McMurphy is the main character of the book and he gets sent to the hospital as a new patient. As soon as he arrives the other patients realize he is different and is not like the other patients. Kesey shows how throughout the book McMurphy tries to help the other patients gain more confidence and stand up against Nurse Ratched, who is controlling and considers herself to be superior to everyone else. McMurphy comes to the hospital as a new admission. When he arrives he tells the other patients how he was having problems at work and then his job declared him as a psychopath. He didn’t want to go to jail so his other option was to come to the hospital and get admitted there. McMurphy’s arrival to the hospital also show his first step in his Hero’s Quest...
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...Дневник читателя READER’S JOURNAL Ernest Hemingway. The Old Man and the Sea (1952). Joseph Heller. Catch-22 (1961). Tennessee Williams. A Streetcar Named Desire (1959). Iris Murdoch. The Black Prince (1973). Jerome David Salinger. The Catcher in the Rye (1951). Michael Ondaatje. The English Patient (1992). Ray Bradbury. Fahrenheit 451 (1953). Ken Kesey. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1962). Edward Albee. Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1962). Arthur Miller. Death of a Salesman (1949). ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- Ernest Hemingway. The Old Man and the Sea (1952). ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- FULL TITLE · The Old Man and the Sea ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- AUTHOR · Ernest Hemingway ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- TYPE OF WORK · Novella ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- GENRE · Parable; tragedy ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- LANGUAGE · English ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- TIME AND PLACE WRITTEN · 1951, Cuba ------------------------------------------------- ...
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