Power

            One major theme that occurs in the movie “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” is power. In the insane asylum, everybody was the power to be able to control their own actions, but some people also want the power to control other people’s power too. One of the characters that wants this kind of power is Nurse Ratchet. Nurse Ratchet is one of the nurses that works at the insane asylum. Her way of getting power is having the group therapy sessions. She forces all the patients to talk about their problems, thus revealing all their personal issues with everybody. This makes the patients feel bad about themselves, making them feel less superior to Nurse Ratchet. So, Nurse Ratchet ends up with the power.

            The other character that is trying to gain power over the patients is the newest patient, Randall Patrick McMurphy. Randall is trying to steal the power from Nurse Ratchet. During one of the group therapy sessions, Randall suggests changing the usual schedule because he wanted to watch the World Series. Nurse Ratchet suggests having a group vote. In the first group vote, Randall, Chestmick, and Taber are the only people to vote in favor of changing the schedule. All the other patients are fearful of Nurse Ratchet and scared of going against her. At the second vote, all the patients present at the group session vote in favor of changing the schedule, showing that Nurse Ratchet is losing her power. When Nurse Ratchet once again changes the rules of changing the schedule, Randall becomes frustrated. So, he starts to pretend that the World Series is playing on the TV, much to the amusement of the other patients. However, Nurse Ratchet is seen giving Randall a death glare, knowing that she starting to lose her power over the patients.