| "One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest" ~ Ken Kesey ...continued... McMurphy had challenged Harding, and he came out victorious. In the hospital, staying there is basically a mental castration. To take away their manhood is to take away power. The group therapy was referred to by McMurphy as a �pecking party�. If one chicken in the hut is weak, or has but a drop of blood on it, the other chickens will go into frenzy and peck it to death leaving nothing but a few feathers. This is what basically happens with the group therapies. Everyone gathers around in a big circle and Nurse Ratched puts out a seemingly �small� comment and the other men quickly snatch it up and start questioning the poor victim to �death� and break him down without the Nurse barely lifting a finger at all. The white uniform of the black attendants and assistant nurses is also symbolic. White is the colour of sterility, sterile as in the inability to reproduce. Dale Harding�s wife was a powerful figure, but she used her own sexuality for her authority whereas Nurse Ratched felt she had to hide it. The Nurse Ratched is also referred to by McMurphy as a �ball-cutter�. She takes away power from the men by taking away their manhood. McMurphy however, uses his own manhood to stand up against Nurse Ratched�s authority. Forms of Control � group therapy � medication time � schedule � music The patients in the ward are divided into two categories: Acutes, Chronics. The Acutes are the �machines� who are more or less curable of their �flaws�; the Chronics are the ones who are �machines� with flaws inside. The Chronics are also divided into three categories: the Walkers, the Wheelers, and the Vegetables. The walkers are the Chronics who walk around, the Wheelers are the ones who are in wheelchairs, and the Vegetables are the ones who basically can�t do anything for themselves and vegetate. |
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