One Flew Over The Cukoo's Nest

A detailed Summary of One Flew Over The Cukoo's Nest


The infamous Nurse Ratched; the patient's evil overlord and McMurphy's archrival. Big Nurse, as described by Chief, is compared to enamel, branded a "ball-cutter", "buzzard", and "bitch", and feared so much that not a single patient has the courage to stand against her. This is until McMurphy appears.

Nurse Ratched could quite easily be described in two words: sadistic Megalomaniac. She not only has the sub-conscious urge to control the patients in her ward, but also takes pleasure in doing so. Her character could represent an ultimate evil, a manipulative, cunning entity that can cut the qualities of a person down and drive them to self-despise. She is also interpreted as invincible, an unbeatable antagonist with no emotions, or ones for other human beings for that matter.

Ratched quite closely resembles the words "wretched" and "hatchet", two of which she could be compared to. In many ways she is a hatchet, hewing the patients down at the knees through e


Nurse Ratched disdains men in general, and this is deliberated through when she says at the staff meeting about McMurphy, "He is a man and no more, and is subject to all the fears and all the cowardice and all the timidity that any other man is subject to." This trait of her personality is another reason for her covet for power and control over the ward.

A classic villain does not come without his or her subordinates. In Nurse Ratched's case it is the "black boys", in which chief says she has bred hatred into them. "Hum of black machinery, humming hate and death and other hospital secrets. They don't bother not talking out loud about their hate secrets when I'm nearby because they think I'm deaf and dumb." Nurse Ratched has purposely chosen these "black boys" for the exact quality of hatred for white people, where they will find no regret or wrong in what they are doing to the inmates.

When McMurphy first arrives at the asylum Nurse Ratched forms a judgement of him. She sees him to be a manipulator and someone who wants to take

Some common words found in the essay are:
Nurse Ratched, Nurse Ratched's, nurse ratched, control ward, black boys,

Approximate Word count = 699
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

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