One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Psychology

Words: 1324
Pages: 6

“I tried, didn’t I? Goddammit, at least I did that,” says Randle McMurphy, after a failed attempt at lifting the five hundred pound control panel that sat in the ward. And tried, he did.
Throughout the novel and its film adaption, protagonist McMurphy tries with all his might to get under the skin of Nurse Ratched; a cold, mechanical woman whom the patients refer to as Big
Nurse. Written and set in the 60’s, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, written by Ken Kesey, takes place in a mental institution; one of which that still practices outdated methods of rehabilitation such as electric-shock therapy and lobotomy. The patients of the ward are subjected to Nurse Ratched’s oppression; she is a character described as manipulatively evil, despite her well put-together and
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It can be inferred his death was suicide and not an accident since he was upset about McMurphy being a bystander. McMurphy then becomes burdened with heavy guilt.
He decides that he will in fact keep boycotting Nurse Ratched, and plans a huge night in the ward in which he will sneak in prostitutes, booze, and marijuana. A person watching the film cannot make the connection that Cheswick’s death causes character development for McMurphy.
The absence of a significant character death takes away context of the story.
While the movie mostly keeps true to the story and both works have many similarities in terms of events and characters, the length of a book and reading narration can add much more depth. Chief Bromden is incredibly important to the development of the story and each character, but he is treated as a secondary character in the film. The bond he and McMurphy create is much deeper than it appears in the movie. By the end of the novel, McMurphy’s brain is fried from excessive shock therapy that he receives as punishment for the illegal party he throws in the ward. His mental state is reduced to that of a vegetable. In order to allow him to die with