The non-fiction book, One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, written by Ken Kesey, begins the story in a mental hospital. The characters prove to themselves that honor is found by doing what is morally right. The hero of the story, McMurphy, risks it all to save the lives of his companions and rids the hospital of the evil. The story is a classic one of good triumphing over evil and contains little romance. This is a story of Freedom that is shown internally and externally by the guidance and leadership of the main character.

A significant change is seen clearly in he main characters and other characters over the course of the story. Dramatic changes are seen with more evidence in the main characters. Challenges against the tyrannical antagonist, Nurse Ratched are often led by McMurphy, but not always. Even though McMurphy is with the patients he is truly an external force that guides them to their freedom. In Ken Kesey’s One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest psychological freedom results in the combination of identity changes caused by an external force, rebellion over authority, and freedom over society.

Major identical changes of characters are due to reasons of an xternal force that cause a positive change in their personality. Ian Currie, in her review of One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest states “Cheswick becomes more argumentative; voluntary inmates like Harding and the innocent Billy Bibbit begun to think about leaving, and Bromden defeats his fear of the system by choosing to speak again, and eventually escapes from the hospital” (Currie, par 6). Bromden views McMurphy’s examples of self- confidence as reasons to change and break free from the hospital.

Bromden pretends to be a deaf, dumb, and mute which allows him to hear and see other things most patients don’t see. He has more freedom to walk around the hospital than the other patients. Peter Macky suggests that Bromden regains his strength and saneness with the help of McMurphy. The rescue of Bromden is successful because of the good way McMurphy treats him (Macky 471). Bromden views McMurphy almost Christ like or a savior or the hospital that has come to save and break free all of the patients. McMurphy tries repeatedly to show Bromden a better way of living life.

At first, Bromden shows interests in McMurphy’s attempts to influence him to communicate or perform action, but does not fully engage himself. McMurphy inally influences Bromden to speak a small amount of words and gradually Bromden and McMurphy have deeper conversations that are always held in complete secret ness. Bromden finally has a revelation of inner identical change and he relinquishes he thirst for life. Mr. Harding feels embarrassed by his wife’s adultery and this can prove to be very mind depleting of him. His wife will call him to ridicule and disrespect him.

Mr. Harding sees McMurphy negatively at first, but changes his view and sees McMurphy in a new light. The guidance provided by McMurphy allows Mr. Harding to regain his inner self sanity. After acting up in the hospital, McMurphy is lobotomized for actions against the authority of the hospital, but only a slight unnoticeable change shows that he is only worn down from it. The final straw of McMurphy choking Nurse Ratched causes his punishment of being lobotomized completely and he assuring never close to being the same.

The leader of the rebellion over authority externally helps the patients internally through dramatic actions against the authority and encourages other to rebel. Ian Currie quotes Ken Kesey with “Into this world marches Randle P. McMurphy. A confessed con-man and brawler, he is etermined to manipulate the system rather than allow it to manipulate him” (Currie, par 6). McMurphy struggles against the tyranny of Nurse Ratched in many ways. Malin declares “Nurse Ratched is an authoritarian, middle-aged woman who tires to impose her will upon her lunatics.

She exerts power not to help other but to help herself” (254). McMurphy’s victories are symbols that Nurse Ratched’s power is spiraling downward. “McMurphy rejects the head nurse’s persistent probing, her insistence that the patient’s private self is her own property, and the assumption that the patients are beyond elp. “McMurphy’s lack of complexity and persistent exterior self are defenses rather than denial of personal self” (Fick, par 14). Repercussions of his actions against the authority lead up to the final scene where he directly attacks her and McMurphy is lobotomized for his blatant disrespect.

Later in the story Chief Bromden feels he must kill the lobotomized McMurphy because he is a direct symbol of Nurse Ratched’s power. Bromden knows that he is independent now and doesn’t need to rely on the system. He escapes out of the hospital and lives a better life. Billy Bibbit makes a last stand, but ends up killing himself because of Nurse Ratched’s manipulation. Both Mr. Cheswick and Mr. Harding find peace and confidence within themselves and check themselves out of the hospital. The perseverance and guidance of McMurphy lead to the patients’ psychological freedom and well being.

A major effort to obtain freedom is shown in the scene where McMurphy springs the patients out of the hospital and takes them on a fishing trip. The patients get a feeling of masculinity from trying to catch fish. The patients are constantly manipulated by Nurse Ratched and her staff. McMurphy provides examples of self-confidence and faith in himself that can be viewed upon as gifts to the patients. Sherwood believes “The superhero McMurphy is sacrificed to the machine culture and the Big Nurse remains in the ward” (128).

These gifts provided by McMurphy allow the patients to eventually obtain their freedom over the society of the mental hospital. McMurphy’s guidance and examples teach the patients that they can be independent and do not have to rely on the evil system of Nurse Ratched. Mills points out Bromden’s state of mind by saying “… his description of a struggle for sanity that in its olitical implicates denies the sufficiency of escapism or primitivism” (258). Bromden shows no embracing effort at first because of his slow identical change in personality.

McMurphy helps the patients improve their inner health and guides them to their freedom. McMurphy examples and guidance give Bromden a realization of his surroundings and allow him to overcome relying on the manipulative system and causes the other patients to obtain their own freedom. Kingsley Widmer writes that “But McMurphy has left his mark on other as well, and the entire ward will never be quite as it was before the time of his oming” (5588). Do you tend to try to blend in with rest of society or depend on the system or do you stand out in flavor and creativeness?

In today’s society most people often remind me of white sheep all being herded and following each other just like the patients were dependant on the system to provided them with their needs. McMurphy is a black sheep among the white that stands out and shines in the beauty of triumph and different ness. Change can be for the better and standing out with your own creativeness may cause others to look upon you as the leader. Look within and see if it is truly what you desire to be.

Written by Ken Kesey, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest was published in 1967 by Penguin Books. This story was written based on the author’s experience while working in a mental institution. He held long conversations with the inmates in order to gain a better understanding of them. It was during this period that he wrote the first draft of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Most of the characters in the novel are based upon actual patients he met while working at the hospital. One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest is set in a mental hospital in Oregon. The novel is divided into four parts. Parts One, Two and Four are set in the hospital itself.

In Part Three, the patients from the hospital go on a deep-sea fishing trip, and the setting is the boat. Except for a few outsiders, the characters are either patients or employees of the hospital. Kesey has drawn from his own experience to give the reader an insider’s view of the hospital. The novel starts with the admission of Randle P. McMurphy to the Hospital. As he introduces himself to the other patients, the “head nurse”, Nurse Ratched immediately decided he is a troublemaker. Even though everyone else is afraid of the nurse, everyone that is except for McMurphy. He tires to make as much commotion as he can.

He sings when he’s not supposed to, asks for things when it’s not time to, and appears half-naked, which really flusters the nurse. When a staff meeting comes up, the doctors diagnose McMurphy with everything from latent homosexuality to schizophrenia. Nurse Ratched, however, disagrees. She believes him to be an ordinary man and that he will eventually settle down. Nonetheless, McMurphy continues to do all he can to annoy her. Throughtout the story, the two battle against each other, seeing who will give in to who first. Everything is rather harmless until and inmates party rolls around.

McMurphy smuggles in prostitutes to help out the inmate, Billy. When the nurse found out what had been going on she was furious. Billy ended up slitting his throat and bleeding to death. McMurphy was in real trouble with the nurse this time. To retaliate he tore open Nurse Ratched uniform. As a result, McMurphy is taken away and give a lobotomy. When he returns, he has been changed into a vegetable. His Indian friend known as Chief Bromdencannot bear to see his friend in such a state, and ends up smothering him to death to save him from such a miserable existence. However, he escapes to freedom after that.

Ironically, dead Mcmurphy had given this man a new life. McMurphy is a gambling Irishman and convict, who grows tired of laboring at the Pendleton prison farm. To escape prison life, he feigns insanity and gets himself involuntarily committed to a mental hospital in Oregon. He tries to bring about a change at the hospital, for he does not like the fact that grown men act like “rabbits” and are scared of the Big Nurse. He tries as hard as he can to “get her goat”, by not doing the duties he is given. He also ironically ends up serving as a catalyst in bringing freedom to the other patients.

Nurse Ratched is a large, cold, unemotional woman whose “face is smooth, calculated, and refined”. She uses any means necessary to keep her patients in order; whish is perhaps why almost every inmate fears her. The only one who wouldn’t give into her, McMurphy, ended up being defeated by her in the end, even though his friend then had triumph over her by escaping. As for Chief Bromden , he was the narrator of the story. He had been a member of the hospital for over fifteen years, and is a paranoid schizophrenic. He is afraid of everything. That is why the ending has so much significance.

He escapes the institution and is finally able to stand on his own. Societal suppression over the individual is the main theme of the novel. In the mental hospital, the patients (representing the individual) are subjected to all kinds of cruelty at the hands of the repressive hospital administration (representing the State). If they refuse to be controlled, the patients are given shock treatments, against their will, to bring them in line. If a patient still refuses to follow the repressive orders of the staff, the patient is lobotomized, as evidenced by McMurphy. I also there was a theme of the power women hold over men.

Throughout the entire novel, the head nurse shows traits of forcefulness and power over the inmates, most of whom are terrified by her. I really like the way this novel was set it. Each chapter ended with a big victory for McMurphy and the patients. I also like how the story was told from an inmate’s point of view. I feel this made the story seem very real. It was also quite accurate since the author was influenced from his live experience in a mental institution. You knew the author knew what he was talking about which, to me, gave the story a lot more character.