One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest Themes
Madness
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Although most of the characters in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest are considered mentally ill, the plot of the novel suggests that there’s a thin...
Freedom and Confinement
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The novel’s protagonist chafes at being locked up in a mental institution, but most of the patients are there voluntarily because they find freedom a...
Manipulation
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Nurse Ratched, the novel’s antagonist, maintains her power on the ward by manipulating the men’s fears and desires. She uses shame to keep them sub...
Power
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Nurse Ratched, the antagonist, is drunk with her power
until McMurphy arrives and upsets it. Much of her power lies in her ability to emasculate the...
Laws and Order
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Nurse Ratched uses an extensive system of rules and regulations, as well as an ordered routine, to keep the asylum patients under control. Many of the...
Rebellion
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McMurphy’s rebellion against the paltry rules that govern the ward throws everybody into an uproar. Patients respond with warmth as they suddenly rea...