One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest

1. Thinking of the pyramid of plot development, the exposition or initial situation in the novel starts with the Chief, our narrator, being a passive observer. It is clear that days in the asylum are spent in a medicine induced fog to prevent the patients from revolting against the regulations. It is also evident that Nurse Ratched and her staff have the men so intensely intimidated as shown by Chief’s fear as he “hides in the mop closet and listens, [his] heart beating in the dark, and [he] tries to keep from getting scared…” As the novel progresses, conflicts come into action involving McMurphy’s defiance. He is not intimidated by the Nurse’s disposition or power and he realizes her goal to create animosity between the men. An incident where he challenges her authority is when he continuously corrects her mispronunciation of his name, challenges her authority, and encourages the men to fight against the petty rules. McMurphy attempts to change Harding’s view on Ratched – “Don’t give me that tender little mother crap/…she’s a bitch and a buzzard and a ball-cutter, and don’t kid me, you know what Im talking about.” He wishes to plant a seed in his head to stir up some hatred towards the Nurse. McMurphy doubts his rebellion when he realizes the amount of power Nurse Ratched holds over him, but Charles Cheswick’s suicide proves to McMurphy that he has a niche to fulfill in this ward. The climax of the novel occurs after the boating trip and when McMurphy sleeps with the prostitute because Nurse Ratched forces a group shower. This causes McMurphy tries to protect George who is deathly afraid of soap and dirt. The fight that Chief and McMurphy engage themselves in leads to their electroshock therapy. The falling action in this novel is the denouncement of Nurse Ratched. After Billy Bibbit committed suicide and after Nurse Ratched placed the blame on McMurphy for “playing with human lives – gambling with human lives…” McMurphy exposed her breasts to the ward which...