Film Response for One Flew Over Cuckoo's the Nest

After watching the movie One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest I realized that while reading the novel, I had interpreted the characters and main conflicts much differently than the director of the movie. I also realized that the visuals one receives while reading about a character are much less judgemental appearance wise of those we receive when watching the movie. As I was reading the book I realized that the patients in the ward weren't really that crazy at all. The characteristics given by Bromden were very descriptive and even so, I only received a few notifications that the people were insane. Contrary to the film, at first glance of the characters they seemed completely out of their minds. In my opinion, the director intensified the patients personalities rendering the movie much more dramatic and interesting. Something I noticed throughout the film was the humour and the fact that it was fun to watch. The content in the movie was taken much more lightly, contrary to the novel. The director of the film had a different purpose, to entertain the viewer, he did so by completely changing the atmosphere of dark and institutional to a typical insane asylum with a humorous twist. For example, while reading the novel we look at the patients as the nurses subjects and that she owns them, where as in the film they seem much less afraid of her. I noticed many changes in how conflicts were shown in the movie but they never changed the significance of the story or theme itself therefore there is no real need to talk about them.

Second Half of Animal Farm

Synopsis:

- In the second half of Animal Farm, Napoleon changes his mind about the windmill and decides the animals must work harder towards its completion. 

 -Napoleon is in full control of the farm, also joining him are the other pigs and the dogs which threaten the other animals to do as the pigs command.

- After a stormy night the windmill is completely destroyed and Napoleon perceives that snowball is to blame for everything.

-The seven commandments are secretly changed and the pigs take new traits and begin acting like humans (sleeping in beds).

-Napoleon demands eggs from the hens and milk from the cows for trading with neighbor farmers even though it is against the original seven commandments to do so, and all animals that do not abide by Napoleons rules are to be killed.

 -The years pass and Napoleon now wears clothing and has changed the farms name back to manor farm.

-The pigs begin walking on two feet and the sheep chant “four legs good, two legs better”.

-At the end of the story the pigs become friends with the farmers and as they play cards with them in the farm house, the animals cannot distinguish through the window which players are humans and which players are pigs.

Characters:

Napoleon: One of the leaders of the farm is a round and dynamic character. He is he antagonist in the novel because of actions against Snowball. Napoleon is a large, fierce- looking Berkshire boar. He is very stubborn and rules the animals in military way. Later in the story Napoleon breaks all seven commandments by walking on two feet, sleeping in beds and even making trades with other local farmers.

 Minimus: Minimus is Napoleons pig poet. He is a flat character.

Squealer: Squealer is a pig with the traits of a flat character and spreads news on the farm. Squealer often threatens the other animals and is very straight forward with what he says.

Mr. Frederick/Mr. Pilkington/Mr. Whymper: Are all neighboring farmers whom the animals detest (except the pigs). They are all flat characters.

Point of View

The story is told in third person and the narrator is omniscient. This allows the reader to see things from the point of view of the animals which creates an interesting view of the story by making the humans seem like savages. It has really given me a new look on farming in general and the maltreatment to animals that are used as products.

Setting

The story takes place in Manor Farm or newly named, Animal farm, which is in England. The setting does not take much effect on the story itself.

Writer’s style:

The writer’s style is very simple and factual. Orwell does not display any extreme detail so the story is not so much about how it is told but more just the story and facts themselves.

Statement of Themes:

The theme is all about power and use of power and leadership. This story uses irony in that sense because the pigs whom are the leaders tell the animals that every animal at the farm is equal even though the pigs are much more powerful and persuasive than everyone else. Anything the pigs say is fact and the animals do as they are told. One could also say that another theme is the abuse of language and the danger of class. Language, because the pigs use it to their advantage and class, because the pigs classify all the animals and use them for different jobs leaving some of the animals with less food and working harder than the others. We also discover more irony in the story when we realize the pigs slowly become exactly what they did not want to be, humans. 

First Half of Animal Farm

Synopsis

• The animals have a meeting and Old Major, the wise old pig, leads the meeting and shares his wisdom since he believes his life will soon come to an end.
• Old Major describes a dream he had of living without the tyranny of humans and shares the idea of a rebellion.
• After Old Major dies, the pigs take control. Snowball and Napoleon become the masters of the farm.
• One day Mr Jones, the farmer, forgets to feed the animals which then ignites anger and the animals rebel.
• Snowball and Napoleon learn to read then create the 7 commandments for the newly named, Animal Farm.
• Snowball establishes committees and organizes the farm. Boxer the horse works harder than all the other animals and lives off the motto “I will work harder!”
• We begin receiving hints that Napoleon and Snowball aren't getting along and the animals are becoming suspicious of where the apples and milk have been disappearing to.
• There is a war between the farmers and the animals. The animals win the war thanks to Snowballs planning.
• Snowball concocts a plan to build a windmill but strangely, Napoleon is strongly against the idea.
• We discover that Napoleon has trained the dogs to do as he wishes and chases Snowball off the farm. Napoleon is the new leader.

Napoleon: One of the leaders of the farm is a round and dynamic character. He is he antagonist in the novel because of actions against Snowball. Napoleon is a large, fierce- looking Berkshire boar. He is very stubborn and rules the animals in military way.

Snowball: The protagonist of the novel and a round character. He is a smarter pig than Napoleon, and more inventive. He is chased out of the farm by Napoleon and his trained dogs.

Boxer: The main horse of the farm, he is extremely strong and carries the motto “I will work harder”. He carries the burden of all the harder work at the farm and believes everything he is told by his masters, Napoleon and Snowball.

Point of View

The story is told in third person and the narrator is omniscient. This allows the reader to see things from the point of view of the animals which creates an interesting view of the story by making the humans seem like savages. It has really given me a new look on farming in general and the maltreatment to animals that are used as products.

Setting

The story takes place in Manor Farm or newly named, Animal farm, which is in England. The setting does not take much effect on the story itself.

Writers style:

The writers style is very simple and factual. Orwell does not display any extreme detail so the story is not so much about how it is told but more just the story and facts themselves.

Statement of Themes

The theme is all about power and use of power and leadership. This story uses irony in that sense because the pigs whom are the leaders tell the animals that every animal at the farm is equal even though the pigs are much more powerful and persuasive than everyone else. Anything the pigs say is fact and the animals do as they are told. One could also say that another theme is the abuse of language and the danger of class. Language, because the pigs use it to their advantage and class, because the pigs classify all the animals and use them for different jobs leaving some of the animals with less food and working harder than the others.

Choice Assignment (Compare And Contrast of Characters Randle McMurphy And Chief Bromden)

In the story One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Randle McMurphy and Chief Bromden are two very different characters with a similar opinion on the horror that is presented inside Nurse Ratched and her institutional ward. McMurphy, the protagonist in this story, is portrayed as a crazy rebellious man who stops at nothing to make the porcelain shell of Ratched crack. He is the man behind the despicable plans to change systems of the ward and speak up when not asked to. Contrary to Bromden most of McMurphy's traits are obvious; he is a gambler, a cheater and a very devious man. On the other hand, Bromden's traits are much more hidden in the pages, making the story more complex and layered. During most of the story one would be convinced that McMurphy is the smart man; changing the wards ways and attempting to make the Nurse crack. Unfortunately, he seems to not realize that Nurse Ratched has much more power than anyone and that she controls him, and the time he spends in the ward. Further in the story, we realize that McMurphy has messed up and instead of escaping, he stays to create more trouble in the ward. This in turn, leads him to his punishment, a lobotomy, which then turns him into a vegetable. Bromden is the smartest man in the ward, not only because of his idea to hide, but also to pretend he is deaf so that he can listen in to everything the staff at the ward say which then gives him an advantage. Bromden is a dynamic character because at the beginning of the book he has no voice and no strength to resist the fog that surrounds him. Throughout the story, Bromden slowly becomes a strong man and finishes his time at the ward by suffocating McMurphy and escaping the ward back to normal life.

Wordle for One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest

My second Half

Synopsis:

-         -  McMurphy learns from the patient serving as the lifeguard that someone who is committed to the hospital is released only at the discretion of the staff.

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   -    Cheswick’s fingers get stuck in the pool’s drain and he drowns.

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     -   Things become more violent in the ward and McMurphy punches through the Nurses window several times pretending it is not even there reaching in for a pack of cigarettes.

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  -   McMurphy gets an idea of taking some of the men deep water fishing and Ratched does not like the idea so she tries to scare the men out of it by posting recent horror stories of other boats going fishing.

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    -  McMurphy tells Bromden that he is big, and that he will help him feel big again. He also offers to pay for Bromden to come fishing with them.

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    - On the boat everyone catches large fish and gets drunk. Billy Gains a special attachment to Candy and they have a date set up for them.

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   -  Bromden and McMurphy get sent to disturbed because they fight off the black aids trying to help George.

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   -   Billy ends up committing suicide by cutting his throat.

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  -  McMurphy goes on a rampage and rips Ratcheds shirt open and tries to strangle her, later he gets sent into disturbed and turned into a vegetable after lobotomy and electro shock treatments.

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    Many of the acutes check out of the ward or move to different wards and Bromden suffocates McMurphy with a pillow and throws the control panel through a window screen and escapes from the hospital.

Characters:

Dale Hardin- A round character, he is homosexual and is hiding in the ward because he has difficulty dealing with the overwhelming social prejudice against people that are homosexual. He is married and is one of the first acutes to check himself out of the ward.

Billy Bibbit- A dynamic character, he is very shy with a bad stutter he is very dominated by his mother and she is close friends with nurse Ratched. He is in the ward because he is afraid of the outside world.

Point of view:

 The point of view has not changed.

Setting:

 The setting only changes once, when they go deep sea fishing. 

Writer’s style:

 The writer’s style has not changed but I greatly admire Kesey for his incredible symbolism and metaphors throughout the entire book which give fantastic imagery and much more understanding to the story and theme.

Theme:

I still believe that the main theme of the story is power, which I explained in my last half but it is also the battle for power which is exemplified by the constant battle between McMurphy and Nurse Ratched.

Quote Response

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In the novel Heart of Darkness Kurtz's cries out, “oh the horror the horror” in reaction to the darkness he perceives in humanity. Similarly, McMurphy, the protagonist in the story One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, realizes that nurse Ratched symbolizes this same darkness. Nurse Ratched digs down and embeds her unpleasant personality into the men; rendering them lifeless and afraid of her. When Kurtz references the horror it is the elements around him that affect his life. Whereas McMurphy sees the horror in the way the nurse humiliates the men and manipulates them to do whatever she says. She may not seem like a terrible person on the outside because of her perfect looks and her friendly smile but what everyone in the ward already knows is that her core is tainted and evil just like Kurtz recognized that at the heart of all humanity, lies darkness. .

One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest Half #1

Synopsis:

• Bromden is the narrator who lives in an insane asylum and hallucinates.

• A new patient arrives, Randle McMurphy and is very friendly and has a big smile and laugh nobody has heard in a long time.

• Nurse Ratched victimizes Harding and also attempts to victimize McMurphy but then McMurphy brings humour to the meeting and explains that his rape case was not actually rape.

• It seems as if McMurphy is only at the ward to rebel against Nurse Ratched.

• McMurphy explains the meaning of a “pecking party” and relates it to the ward and also calls Nurse Ratched a “Ball cutter”.

• McMurphy tells Bromden he knows he's not deaf and that it is all an act.

• McMurphy attempts to make Nurse Ratched loose her temper by trying to change the schedules and she calmly refuses and keeps her composure.

• Bromden perceives the hospital as a slaughterhouse where not only humans, but also humanity, is murdered.

Characters:

Since it is the first half of the book many characters are introduced. The narrator in this story is Chief Bromden and he is a round character. He suffers from hallucination and paranoia and has received numerous electric shock treatments. He is half Indian, six foot seven and has been in the hospital for ten years which is longer than anyone else in the ward. Randle McMurphy, a big red-headed covered in scars and tattoos, is the protagonist. A gambling man and a psychopath that had come from a work farm because of his recent sentence. McMurphy is rebellious and throughout the first half of the book, tries his best to make Nurse Ratchet break out of her perfectly composed outer shell. Bromden describes Nurse Ratchet as “the Big Nurse” since she is in charge of everything. In this story she is the antagonist. She rules the ward with an iron hand and Bromden describes her appearance as having “skin like flesh-coloured enamel and lips and fingertips the strange orange color of polished steel.” Her purpose is to humiliate the patients and lower their self esteem slowly rendering them inhumane.

Point of View:

Chief Bromden narrates the story in first person and tells the story as it appears to him. Though he has hallucinations his state of mind provides interesting metaphors related to the hospital and society in general.

Setting:

The setting takes place at a mental hospital in Oregon in the 1950s. The reason the setting is important is because it is the big nurses setting. She owns the ward and everything in it and can do anything she wants with it. Another reason why it is important is because McMurphy tries changing the setting and bringing the outside world in.

Writer’s style:

The writer’s style is descriptive, rational, colloquial and thoughtful. Making Bromden the narrator is a smooth move because Bromden is very sharp and descriptive. As for the dialogue, Kesey lets the men in the story use all kinds of language whether it’s appropriate or inappropriate.

Statement of Themes:

So far in the story the theme is power or use of power against others because Nurse Ratched uses her power against the patients in the ward and because of how harsh she is, the patients are afraid of her and do what ever she tells them to do.

Hi, my name Nina. I prefer not to go to school and sleep, but school is important and leads to lovely things in the future ;). I have several hobbies such as climbing, soccer photography and art but it seems like most of my time is taken up by homework. I am currently reading One flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, which so far is very interesting, slightly dark and twisted. The things that interest me the most in the book are the different characters in the story and how the narrator, chief Bromden depicts the appearance and personality of the big nurse, Nurse Ratchet. I've read half the book so far and I predict that the climax of the story is coming soon, although I have no clue what will happen because of how unpredictable Nurse Ratched is.