Friday, May 22, 2009

Cuckoo's nest part 2

Part two of Cuckoo's nest started to attract me more to the book. It's always hard to get into a book when someone suggests it because you expect it to be mind blowing from the first word on. In part two of the book. the characters naturally start to grow more. We see the patients start to ignore the Nurse so they can get what they want. However most of them are still scared of her and her power to keep them there as long as she pleases. During this section it becomes apparent that the Nurse can easily manipulate McMurphy. This is due to the fact that he has such a strong effect on the other patients, but the Nurse has the final say in how long he stays. This is why all the others fear the nurse. They fear her power because all it takes is an order from her and she can make the patients life a living hell for as long as she wants. McMurphy continues to try to push the limits and see how far he can get. It will be interesting to see if the Nurse breaks down completely or if McMurphy's actions will subside after time. When the way McMurphy is acting he seems to be like a young child in a new enviornment. He is going to take all he can before being stopped or stopping due to satisfaction. It is interesting to see what side gives first.

Friday, May 8, 2009

Cuckoo's nest part one

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest is a very interesting book. Not often in literature can we read something of this quality and subject matter. When I think of a Psych Ward, I feel like something crazy is going to happen, literally. As I expected the book has a lot of "interesting" components.

Chief Broom is an interesting character. He chooses not to speak and to act deaf so that people won't pay attention to him. Because of the fact that Chief Broom has no verbal interaction with others, he hears things that people wouldn't want him to hear because they don't think he's listening. I think that it is smart of him to keep to himself because that keeps him from confronting with others, and it keeps him from getting into trouble.

Nurse Ratched is in charge of the ward. Many of the people in the ward fear Nurse Bromden. This could be a metaphor that symbolizes the fear people have of authority. Nurse Brombden can also be seen as a strict parent. The people who have been checked into the ward can not fully operate on their own. Therefore, Nurse Bromden can be seen as an authority figure in the ward. In class we had a brief discussion about whether or not Nurse Bromden was attractive. This could be pivotl to why the reason people fear her so much. If she wasn't attractive, her appearance could be intimidating to those in the ward. On the other hand, if she was attractive people could fear her beauty and feel as though they have to respect her because she is aabove them in some way.

Overall the beginning of the book is going to keep me going to see what happens with all of the characters.