One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest and Female Importance

"One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and Female Importance

Until modern times, society validated that a man's role was at work, while a woman was required to stay home and play the role of the main caregiver. Men were given power and authority, and women, contradictory to men, were expected to be humble and subservient. In One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Ken Kesey reverses the stereotypical gender roles to show that the chaotic and sometimes tragically comic world of a mental institution. In the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey, the women are the power figures and are able to significantly manipulate the patients on the ward, as shown by the characters of Nurse Ratched, Mrs. Bibbit, and Vera Harding.

Nurse Ratched, whose power is expressed in bluntly sexual terms despite her attempts to deny her sexuality, maintains her authority on the ward by suppressing the patients' laughter. The men under her jurisdiction use sexual references when they talk about her, and after the first group therapy session the new patient, Randal Patrick McMurphy calls her a “ball-cutter.” In a way Ken Kesey shows that McMurphy is powerless because he is incapable of sexual violence against women. McMurphy her ability to dominate the patients is a result of her controlling their laughter. The schizophrenic Chief Bromden, the narrator of the novel, brings attention by saying, “A mistake was made somehow in manufacturing, putting those big, womanly breasts on what otherwise would have been a perfect work, and you can see how bitter she is about it.” (One Flew Over Cuckoo’s Nest 11) Nurse Ratched's authority on the ward points out the fact that she controls people who would normally be her superiors, such as, Dr. Spivey. Throughout the book, the nurse attempts to hide her sexuality. Nurse Ratched weakens her patients through a careful, manipulative program designed to destroy their self-esteem.

Mrs. Bibbit gains her power by preventing Billy, her son, from becoming a functioning adult, and because of this relationship that Billy eventually commits suicide. At first Mrs. Bibbit does not seem to understand that Billy is a mature adult and able to function in society, but it soon becomes clear that this is merely a excuse for her own self- admiration. When his mother tells him he has plenty of time to accomplish things such as going to college, and Billy reminds his mother that he is thirty-one years old, she replies, “Sweetheart, do I look like the mother of a middle-aged man?” (Pg. 247) When Mrs. Bibbit cannot be present to keep her son mentally young and innocent, Nurse Ratched accomplishes the task for her. Nurse Ratched uses outside influences to help her control her patients, as is the case with Billy Bibbit, whose mother is friends with the nurse; together they work to manipulate Billy. Mrs. Bibbit's absolute power over Billy is shown when Nurse Ratched, catches Billy having sex with a prostitute, and threatens to tell his mother. The threat of his mother's displeasure