“twitches like those two is the only thing this hospital does lack” – page 91, first 2 lines
This again shows the slang dialect that has been chosen by Ken Kesey for McMurphy’s character. It shows more life to McMurphy’s character and to the reader shows he is more experienced in the outside world. This line also shows McMurphy’s sexual frustration as its ‘the only thing this hospital lacks’ despite all the negativities the other patients point out, especially the narrator, Chief Bromden.
“To beat her you don’t have to whip her two out of three or three out of five, but every time you meet” – page 100, line 14
This shows more insight into the character development of Big Nurse. Her vigour and power she has upon the men is once emphasized and somewhat realistic. She has a wall up in front of her and she is not willing for any of the patients to knock it down, especially McMurphy, even though in some parts she seems to show some lack of that, in such scenes such as when McMurphy is just in a bathroom towel.
(page 91 last paragraph) "The clock at the end of the mess hall shows it's a quarter after seven, lies about how we only have been sitting here for fifteen minutes when you can tell that it's been at least an hour."
This yet again, shows time control within the institute. The Big Nurse sits in a control room which gives her access to control every action in the ward. This quote discusses that she is in charge of time. The Nurse decides when things can happen and by doing so, is in full control of the patients lives. She changes the clocks, so that things last exactly how long (or short) she plans. This allows the reader to know that she is able to keep everything on schedule even if there are obstacles. Her actions then lead to the ward running like a machine and she acts as a control panel. Everything in the institution works mechanically. This denies patients any freedom and reasonable treatment because their own minds cannot make decisions under the Big Nurse's control.
"One by one the patients are sneaking looks at her to see how she's talking the way Mc Murphy is dominating the meeting, and they see the same thing...she dont lose on her loosses, but she wins on ours...As soon as you let down your guard, as soon as you lose once, she's won for good."
These negative feelings portrayed by Chief Bromden, are also the views of most of the other patients in the ward. Even though Mc Murphy is new to the hospital, he has already started making a difference with the way things are run. He stands up for what he wants and battles the Nurse for superiority. However, the problem is that the patients in the ward have given up. The Nurse has already made such a strong impact on their minds and they feel that there is no hope. Even with a powerful man like McMurphy, they don't see a reason to try. The nurse still feels like she can control her ward, despite McMurphy’s cockiness. She’s confident that the rest of the staff will always back up her opinions, and that McMurphy won’t have his way. I feel that this moment is one of the last times the patients feel this way and they will finally get to see that the Nurse can be overpowered.
Page 100 “I thought for a minute I saw her whipped. Maybe I did. But I see now that it don’t make any difference. One by one the patients are sneaking looks at her to see how she’s taking the way McMurphy is dominating the meeting, and they see the same thing. She’s too big to be beaten She covers one whole side of the room like a Jap statue. There’s no moving her and no help against her. She’s lost a little battle here today, but it’s a minor battle in a big war that she’s been winning and that she’ll go on winning. We mustn’t let McMurphy get out hopes up any different, lure us into making some kind of dumb play. She’ll go on winning, just like the Combine, because she has all the power of the Combine behind her. She doesn’t lose one her losses, but she wins on ours. To beat her you don’t have to whip her two out of three or three out of five, but every time you meet. As soon as you let down your guard, as soon as you lose once, she’s won for good. And eventually we all got to lose. Nobody can help that.
The passage I picked is after the suggestion of playing cards in another room is granted against Nurse Ratched’s wishes. The passage is a description of the tension and on-going underlying feud between McMurphy and Nurse Ratched. In the passage Chief Bromden refers to the situation with McMurphy and Nurse Ratched as a battle and states that he has won a battle but will lose the war. In this passage the relationship between McMurphy and Nurse Ratched is developed. This is done through the use of narrative voice and description. Chief Bromden, the narrator displays detail of the battle of wills between the two as well as the escalation of it. In the passage we understand that Nurse Ratched is now regaining her control of the situation as it states, “I thought for a minute I saw her whipped. Maybe I did. But I see now that it don’t make any difference.” This statement reminds us that in the battle between of the two characters although Nurse Ratched may have been beaten she will not let this affect her and when he describes as seeing her “whipped” this represents her losing control of her composure and a slight shift of the battle. When it says “But I see now it doesn’t make any difference” this represents her regaining control of her composure as well as of the situation. The line “to beat her you don’t have to whip her two out of three or three out of five, but every time you meet.” This suggests that although McMurphy may win little battles and sees them as progress in the way things go about in the institution as well as the control overall, he will not win in the end. “As soon as you let down your guard, as soon as you lose once, she’s won for good,” from this we understand that Nurse Ratched is simply waiting for McMurphy to slip up before she completely takes back her control of the institution and of him for good.
Pg. 95 “The nurses look at one another and wonder what’s got into this man. The patients glance at McMurphy grinning from his corner and wait for the doctor to go on. He nods his head.”
This passage demonstrates the beginning of the turmoil that is commencing in the ward. This is the first sign of disruption as the doctor is acting out against the Big Nurse who is in charge. The section “the nurses look at one another” shows the uncertainty and shock in the doctor’s actions as he is going against common protocol. Also, this section of text conveys a sense of community within the staff as they are always against the patients and working together. In the section “what’s got into this man” the reader will categorise the doctor amongst the patients as people say that about people who have usually gone insane or done something against the norm. The fact that McMurphy was “grinning from his corner” shows that he is getting his way and that this chaos was exactly part of his big plan to overthrow the Big Nurse. This passage demonstrates shock and chaos within the plot and amongst the characters and to the reader it is positive as it is the beginning of a change within the ward. The change makes it less of a dictatorship and more of its own little community within the institution.
From page 95, ‘“Ah-before we go into that,” the doctor says…’ To page 96, ‘...a carnival? Here, on the ward?”’
In this passage we see the doctor talking about McMurphy’s proposal of a carnival in the ward. From the passage we know that McMurphy and the doctor had went to the same high school, also know that they have been talking ‘reminiscing’ in his office. This happened during one of their sessions in the day room. This situation is strange because the doctor never talks much. We know McMurphy is a very lucrative person with good control over his choice of words. This skill he possesses has helped him set his image amongst the patients. McMurphy already knows what the doctor is going to say, ‘McMurphy grinning from his corner’. This ‘grinning’ fits perfect into McMurphy’s character showing to everyone that he knows something. The grin also fits with the reader and how we grin since we know more. We know that the doctor is stepping up because of McMurphy. We see the doctor participating in the group, which contrasts to his normal passive behaviour. This behaviour is also silently frowned upon, even though the irony is that this is a group session where input is supposed to be encouraged. This quote, ‘The nurses look at one another and wonder what’s got into that man.’, confirms that the actions of the doctor are not in accord to the societal norm in this psychiatric ward. From the above, we can say that McMurphy has great influence over the oppressed. Although he can be manipulative at times, he is a caring individual at heart. The doctor is also important because he is being set free by McMurphy. He is no longer oppressed by the big nurse, shown by his talking out-of-line at the session. This is the moments before McMurphy changes the power balance. The whole passage has the outer layer of planning a carnival, with an inner layer of unspoken tension between the characters.
Page 100 "As soon as you let down your guard, as soon as you lose once, she's won for good."
Here is where I believe the nurse's influence on the patients, especially to Chief Bromden, strikes fear to the hearts of them and rules like a dictator. This quote shows how the patients must stay alert and not do anything to attract attention on themselves or else the consciences would be disastrous. But this fuels Murphy and his defiance towards Nurse Ratched.
“And I’m glad when it gets thick enough and you’re lost in it and can let go and be safe again” Page 100
This quote displays the hallucination that Chief Bromden has, the immense fog that blurs his vision and disables him from seeing things, normally it is shown as a sense of fear, as it gathers when he has not taken his medication and sees something that is intimidating and has this feeling of being able to harm him. From this quote, it shows this hallucination differently than fear but as a safe haven from Chief Bromden, to escape to tranquility. This creates this idea that the fog that surrounds him is more of a shield that barriers him from the reality that he does not want to face, in some ways this keeps him in a more sane position as he doesn’t fall into fear. Though, this disables him from seeing reality and creates an immense strength of imagination that makes him see everything as a machine.
pg 99 last paragraph "Her face is calm, as though she had a cast made and painted to just the look she wants. Confident, patient and unruffled. No more little jerk, just that terrible cold face, a clam smile stamped out of red plastic, a clean, smooth forehead, not a line in it to show weakness or worry." In this passage, Chief describes the expression that the nurse makes when listening to McMurphy talk. The diction used in here effectively describes the specific facial expression the nurse has, thus allowing the reader to visualise how she looks. The notation of a "cast" when describing her face shows her face is rigid and immobile as casts are normally such. This reflects on what she is currently feeling as a result of McMurphy speaking; somewhat threatened. She does not wish to show "weakness" which McMurphy could exploit, thus by adapting this cold demeanour McMurphy is unable to analyse the Nurse. Also the use of "Plastic" creates a very industrial image of the Nurse's appearance. This reflects on Chief's perspective of the Nurse, how she is the personification of control and order; plastic being created from factories; factories are the symbol for economic advancement; nations that seek power normally focus on this; nations that seek power normally have a dictatorship as their leader (in the past). To Chief, the nurse is a dictator who controls the asylum. Overall this creates an intimidating atmosphere, which would make the reader uncomfortable.
(Pg 91 Paragraph 1 ) "McMurphy says that as a matter of fact a couple of sweet twitches like those two is the only thing this hospital does lack. The bed they give a man here, finest he's ever slept in, and what a fine table they do spread. He can't figure why everybody's so glum about being locked up here."
This passage describes McMurphy's thoughts on staying at the mental hospital. He reveals that the lack of women at the hospital is the only thing that dissatisfies him. This suggests that there may be something more to his cheeky behaviour around Nurse Ratched. Chief Bromden says that McMurphy "cant figure why everybody's so glum about being locked up here." This shows McMurphy's lack of understanding towards the other patients as they do not feel the comfort and freedom of being at the mental hospital like he does, however, they feel "locked up" and restrained from freedom. The different diction used, "finest", "fine" and "glum" shows the contrast between the way McMurphy and the other patients feel.
“…and just as I’m thinking that nobody will be fool enough to break that silence…” pg 96, paragraph 1, line 5
In the following passage, McMurphy has just influenced the doctor to suggest a carnival for the ward. Naturally, the idea does not agree with the Nurse but to the Chief’s surprise, members of the ward are supporting the idea vocally. The purpose of the following passage I believe is to develop the setting of the ward. Through the following passage, we can see that the nurse’s subtle tyrannical manner has permeated into the Chief’s mindset. This is because he immediately assumes that no one would be willing to support the idea vocally infront of Nurse Ratchet as the idea opposes her systematic schedule and is taken by surprise upon seeing that Cheswick openly supports the idea. As a result, the author successfully conveys the consequences that are in place for those who challenged the nurse which is unbeknownst to McMurphy. In addition to this, the author could also be using the following passage to foreshadow the outcome and seriousness of the consequences later in the novel. In addition to this, the first person narration used by the author has a conversational tone which creates a tone of sympathy causing the reader to trust the experience of the narrator.
(page96, first paragraph) “As the doctor waits, a silence rears up from out of the nurse and looms over everybody, daring anybody to challenge it.”
This passage describes Nurse Ratchet and her influence over the patients. Nurse Ratchet is suggested to have the utmost power and control over the hospital and everyone in it. Although the nurse remains silent, it is suggested that the patients feel a sense of threat, insecurity and helplessness. This is achieved through the author’s use of literary features: diction, oxymoron and imagery. The use of diction of threat which includes the phrases ‘rears up’, ‘looms over’, ‘daring’ and ‘challenge’ well describe the discomfort and intimidation the patients, including Chief Bromden (the narrator), experiences. The oxymoron used in the phrase “a silence rears up” suggests the inhumane and disagreeable character of Nurse Ratchet, and also suggests a strange and unpleasant situation. Lastly, the imagery used in “rears up from out of the nurse and looms over everybody” helps the reader to more realistically experience the oppressive influence of the nurse over the patients which allows the reader to empathise with the characters.
“twitches like those two is the only thing this hospital does lack” – page 91, first 2 lines
ReplyDeleteThis again shows the slang dialect that has been chosen by Ken Kesey for McMurphy’s character. It shows more life to McMurphy’s character and to the reader shows he is more experienced in the outside world. This line also shows McMurphy’s sexual frustration as its ‘the only thing this hospital lacks’ despite all the negativities the other patients point out, especially the narrator, Chief Bromden.
“To beat her you don’t have to whip her two out of three or three out of five, but every time you meet” – page 100, line 14
This shows more insight into the character development of Big Nurse. Her vigour and power she has upon the men is once emphasized and somewhat realistic. She has a wall up in front of her and she is not willing for any of the patients to knock it down, especially McMurphy, even though in some parts she seems to show some lack of that, in such scenes such as when McMurphy is just in a bathroom towel.
(page 91 last paragraph) "The clock at the end of the mess hall shows it's a quarter after seven, lies about how we only have been sitting here for fifteen minutes when you can tell that it's been at least an hour."
ReplyDeleteThis yet again, shows time control within the institute. The Big Nurse sits in a control room which gives her access to control every action in the ward. This quote discusses that she is in charge of time. The Nurse decides when things can happen and by doing so, is in full control of the patients lives. She changes the clocks, so that things last exactly how long (or short) she plans. This allows the reader to know that she is able to keep everything on schedule even if there are obstacles. Her actions then lead to the ward running like a machine and she acts as a control panel. Everything in the institution works mechanically. This denies patients any freedom and reasonable treatment because their own minds cannot make decisions under the Big Nurse's control.
(Page 100, 2nd paragraph)
ReplyDelete"One by one the patients are sneaking looks at her to see how she's talking the way Mc Murphy is dominating the meeting, and they see the same thing...she dont lose on her loosses, but she wins on ours...As soon as you let down your guard, as soon as you lose once, she's won for good."
These negative feelings portrayed by Chief Bromden, are also the views of most of the other patients in the ward. Even though Mc Murphy is new to the hospital, he has already started making a difference with the way things are run. He stands up for what he wants and battles the Nurse for superiority. However, the problem is that the patients in the ward have given up. The Nurse has already made such a strong impact on their minds and they feel that there is no hope. Even with a powerful man like McMurphy, they don't see a reason to try. The nurse still feels like she can control her ward, despite McMurphy’s cockiness. She’s confident that the rest of the staff will always back up her opinions, and that McMurphy won’t have his way. I feel that this moment is one of the last times the patients feel this way and they will finally get to see that the Nurse can be overpowered.
Page 100
ReplyDelete“I thought for a minute I saw her whipped. Maybe I did. But I see now that it don’t make any difference. One by one the patients are sneaking looks at her to see how she’s taking the way McMurphy is dominating the meeting, and they see the same thing. She’s too big to be beaten She covers one whole side of the room like a Jap statue. There’s no moving her and no help against her. She’s lost a little battle here today, but it’s a minor battle in a big war that she’s been winning and that she’ll go on winning. We mustn’t let McMurphy get out hopes up any different, lure us into making some kind of dumb play. She’ll go on winning, just like the Combine, because she has all the power of the Combine behind her. She doesn’t lose one her losses, but she wins on ours. To beat her you don’t have to whip her two out of three or three out of five, but every time you meet. As soon as you let down your guard, as soon as you lose once, she’s won for good. And eventually we all got to lose. Nobody can help that.
The passage I picked is after the suggestion of playing cards in another room is granted against Nurse Ratched’s wishes. The passage is a description of the tension and on-going underlying feud between McMurphy and Nurse Ratched. In the passage Chief Bromden refers to the situation with McMurphy and Nurse Ratched as a battle and states that he has won a battle but will lose the war. In this passage the relationship between McMurphy and Nurse Ratched is developed. This is done through the use of narrative voice and description. Chief Bromden, the narrator displays detail of the battle of wills between the two as well as the escalation of it. In the passage we understand that Nurse Ratched is now regaining her control of the situation as it states, “I thought for a minute I saw her whipped. Maybe I did. But I see now that it don’t make any difference.” This statement reminds us that in the battle between of the two characters although Nurse Ratched may have been beaten she will not let this affect her and when he describes as seeing her “whipped” this represents her losing control of her composure and a slight shift of the battle. When it says “But I see now it doesn’t make any difference” this represents her regaining control of her composure as well as of the situation. The line “to beat her you don’t have to whip her two out of three or three out of five, but every time you meet.” This suggests that although McMurphy may win little battles and sees them as progress in the way things go about in the institution as well as the control overall, he will not win in the end. “As soon as you let down your guard, as soon as you lose once, she’s won for good,” from this we understand that Nurse Ratched is simply waiting for McMurphy to slip up before she completely takes back her control of the institution and of him for good.
Pg. 95 “The nurses look at one another and wonder what’s got into this man. The patients glance at McMurphy grinning from his corner and wait for the doctor to go on. He nods his head.”
ReplyDeleteThis passage demonstrates the beginning of the turmoil that is commencing in the ward. This is the first sign of disruption as the doctor is acting out against the Big Nurse who is in charge. The section “the nurses look at one another” shows the uncertainty and shock in the doctor’s actions as he is going against common protocol. Also, this section of text conveys a sense of community within the staff as they are always against the patients and working together. In the section “what’s got into this man” the reader will categorise the doctor amongst the patients as people say that about people who have usually gone insane or done something against the norm. The fact that McMurphy was “grinning from his corner” shows that he is getting his way and that this chaos was exactly part of his big plan to overthrow the Big Nurse. This passage demonstrates shock and chaos within the plot and amongst the characters and to the reader it is positive as it is the beginning of a change within the ward. The change makes it less of a dictatorship and more of its own little community within the institution.
From page 95, ‘“Ah-before we go into that,” the doctor says…’
ReplyDeleteTo page 96, ‘...a carnival? Here, on the ward?”’
In this passage we see the doctor talking about McMurphy’s proposal of a carnival in the ward. From the passage we know that McMurphy and the doctor had went to the same high school, also know that they have been talking ‘reminiscing’ in his office. This happened during one of their sessions in the day room.
This situation is strange because the doctor never talks much. We know McMurphy is a very lucrative person with good control over his choice of words. This skill he possesses has helped him set his image amongst the patients. McMurphy already knows what the doctor is going to say, ‘McMurphy grinning from his corner’. This ‘grinning’ fits perfect into McMurphy’s character showing to everyone that he knows something. The grin also fits with the reader and how we grin since we know more. We know that the doctor is stepping up because of McMurphy.
We see the doctor participating in the group, which contrasts to his normal passive behaviour. This behaviour is also silently frowned upon, even though the irony is that this is a group session where input is supposed to be encouraged. This quote, ‘The nurses look at one another and wonder what’s got into that man.’, confirms that the actions of the doctor are not in accord to the societal norm in this psychiatric ward.
From the above, we can say that McMurphy has great influence over the oppressed. Although he can be manipulative at times, he is a caring individual at heart. The doctor is also important because he is being set free by McMurphy. He is no longer oppressed by the big nurse, shown by his talking out-of-line at the session. This is the moments before McMurphy changes the power balance. The whole passage has the outer layer of planning a carnival, with an inner layer of unspoken tension between the characters.
Page 100 "As soon as you let down your guard, as soon as you lose once, she's won for good."
ReplyDeleteHere is where I believe the nurse's influence on the patients, especially to Chief Bromden, strikes fear to the hearts of them and rules like a dictator. This quote shows how the patients must stay alert and not do anything to attract attention on themselves or else the consciences would be disastrous. But this fuels Murphy and his defiance towards Nurse Ratched.
“And I’m glad when it gets thick enough and you’re lost in it and can let go and be safe again” Page 100
ReplyDeleteThis quote displays the hallucination that Chief Bromden has, the immense fog that blurs his vision and disables him from seeing things, normally it is shown as a sense of fear, as it gathers when he has not taken his medication and sees something that is intimidating and has this feeling of being able to harm him. From this quote, it shows this hallucination differently than fear but as a safe haven from Chief Bromden, to escape to tranquility. This creates this idea that the fog that surrounds him is more of a shield that barriers him from the reality that he does not want to face, in some ways this keeps him in a more sane position as he doesn’t fall into fear. Though, this disables him from seeing reality and creates an immense strength of imagination that makes him see everything as a machine.
pg 99 last paragraph "Her face is calm, as though she had a cast made and painted to just the look she wants. Confident, patient and unruffled. No more little jerk, just that terrible cold face, a clam smile stamped out of red plastic, a clean, smooth forehead, not a line in it to show weakness or worry." In this passage, Chief describes the expression that the nurse makes when listening to McMurphy talk. The diction used in here effectively describes the specific facial expression the nurse has, thus allowing the reader to visualise how she looks. The notation of a "cast" when describing her face shows her face is rigid and immobile as casts are normally such. This reflects on what she is currently feeling as a result of McMurphy speaking; somewhat threatened. She does not wish to show "weakness" which McMurphy could exploit, thus by adapting this cold demeanour McMurphy is unable to analyse the Nurse. Also the use of "Plastic" creates a very industrial image of the Nurse's appearance. This reflects on Chief's perspective of the Nurse, how she is the personification of control and order; plastic being created from factories; factories are the symbol for economic advancement; nations that seek power normally focus on this; nations that seek power normally have a dictatorship as their leader (in the past). To Chief, the nurse is a dictator who controls the asylum. Overall this creates an intimidating atmosphere, which would make the reader uncomfortable.
ReplyDelete(Pg 91 Paragraph 1 ) "McMurphy says that as a matter of fact a couple of sweet twitches like those two is the only thing this hospital does lack. The bed they give a man here, finest he's ever slept in, and what a fine table they do spread. He can't figure why everybody's so glum about being locked up here."
ReplyDeleteThis passage describes McMurphy's thoughts on staying at the mental hospital. He reveals that the lack of women at the hospital is the only thing that dissatisfies him. This suggests that there may be something more to his cheeky behaviour around Nurse Ratched. Chief Bromden says that McMurphy "cant figure why everybody's so glum about being locked up here." This shows McMurphy's lack of understanding towards the other patients as they do not feel the comfort and freedom of being at the mental hospital like he does, however, they feel "locked up" and restrained from freedom. The different diction used, "finest", "fine" and "glum" shows the contrast between the way McMurphy and the other patients feel.
“…and just as I’m thinking that nobody will be fool enough to break that silence…” pg 96, paragraph 1, line 5
ReplyDeleteIn the following passage, McMurphy has just influenced the doctor to suggest a carnival for the ward. Naturally, the idea does not agree with the Nurse but to the Chief’s surprise, members of the ward are supporting the idea vocally. The purpose of the following passage I believe is to develop the setting of the ward. Through the following passage, we can see that the nurse’s subtle tyrannical manner has permeated into the Chief’s mindset. This is because he immediately assumes that no one would be willing to support the idea vocally infront of Nurse Ratchet as the idea opposes her systematic schedule and is taken by surprise upon seeing that Cheswick openly supports the idea. As a result, the author successfully conveys the consequences that are in place for those who challenged the nurse which is unbeknownst to McMurphy. In addition to this, the author could also be using the following passage to foreshadow the outcome and seriousness of the consequences later in the novel. In addition to this, the first person narration used by the author has a conversational tone which creates a tone of sympathy causing the reader to trust the experience of the narrator.
(page96, first paragraph) “As the doctor waits, a silence rears up from out of the nurse and looms over everybody, daring anybody to challenge it.”
ReplyDeleteThis passage describes Nurse Ratchet and her influence over the patients. Nurse Ratchet is suggested to have the utmost power and control over the hospital and everyone in it. Although the nurse remains silent, it is suggested that the patients feel a sense of threat, insecurity and helplessness. This is achieved through the author’s use of literary features: diction, oxymoron and imagery. The use of diction of threat which includes the phrases ‘rears up’, ‘looms over’, ‘daring’ and ‘challenge’ well describe the discomfort and intimidation the patients, including Chief Bromden (the narrator), experiences. The oxymoron used in the phrase “a silence rears up” suggests the inhumane and disagreeable character of Nurse Ratchet, and also suggests a strange and unpleasant situation. Lastly, the imagery used in “rears up from out of the nurse and looms over everybody” helps the reader to more realistically experience the oppressive influence of the nurse over the patients which allows the reader to empathise with the characters.