People find peace when they are surrounded by accepting individuals who share their similarities and don’t attempt to alter them. Happiness stems from the ability to freely express oneself. However, society possesses the ability to limit this freedom, resulting in a sense of entrapment. Individuals can be easily swayed into adopting illogical ideologies or principles. Ken Kesey’s novel, One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, highlights how Nurse Ratched, the ward, and society at large aim to manipulate and control the patients. The patients’ mental freedom hinges on the strength of their minds and whether they succumb to society’s influence or not.
The window behind Nurse Ratched symbolizes her all-knowing control over the patients. Through it, she can observe their every move in the day room, leaving them without any privacy. It resembles a fish tank, with the patients constantly under the nurse’s watchful gaze. This constant scrutiny makes them feel inferior and powerless. Despite being transparent, the window acts as a barrier between the patients and the nurse’s authority. McMurphy defies her superior power by breaking the window into fragments.
Bromden recounts the act of rebellion when he says, “The glass shattered like water splashing, and the nurse clasped her hands over her ears. He retrieved one of the cigarette packs with his name on it, then placed it back and turned towards the Big Nurse who sat like a chalk statue. He carefully brushed away the glass fragments from her hat and shoulders.” The remaining patients in the ward allow Nurse Ratched to maintain her control, whereas McMurphy resists her authority. Additionally, Nurse Ratched exercises power over the patients by emasculating them.
The woman possesses large breasts which she endeavor to conceal beneath her uniform, aiming to induce a perception of reduced femininity amongst men. Her intentions include diminishing the masculinity of patients and any other male within the ward, thereby maintaining her own authority. McMurphy even labels her as a “ball cutter” or an individual who attempts to weaken others in order to enforce obedience and conformity. He believes that the most effective method to accomplish this is by targeting sensitive areas which personally affect one’s psyche. The nurse focuses on these vital areas to mentally weaken individuals and instill a sense of inadequacy within them. By convincing patients that they lack strength, she can effectively manipulate and control them. McMurphy challenges Nurse Ratched’s emasculating tactics when he questions her knowledge of his uncle’s experience with a woman who deliberately misrepresented his name. Essentially, McMurphy highlights the power dynamic between men and women while also threatening Nurse Ratched’s authority, reminding her that beyond the confines of the ward, she does not hold the same level of control.
Society creates an environment where patients feel that their only place is inside the ward, leading them to believe this is where they belong. Individuals who deviate from societal norms are labeled as individuals who should be confined in a mental hospital. Within the ward, there are two categories of patients – those who are committed and those who are voluntary. Committed patients, such as McMurphy, are legally mandated to be in the ward while voluntary patients actively choose to seek refuge in the ward. Society reinforces the notion that they are incapable of functioning and afflicted with mental illness, resulting in a complete loss of control.
Billy Bibbit, an willing patient, remains on the ward because he is not “big and tough” and he also mentions that Harding, Fredrickson, and Sefelt, who are voluntary patients as well, are not either. They choose to escape from the harsh reality of society because it is preferable to how they feel in the outside world. Even Harding acknowledges that “this world … belongs to the strong, my friend! The ritual of our existence is based on the strong becoming stronger by consuming the weak. We must confront this.”
It is inevitable, and we must acknowledge it as a natural law, that those who lack mental strength cannot defy society. Although the ward is not an ideal living environment, these individuals are so unhappy and miserable in ordinary society that they choose to be there instead. By inducing such feelings in people, particularly the patients, society can effortlessly eliminate those who do not conform. Conversely, McMurphy stands out from the rest. He possesses exceptional determination and refuses to let society’s opinions overpower him mentally.
The disposal of an individual in society is solely through the declaration of mental illness, relying on the law for this purpose. Incapacity of mental strength among voluntary patients leads to misery within the ward, creating a vicious cycle. Committed patients engage in a battle for release while Nurse Ratched holds the top position in the social structure within the ward. The black boys serve as her second eyes and hands, chosen after rigorous testing and rejection of candidates lacking sufficient hatred like she does. They operate on the same “frequency” as Nurse Ratched to maintain order. Similar to her presence, they constantly monitor the patients, leaving no room for freedom. Group therapy is employed as another method to control them. During one session, Nurse Ratched asked patients to reveal their old secrets and threatened them with revisiting their past histories when met with silence. Many patients confessed to disturbing actions under this threat such as incestuous relationships or animal cruelty during childhood, further weakening themselves. Despite Nurse Ratched’s attempts to undermine McMurphy by bringing up his past mistakes, these efforts have not succeeded and left him feeling embarrassed and out of place alongside other patients who overheard the conversation.
According to her, McMurphy defended himself confidently after being accused of “rape”. The individuals whom Nurse Ratched, the ward, and external society exerted control over experienced a loss of their freedom and happiness. They allowed society to transform them and disrupt the tranquility within. This is evident from the lack of laughter in the ward. The walls seem to constrict the air, making it too tight for laughter, indicating society’s strong hold on the patients’ minds to the extent that they are afraid to open up and laugh. They have lost their stability and balance. Unlike them, McMurphy resists the ward’s control and maintains his laughter since his arrival. He fails to comprehend why the patients would permit themselves to be so controlled that they are unable to laugh. Ultimately, Nurse Ratched, the ward, and society manipulated the patients into believing something was truly wrong with them, merely because they did not conform to society’s ideals. As a result, they lost their joy and pleasure in life.
