What Is The Authority In One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

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In One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Ken Kesey contrasts life in an asylum and society. The intention of Ken Kesey’s argument is to prove how the authority is in control and that there is no freedom. Throughout part two of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, the asylums comparison to “The Combine” is mentioned and allows the reader to understand why Chief Bromden uses that reference. The ward is comparable to society because there are a set of many rules and limited freedom. Throughout One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Nurse Ratched (The Big Nurse) is the main authority who is in charge of the patients. Nurse Ratched has a desire to be in control, and those who oppose her power such as Randle McMurphy, allow her to feel threatened. In the novel, …show more content…
Being confined in the ward the patients haven’t sensed freedom and many of them are scared to, the ward serves the patients a sense of security. Randle McMurphy is an example of life outside of the ward and one who is not under the control of “The Combine.” McMurphy speaks his mind and is the only patient brave enough to stand up to Nurse Ratched. “The Combine” is what Chief Bromden refers society to, he believes that we live as if we are under the control of a machine. Society follows a strict schedule with limited freedom, Nurse Ratched is comparable to the government due to her controlling tendencies. If a patient does not follow under her commands she begins to feel insecure and retaliates back. An example is Nurse Ratched's “group therapy” or in Randle McMurphy’s definition “A hen pecking party.” (Ken Kesey, 129) During these group therapies Nurse Ratched finds a way to manipulate friends against each other, which allows the audience to question in what way is she helping the patients heal. Nurse Ratched allows her rules and manipulation to benefit herself rather than the patients of the ward. The rules and confinement of the ward have left the patients under the control of the authority, they are no longer individuals but rather an outcome of Nurse Ratched's manipulation and
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