End The Big Nurse example essay topic

English Book Review 1 Title: One flew over the cuckoo's nest Author: Ken KeseyEditor, nr. of pages, year published: Published by 'the Penguin Group', 310 pages, first published in 1962 Summary: The scene is laid in a mental hospital. The narrator is an old Indian, called Chief Bromden, he plays deaf and dumb and he doesn't really take part in the action. The story starts when Randle Patrick McMurphy is admitted to the hospital. McMurphy is no ordinary patient, he's actually a bit too sane to be in a mental hospital. But that doesn't matter to the staff and especially Nurse Ratched, who thinks everyone in the ward should bow to her command. McMurphy is a stubborn man and doesn't feel like doing everything the 'Big Nurse's ays.

Throughout the whole story Nurse Ratched battles McMurphy, with her somethings ridiculous commands and McMurphy fights back by ignoring her and playing pranks on her. McMurphy tries to make the other patients revolt against the Big Nurse and her ward policy. He tries to enjoy himself and the other loons as much as possible. He even smuggles a whore onto the ward, but, as always, gets caught red handed.

In the end the Big Nurse gives the order to enter McMurphy for a lobotomy. At the very end of the book the old Indian, the narrator, has become really fed up with everything and escapes from the ward. Discussion of main characters and physical description: o Randle Patrick McMurphy: McMurphy is a broad, redheaded man. He doesn't take anything too seriously. He can't handle any form of authority. He always stands up for himself.

His opinion won't go unheard. o Miss Ratched: Nurse Ratched, also called the Big Nurse, is a very dominant person. She is very bossy and if she doesn't have total control, she will act out very a gressive. o Chief Bromden: The Chief is a tall Indian man. He plays dumb and deaf, but actually understands everything he wants to. He isolates a lot, but McMurphy manages to get him back into 'our world'. o The rest of the patients on the ward: The can mostly all be described as feeble minded. The can't stand up for themselves and try to avoid confrontations. Background to the story: The story was written in the beginning of the sixties, in the USA.

It reflects the feeling of the youth at the time. They felt misunderstood by the adults and tried to change the system. The rebelled against authority of all forms. They wanted to think for themselves, instead of being directed towards the conformist ic society. McMurphy's battle stands as an example for the struggle against a dogmatic form of authority. Personal opinion: I liked the book for it's cynical viewpoint on the mentally challenged.

But I don't like the way it is narrated. It is very vague, off course it is told by a loon, but I would have liked it better if it were more clear. And I don't like McMurphy, as he's just too much an American stereotype... Why did you choose this book? I've already read so many fragments, seen bits and pieces of the movies at school, that I finally wanted to know the whole story. Discuss the style and vocabulary in the book: Kesey uses normal size sentences and uses very understandable language.

He also uses 'spoken language', e.g. Helluva lot = Hell of a lot. He style of writing is typical for the kind of 'rebel' novel. I recognised the style in other books with a comparable feeling, like 'Ik, Jan Cremer' by Jan Cremer. Biography of the author: Ken Kesey was born in Oregon, USA, where he still lives. He graduated from the University of Oregon and later studied at Stanford. 'One flew over the cuckoo's nest' was his first novel and was first published in 1962 and then in 1964 'Sometimes a great notion' followed.

And four more novels followed (Demon Box, Caverns, The Further Inquiry and Sailor Song). He also wrote a biography, 'Kesey's Garage Sale', which depicts Kesey and his friends throughout the 'Swinging Sixties'..