One Flew Over the Cuckoo nest: Quote 10

“I want to look at one of the books, but I’m scared to. I’m scared to do anything. I feel like I’m floating in the dusty yellow air of the library, halfway to the bottom, halfway to the top.”

Here Bromden is showing the signs of the “fog" again, he’s never quite sure when he is actually walking around doing things. His reality is so distorted that he can’t tell the difference from when he is sleeping or not. His awful dreams have a role play in this and he often imagines things that aren't really happening.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo nest: Quote 9

“After that, McMurphy had things his way for a good long while. The nurse was biding her time till another idea came to her that would put her on top again.” Page 193

Again, this quote shows the need for power and control, McMurphy is in control, so Nurse Ratched must get back the control. The book works like this throughout, one gains control then loses it, then the other gains control and loses it. It is an ongoing process in which neither of them wins.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo nest: Quote 8

“’Never before did I realize that mental illness could have the aspect of power, power. Think of it: perhaps the more insane a man is, the more powerful he could become.” Page 226

Harding says this after on the fishing trip a man asks about the group’s uniforms, and he scares him off by telling him they are lunatics, “the cracked pots of mankind.” This quote has to do with not only power and control but also the idea of how Harding could take this idea, this quote is one of the most powerful quotes in the book, yet it is said by a “crazy” person. I think that Harding is really a smart man; he has accepted that fact that he is labeled as mentally ill, and has embraced it, but doesn’t let it hold him back.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo nest: Quote 7

“All I know is this: nobody’s very big in the first place, and it looks to me like everybody spends their whole life tearing everybody else down.” Page 174

When McMurphy says this to Harding about Harding’s problems with his wife, I think what he is really trying to say is deeper than this. He is not just saying it about Harding and his relationship with his wife; he is really saying it about the whole hospital. The patients are always town down, they are broken in front of everyone and after a while of being beaten and broken one starts to just completely fall apart and lose all sanity.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo nest: Quote 6

“He’d be close to a month in this nuthouse and it might be a lot better than a work farm, what with good beds and orange juice for breakfast, but it wasn’t better to the point that he’d want to spend a couple of years here.” Page 162

This quote is really important in the book because it is when McMurphy’s attitude really turns around and changes, for the first time he starts to keep quiet about things and not take charge but hold back. It is from this point forward that he really starts to reconsiders all that he has done, he finds out that Nurse Ratched can control when he leaves.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo nest: Quote 5

“She walked right on past, ignoring him just like she chose to ignore the way nature had tagged her with those outsized badges of femininity, just like she was above him, and sex, and everything else that’s weak and of the flesh.” P151

One of the most critical point of this novel is its building up of women and their power. All of the patients in the hospital are male, and only a select few of the attendants are male. Most of the women have control and power of every situation to do with the hospital. Even Dr. Spivey is a pushover when it comes to Nurse Ratched and her abilities with the power she has. The quote says “just like she was above him” this alone proves that the woman here overpowered and exceeded the men.

Cite for photo: http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.in-his-grace.com/woman%2520holding%2520world%2520pic.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.in-his-grace.com/HOPE%2520Outreach.htm&usg=__UYgUOA-1GMnHLoJmhq0rgOGYzMo=&h=2011&w=1364&sz=174&hl=en&start=0&sig2=tOXM3ajeuVS5cdtexQAJdQ&zoom=1&tbnid=lfJVZVK5s10gcM:&tbnh=182&tbnw=148&ei=st9xTK_IGYP48AaousGFCw&prev=/images%3Fq%3Da%2Bwoman%2Bholding%2Bthe%2Bworld%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D1024%26bih%3D651%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=702&oei=st9xTK_IGYP48AaousGFCw&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=15&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0&tx=89&ty=126

One Flew Over the Cuckoo nest: Quote 4

“’You’re committed you realize. You are…under the jurisdiction of me...the staff.’ She’s holding up a fist. All those red-orange fingernails burning into her palm. “Under jurisdiction and control” Page 138

Nurse Ratched has a love for control; she is purely dedicated to being in control of things. This quote shows this because she is yelling, a recurring scene in the novel about her control. Not only does she first say that McMurphy is under the jurisdiction of her first, but she also is showing anger along with her power.

Cite for photo: http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.omgwerehavingtwins.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/shutterstock_11661577.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.omgwerehavingtwins.com/page/3/&usg=__hn5en3svuexZIUml0uLyVEpCRKw=&h=335&w=500&sz=139&hl=en&start=30&sig2=e8xim_ZLKrj-a2sIWvEYHw&zoom=1&tbnid=7xiiZXA704LvxM:&tbnh=146&tbnw=187&ei=vdZxTMa_OoGclgfhzNDBDQ&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dan%2Bangry%2Bnurse%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D1024%26bih%3D651%26tbs%3Disch:10,1100&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=441&vpy=260&dur=3&hovh=184&hovw=274&tx=128&ty=105&oei=qdZxTMX6B8OB8gaztfzdCg&esq=3&page=3&ndsp=15&ved=1t:429,r:7,s:30&biw=1024&bih=651

One Flew Over the Cuckoo nest: Quote 3

“If somebody’d of come in and took a look, men watching a blank TV, a fifty-year old woman hollering and squealing at the back of their heads about discipline and order and recriminations, they’d have thought the whole bunch was crazy as loons.” Page 138

This quote is significant because it presents the idea of everyone in the hospital being mentally ill, not just the patients, but also the wards and the nurses. Here the main problem of no one knowing how to deal with and treat the patients correctly is present. Nurse Ratched seems just as crazy as the men, she has her own insecurities and problems, and it shows here.

Cite for photo: http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.cliseetiquette.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/business-people-yelling-at-each-other-300x299.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.cliseetiquette.com/2009/11/24/dont-go-there-taboo-topics-in-business/&usg=__Soai9Cegb7-int4hkrV24KwiIos=&h=299&w=300&sz=25&hl=en&start=0&sig2=OYpkw5sjwGxtc8yxTJzj_A&zoom=1&tbnid=B6InPL8JpRI7hM:&tbnh=158&tbnw=186&ei=hudxTImeHoX7lweku8EO&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dgroup%2Bof%2Bpeople%2Byelling%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26biw%3D1024%26bih%3D608%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=316&vpy=238&dur=1525&hovh=224&hovw=225&tx=116&ty=146&oei=ZudxTLfzD8GC8gaowODuCg&esq=7&page=1&ndsp=12&ved=1t:429,r:5,s:0

One Flew Over the Cuckoo nest: Quote 2

“Nobody complains about all the fog… as bad as it is, you can slip back in it and feel safe. That’s what McMurphy can’t understand, us wanting to be safe. He keeps trying to drag us out of the fog, out in the open where we’d be easy to get at.” Page 123

Acting “crazy” and insignificant is now a comfort zone for the men. It comes across that they don’t have to be treated as clear thinking adults. The patients have been living in a fog and they don’t have to the face the truth of the situation. Nurse Ratched wants to keep it this way; this is how she maintains control of everything all the time. McMurphy wants them out of “the fog” and thinking clearly and for themselves, but this can’t happen unless the men are willing to cooperate with him.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo nest: Quote 2

“Nobody complains about all the fog… as bad as it is, you can slip back in it and feel safe. That’s what McMurphy can’t understand, us wanting to be safe. He keeps trying to drag us out of the fog, out in the open where we’d be easy to get at.” Page 123

Acting “crazy” and insignificant is now a comfort zone for the men. It comes across that they don’t have to be treated as clear thinking adults. The patients have been living in a fog and they don’t have to the face the truth of the situation. Nurse Ratched wants to keep it this way; this is how she maintains control of everything all the time. McMurphy wants them out of “the fog” and thinking clearly and for themselves, but this can’t happen unless the men are willing to cooperate with him.