Randle P McMurphy And Nurse Ratched example essay topic

The film version of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, produced by Milos Forman, contains many similarities to the novel, however the differences are numerous to the extent that the story, written by Ken Kesey, is overlooked by anyone who only saw the film. Ken Kesey wrote the novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, after experimenting with drugs and working on a psychiatric ward in 1960 and the novel was published in 1962. "Kesey became a night attendant on the Menlo Park Veterans Hospital psychiatric ward so that he could concentrate on his writing". (Magill 1528) Kesey's rebellious novel explores the world of mental patients struggling against authority and society through incredible imagery.

He was able to describe this struggle because of his personal experiences. Kesey was "disturbed by the dehumanizing treatment of the patients" (Beetz 3089-3090), so he decided to write this novel about them. In his surrealistic life's work, Ken Kesey has managed to capture both the gloomy asylum atmosphere and the mental patients' demented attitudes. Kesey's novel proclaims a classic struggle between good and evil or the hero and the villain. This contemporary classic was brought to life through the film version in 1975 and is considered "one of the greatest American films of all time" (Dirks 1).

It was the first film to receive all the major Oscar awards. These included Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Screenplay. The same name as the novel was chosen so that it would appeal to contemporary audiences, which proved to be a big hit at the box office. "Its allegorical theme is set in the world of an authentic mental hospital, a place of rebellion by a wise-guy hero against institutional authority and attitudes". (Dirks 1) The initial difference between the novel and the film is the main character.

In the novel, the story is told through the eyes of the narrator, Chief Bromden. Chief Bromden is the main character and "the most fully developed character in the novel". (Beetz 3089) The Chief is a supposedly deaf-mute, half-breed Indian who is a very large and powerful man. He is a paranoid-schizophrenic who has been a Chronic patient on the ward for fifteen years. He is known as "Chief Broom", because he is constantly pushing a broom around the ward. From the beginning, the reader knows the Chief is not deaf and mute, he is just pretending to be.

The Chief is allowed to go everywhere, within the ward, because everyone thinks he cannot hear anything. Also, the reader knows that he is severely psychotic. Even though the Chief is a very large and powerful man, in his mind he is small and weak. He is constantly in a fog that he thinks is pumped on to the ward. With Randle P. McMurphy joining the ward, the Chief begins to grow again. The Chief and McMurphy bond, as friends, instantly.

Their beds are next to each other's and they talk about many different things every night. McMurphy learns all about the Chief's past. However, the Chief is afraid. He is afraid that McMurphy will bring him and the other patients out of the fog. The Chief doesn't want to come out of the fog, because he feels safe while he is in the fog. "That's what McMurphy can't understand, us wanting to be safe.

He keeps trying to drag us out of the fog, out in the open where we'd be easy to get at". (114) In the end, through their friendship, McMurphy brings the Chief back to reality and he makes him big again. Chief Bromden is not afraid to be out of the fog and he is grateful to McMurphy. He is so grateful; in fact, he returns the favor after McMurphy's lobotomy and suffocates him, to set him free.

In the film, however, Randle P. McMurphy is considered the main character. The story starts with McMurphy being admitted into the psychiatric hospital. He is a strong individual who pretends to be crazy to get out of working in a prison. The film centers on McMurphy's character and his antics. Being able to see McMurphy's facial expressions creates very funny scenes. Also, the interaction between McMurphy and the other patients are brought more to life in the film.

Their odd quirks are more visual than in the novel. The viewer can see and feel the hatred McMurphy has for Nurse Ratched. In regards to the Chief being a deaf-mute, the viewer does not find out he is pretending to be a deaf-mute until almost the end, when he thanks McMurphy for the Juicy Fruit gum. With Chief Bromden's role reduced in the film, to the viewer, there is a loss of the friendship between the Chief and McMurphy. Without knowing how deep their friendship is the ending has less meaning. The viewer does not really know what the Chief is thinking and cannot fully understand why the Chief kills McMurphy.

The characterizations in Kesey's novel are basically similar in the film with some differences. The characters are full of personality and each one is very distinct. There are no real differences with the two central characters, Randle P. McMurphy and Nurse Ratched. McMurphy, a con man who fakes mental illness, is a strong man who represents freedom and individualism. Nurse Ratched is a strong, dominating female who represents social authority, conformity, and a repressive and mechanized civilization.

There is a contest of wills between McMurphy and the Big Nurse, which is felt throughout the novel and the film. When the two meet it is a battle from the start. Subtle mind games start to occur between McMurphy and Nurse Ratched. McMurphy is always trying to change the rules on the ward and Nurse Ratched always overpowers his efforts. He wants his new found friends to have more freedom and to be considered as individuals.

Nurse Ratched wins most of the battles, although she lets Mr. McMurphy win some of the small battles, as "in the most well-remembered sequence in the film, McMurphy pretends to be enjoying the second World Series baseball game on television in a contest of wills with the Nurse". (Dirks 5) In the end, the only thing Randle P. McMurphy wins is getting the patients to believe in themselves, even though he loses his own life. Nurse Ratched always does things by the book, her book. She runs like a well-oiled machine. Everything Nurse Ratched does is timed and precise. Every day is exactly the same as the day before and her schedule is unbreakable.

She uses her strong intimidation, backed with logic, reason, and the system. In regards to McMurphy, Nurse Ratched is just waiting for him to make a mistake and then she wins. The only thing McMurphy wins is getting the patients to believe in themselves, even though he loses his own life. Billy Bibbit's character was also maintained between the novel and film.

He is nervous, shy, and suicidal. Billy stutters and he sees Nurse Ratched as a mother figure. He is afraid of his mother and Nurse Ratched. She knows this and uses this knowledge to keep Billy under control. After Billy sleeps with Candy, McMurphy's girlfriend, Nurse Ratched tells him his mother would be disappointed.

He begs her not to tell his mother, but she says, "Your mother and I are old friends". (264) Of course, this sends Billy over the edge and he kills himself. One character portrayed differently is Chief Bromden. The film does not explore the Chief's character as detailed as the novel. The Chief is insane and the reader finds out about his past, which is disturbing and troublesome.

His past is very essential to the story line. He is a half-breed from a white mother and an Indian father. The mother is domineering and the main influence that destroyed his father. Also, the government takes away his father's land, which is the reason his father becomes an alcoholic. The reader can really feel his pain, which is missed in the film. The only thing, which is similar, is that he is a very large, supposedly deaf-mute who pushes a broom around the ward all the time.

Another character who is portrayed different in the film is Cheswick. Cheswick is meek and whiny and sees Randle P. McMurphy as a God. McMurphy helps build Cheswick's self-confidence. Cheswick is able to stand up for himself against Nurse Ratched, because he knows McMurphy is backing him up. He puts all his trust into McMurphy, but when McMurphy tries not to fight against Nurse Ratched anymore, Cheswick is crushed. In the novel, he drowns himself in the pool and never goes on the deep-sea fishing trip.

In the film, Cheswick is still meek and whiny and considers McMurphy a God. However, unlike the novel, he does not kill himself and he goes on the deep-sea fishing trip. Although some characters were portrayed differently in the film, the central characters remained true to form with the novel. The novel explores the concept of man vs. machine, whereas, in the film people and things are not associated with machines. Ken Kesey uses mechanistic imagery throughout the novel, through Chief Bromden's fantasies. The patients are considered to be broken machines and the psychiatric hospital is considered to be the repair shop.

Nurse Ratched moves mechanically and not naturally in her everyday routine. There is a fog machine Nurse Ratched uses to disperse a thick fog on the ward. However, the Chief is the only patient that can see the fog. In understanding the Chief's thoughts, this imagining is very important to the story line and is never seen in the film. Every time he feels afraid, a thick fog is pumped on to the ward. This is his escape from reality.

Another machine depicted in the novel and not in the film is the "Combine". Described by the Chief, in detail, the "Combine" is an organized society at its worst. It is an organization that controls everything and everyone by manipulating and spying on people. The "Combine" has destroyed his life.

It took away his father's land and caused his father to become an alcoholic. The "Combine" put him in to the Army, which brought on his psychosis. According to the Chief, the "Combine" destroys everyone's life. "It is the mass society that will not tolerate individuality and that will fold, spindle, or mutilate any person who fails to conform". (Magill 1532) The mechanistic imagery throughout the novel gives the reader the feeling that everyone in authority and everything in society is monstrous and less than human. The film does not show the viewer the concept of man vs. machine.

There is no fog dispersed on to the ward. The viewer does not hear machine mechanisms working in the walls of the psychiatric hospital. The "Combine" is never mentioned as an organized society and the viewer never considers this concept. Also, Nurse Ratched is viewed as a less than human monster, but not a mechanical robot. By Ken Kesey using mechanistic imagery, the novel gives a better portrayal of man vs. machine than the film. Two different perspectives are observed between the main character in the novel and the main character in the film.

The story is told by Chief Bromden in the novel and by McMurphy in the film. The Chief describes everyone from his point of view, even though he is a paranoid schizophrenic and at times, hard to follow. The accounts of Chief Bromden's past are very specific and fundamental to the theme. The reason his life is destroyed and him being in the psychiatric hospital is only seen through his viewpoint. He describes his feelings about everyone and everything around him. McMurphy is characterized true to form.

He is a freedom fighter for individualism and he will fight for the cause until he dies. Randle P. McMurphy is a hero and friend in Chief Bromden's eyes. In his description of Nurse Ratched, she is a monstrous machine that represses individuals and she never loses. She will destroy everyone she possibly can.

In the film, the story is viewed through the eyes of Randle P. McMurphy. McMurphy walks into the psychiatric hospital and starts an uproar. He wants to organize things the way he wants them to be. Right from the start, McMurphy draws the Acute patients into gambling games. Then, he organizes basketball games and escapes to take his new friends on a deep-sea fishing trip. He observes everyone and everything around him.

When McMurphy looks at Nurse Ratched the viewer knows he hates her. He knows she manipulates the other patients and the viewer feels this through McMurphy's actions and observations. However, the viewer never knows what McMurphy is feeling or thinking in the film. In the end, the viewer is left wondering about the Chief and why he really escaped the psychiatric hospital. Therefore, much of the story is missed through the eyes of Randle P. McMurphy. Both the novel and film depict a strong theme that reflects the feelings toward individuals and society.

It has all the elements of drama, suspense, and comedy. The basis of the theme is on how authority can be organized, calculated, and polished on the outside, but still corrupt on the inside. "For Kesey, mass society represents big business, government, labor, communication, and religion and thus subordinates the individual, who is stripped of his dignity, significance, and freedom". (Magill 1531) The theme leads a person through a whole different world. A world where paranoia runs wild and chaos is second in command only to Nurse Ratched, or society and how powerful a single authority can be. Chapter by chapter and scene by scene, the plot unravels, separating truth and insanity to reveal an amazing war of the mind.

The power of strict, systematic control, verses the power of rebellion is a strong issue of the 1960's and this issue works well as the theme for the novel and film. A powerful story is told where everyone's individualism is essential to life. A person must meet life on its own terms or lose their individuality, dignity, and freedom. Even though McMurphy died, his legend lives on. An individual can find criticism with the "nest" or psychiatric hospitals or an individual can see how all of us are trapped in a restrictive and maddening 'nest" of our own making. Although there are similarities and differences between the novel and film, it is an enjoyable version of strange human interaction with a battle against authority.

The story is universal and it can be found in all aspects of life.