Nurse Ratched vs. R.P. McMurphy
...unterproposal to open the tub room, as a game room for the patients, also a viable option. Nevertheless, less interested in working with McMurphy, Nurse Ratched demonstrates her dominance over him. “You’ve been told, McMurphy, that it’s against the policy to gamble for money on the ward” (Kesey 95). She will not allow McMurphy these concessions, for to do so would empower him. Her interest lies not in the patients, but rather in perpetuating her own sense of control, as shown by her apparent dislike of any idea not her own. When McMurphy finds his proposals will be immediately dismissed he manipulates the system by using Dr. Spivey, but even in this case he uses the established system, however instrumentally for his own ends, instead of challenging it. This method is particularly infuriating to Nurse Ratched and the impetus for the sudden crack in her steel façade. McMurphy uses the system that Nurse Ratched manipulates against her. Nevertheless, no matter what McMurphy gains, his struggles are inevitably in vain, for Nurse Ratched has the power of the Combine, thus society, behind her. McMurphy assumes the role of a revolutionary, when he rebels against Nurse Ratched by breaking from the established schedule to watch the World Series. McMurphy finally abandons the rules and regulations of the ward. “You’re committer, you realize. You are… under the jurisdiction of me… the staff” (Kesey 127). This rebellion occurs only after it is apparent that McMurphy cannot take part in the supposedly democratic system that Nurse Ratched controls. An important point, for it demonstrates that McMurphy is not a random anarchist bent on breaking down any system of governance, but rather a man driven to rebellion by an unfair system around him. Despite Nurse Ratched's claim that the vote is democratic, her vote includes the Chronics, who have no ability to make a rational choice required of voting. This ensures that Nurse Ratched can maintain the status quo, despite the obvious support for McMurphy. When McMurphy breaks from his schedule to watch the World Series, he makes a definitive break from the 'government' of Nurse Ratched. This demonstrates a revolutionary measure on the scale of the institution. The confrontation between Nurse Ratched and McMurphy also, centers on sexual grounds; one of the major themes of the novel, the contrast between liberated and repressed sexuality. By appearing in front of Nurse Ratched wearing only a towel and threatening to lose even that covering, McMurphy confronts her with the sexuality she attempts to suppress. That McMurphy is wearing boxer shorts shows that he knows this is a particular vulnerability for Nurse Ratched. Significantly, this is the first moment in which Nurse Ratched begins to show any sense of strain or tension. McMurphy thus begins his work to make Big Nurse unravel, as he has bet the other patients he can do. Kesey also employs lobotomies as a metaphor for sexual crippling, as when Harding calls it "frontal lobe castration" (Kesey 165). The conversation between McMurphy and Harding once again defines the opposition between McMurphy and Ratched on sexual terms. Nurse Ratched can use lobotomies as the equivalent of castration, while Harding suggests sex as the cure for Nurse Ratched's repression and control. This emphasizes the role of McMurphy as a sexual liberator. When McMurphy arranges for the meeting between Candy and Billy, this also emphasizes the theme of McMurphy as a sexual liberator. Kesey indicates that there is something special about the conflict between McMurphy and Nurse Ratched when she insists that McMurphy stay in her department. She intends to break McMurphy down by any means possible, no matter how long it may take. This particular obsession with McMurphy shows that he affects Nurse Ratched at some significant level. Although McMurphy becomes bolder and seemingly authoritative, Nurse Ratched remains calm and reassured, for she knows that she has control over the situation in the long term. She can determine what happens to McMurphy and whether or not he is ever released from the asylum, and thus can tolerate any short-term challenges to her power. McMurphy shows himself to be a pragmatist when he concedes to Nurse Ratched and follows her orders. McMurphy's rebels against Nurse Ratched partially because he does not foresee that she can control his dismissal from the institution. This power, as earlier established, gave Nurse Ratched the confidence that she could 'break' McMurphy, and McMurphy's change in behavior demonstrates that her confidence is well founded. After McMurphy gives up his struggle against Nurse Ratched the ward changes. She once again reasserts her control over the rest of the patients, for McMurphy knows that to oppose her is to ensure that he will never leave the ward. The theme of personal choice reappears as McMurphy realizes that most of the patients have made the choice to remain in the institution. Only he and a small number are actually committed; the others remain under Nurse Ratched's control out of fear or habit. This differentiates McMurphy from the other patients; he is sane because he has the ability to make rational choices, while the other patients are marked as insane by their refusal to make this choice. Nurse Ratched reasserts her control over the institution behaving as a mother figure that dominates the men. She speaks to them in utterly condescending terms, even referring to them as "boys" and treating them as children who cannot accept any sense of responsibility. Having treated these men with such great disrespect, McMurphy responds with a similar impudence. When he breaks the glass, this is the first completely aggressive action that he takes against Nurse Ratched. “The glass came apart like water splashing, and the nurse threw her hands to her ears” (Kesey 172). This brings the confrontation between the two characters to the fore, as McMurphy takes a stand for the rights of the patients while risking the possibility that he may never be released from the institution. Having achieved the transformation of the men on the ward through the fishing trip. “These weren’t the same bunch of weak-knees from a nuthouse that they’d watched take their insults on the dock this morning” (Kesey 215). McMurphy asserts himself as the controlling force on the ward. The men are full converts to McMurphy's ethos, following his lead in behavior. However, Nurse Ratched undermines this...