She shames Billy Bibbit when she finds him in bed with a prostitute following an unapproved party on the ward.

Power can be used as a source of evil or heroism.

If we take Nurse Ratched’s characteristics and apply Josephine Donovan theory, from her essay, “Beyond the Net: Feminist Criticism as a Moral Criticism,” she would more than likely describe Nurse Ratched as an “Other,” i.e., a woman who “detracts from the goals of the male protagonist,” in this case, McMurphy. These two characters also go head to head with the power of deceptive manipulation as their weapons. A sexless, rigid caricature of a nurse, Nurse Ratched imposes discipline on her ward with all the fervour of an Army Nurse, which she had been. Nurse Ratched knows she must regain control, so she uses her friendship with Billy's mother.

I tried to talk to [McMurphy] into playing along with [Nurse Ratched] so’s to get out of the treatments, but he just laughed and told me Hell, all they was doin’ was chargin’ his battery for him, free for nothing. exposes her hypocrisy and deceit, and she is never able to regain She services them to reveal things that shame them to one another. Nurse Ratched may have lost control of the ward, but she has won her battle with McMurphy, as the other men learn when he is returned to the ward: 'And one morning, after McMurphy'd been gone three weeks, she made her last play. But beneath her stylish exterior lurks a growing darkness. and exactly where to peck.

At some time—perhaps in your childhood—you may have been allowed to get away with flouting the rules of society. Like the tip of a soldering iron.

Check out the analysis below, then dive into the key takeaways!

Japanese Nurse The one example of a woman in the novel who mediates the two extremes of "ball-cutter" and whore.

Typically, the glass is broken inadvertently by one of the patients, but McMurphy intentionally breaks the glass to seize the cigarettes Nurse Ratched has confiscated. She uses it to manipulate patients to manage her mechanically structured ward. Enrolling in a course lets you earn progress by passing quizzes and exams. Create an account to start this course today. First Charles Cheswick and now William Bibbit! McMurphy suggests that the men just shouldn’t answer, ...nurse who they see as icy.

She is a little bit insincere and double-hearted, while she smiles a lot and talks sweetly; her mind is far from the kindness. McMurphy doesn’t know it, but he’s onto what I realized a long time back, that it’s not just the Big Nurse by herself, but it’s the whole Combine, the nation-wide Combine that’s the really big force, and the nurse is just a high-ranking official for them. Character Analysis: Chief Bromden - The narrator/patient of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. study However, it also has the capability to champion freedom and rights for others. During this time, the American social atmosphere was quiet conformed, in that everyone was expected to follow the same, fixed format of behavior in society, and the ones who stand out of being not the same would likely be “beaten down” by the social norms. ...persists until that afternoon when they have a group session.

and career path that can help you find the school that's right for you. Both Candy and Vera are described as beautiful women, who have a knack for capturing the attention of the men in the ward. The inmates themselves are their own worst enemy, consuming themselves in this community of fear and cowering, unsure of how to live and how to function on their own. In many parts of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Bromden describes Ratched as being like a machine; her systematic scheming, and her name Ratched is similar, routine of the Group Meeting, McMurphy tells the patients that Nurse Ratchet is a genuine “ball-cutter.” The other patients tell him that, organisation and persistence of the boat trip.

While Vera is married and Candy is not, both are shown as easy going women who are always looking for fun and good times. Character Analysis Nurse Ratched In literary terms, Nurse Ratched is a flat character, which means she encounters no changes whatsoever throughout the book.

Often referred to as “Big Nurse.” She runs the psychiatric ward with an iron fist, and functions as the novel’s antagonist. That foolish lenience on the part of your parents may have been the germ that grew into your present illness. Nurse Ratched (Big Nurse) Nurse Ratched desires order, and she wants complete power, so she manipulates her patients and the staff to fulfill her desires.

In the first few pages we see her show her “hideous self” to Bromden

When you broke a rule you knew it.

I’d think he was strong enough being his own self that he would never back down the way she was hoping he would. doctors in training) are all present. She tried to get her ward back into shape, but it was difficult with McMurphy’s presence still tromping up and down the halls and laughing out loud in the meetings and singing in the latrines. Being the main nurse and the woman with many connections inside and outside of the hospital, she can do things the way she wants them to be done. Nurse Ratched does possess a nonmechanical and undeniably human

McMurphy, ever the gamesman, recognizes Nurse Ratched's game at once. My students love how organized the handouts are and enjoy tracking the themes as a class.”, LitCharts uses cookies to personalize our services.

Cheswick, Moral Lense Literary Analysis of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest the Group Meetings by airing their dirtiest, darkest secrets, and

he picks up on her weak spots right away. The "Black Boys" (Washington, Warren, and Geever) Chosen by Nurse Ratched as orderlies because of their hostility and strength.

Her goal is to conceal her large breasts, which she views as a symbol of weakness. During McMurphy’s stay at the psychiatric ward it was mundane and lifeless. The patients try to please her during

She’s a middle-aged, former Army nurse whose principal tactic of control is emasculating her male patients. The novel pits her against. Maybe that makes him strong enough, being what he is. He uses his overt sexuality McMurphy makes a bet that he can make, McMurphy is especially cocky after his mild victory with, ...Series on television (something for which McMurphy had been taking bets).

It affected the mental hospital because many patients were happy he escaped from Nurse Ratched authority. Nurse Ratched establishes a system for the men to snitch on each other by writing their reports in a notebook.

Instant downloads of all 1360 LitChart PDFs Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select. They’re trying to act like they still got their eyes on nothing but that blank TV in front of us, but anyone can see they’re all sneaking looks at the Big Nurse behind her glass there, just the same as I am.

SparkNotes is brought to you by Barnes & Noble. 'She got the response she was after.

her thin facade of compassion or her falsely therapeutic tactics.

Nurse Ratched ! McMurphy assumes she aims to have him castrated, but the operation she has in mind is even more debilitating. After Harding signed out and was picked up by his wife, and George transferred to a different ward, just three of us were left out of the group that had been on the fishing crew, myself and Martini and Scanlon.

After Harding signed out and was picked up by his wife, and George transferred to a different ward, just three of us were left out of the group that had been on the fishing crew, myself and Martini and Scanlon. ...watching the World Series, and Bromden watches as all twenty Acutes raise their hands.

Nurse Ratched is rarely ruffled by events on the wall, but this effrontery challenges her ability to maintain her stoic demeanor.

She quickly extinguishes any behavior on the ward that deviates from her mechanized regime. She’s a middle-aged, former Army nurse whose principal tactic of control is emasculating her… read analysis of Nurse Ratched McMurphy rips her shirt open at the end of the novel, he symbolically

In One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, what is the definition of rebellion according to Nurse Ratched?

Several questions arise at this point: Could Nurse Ratched be a calculating boss who wants to ensure that her job is performed as efficiently as possible? During a group session McMurphy asks Ratched for a change in the ward policy allowing, quote, McMurphy distinguishes the key factors and clues that the nurse is controlling the men in their institution by forcing them to turn upon each other. She tried to get her ward back into shape, but it was difficult with McMurphy’s presence still tromping up and down the halls and laughing out loud in the meetings and singing in the latrines.