Response #2 To One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest (Conflict between Nurse Ratchet and McMurphy and what they represent)

English 4

Mr. Merrill

Jeffrey Baker

Response #2 to One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest

What does Nurse Ratchet represent? What does RPM represent? What about their conflict?

Nurse Ratchet is a character that is higher than most of the other characters in the movie. She portrays someone that over the course of his or her life has never had to deal with being considered different. This idea comes up when she is overlooking the –patients during one of their recreational times. The camera strays away from the basketball court and pans over to where she is in the window, just looking and thinking what to do next. She represents the people that think of the patients as virtually untreatable and lesser than them. She can be thought of as a barrier between Randall and the others and reality of the real world. In the nurse’s station, she is protected from them because of the glass, which essentially designates the end of the lobby and the beginning of the nurses’ station. When Randall McMurphy breaks the glass, it quickly becomes known that the barrier can be physically broken and perhaps eventually mentally broken as well. Randall plays a crucial role because he represents a sly liar and the smartest patient in the place. When confronted by both Dr. Spidey and Nurse Ratchet, they both seem to figure out that he is not crazy at all, but rather a man that just thinks differently from everyone else. In a way, he is the exception because he mentions that he thinks that the only way to appear normal is to act like a sitting vegetable. He of course cannot abide to those rules and decides that not only will he not listen to the rules; he will break them to an extent that will cause harm to the rest of the facility.

            The main conflict between both Nurse Ratchet and Randall McMurphy is miscommunication. This miscommunication often arises in the middle of the group therapy sessions. During one of these sessions, Randall suggests that the schedule can change for a day so that they can watch the World Series, which means obviously means a lot to Randall. Nurse Ratchet is not too fond of the idea and sneaks in tricks that make the decision to change the schedule go in her favor. Nurse Ratchet constantly does not want to listen to Randall and it affects the personal relationship between the two of them.

            To conclude, these characters both represent a conflict, a conflict that is uncoordinated and unprepared meaning that not only does it not work, it causes permanent damage to the facility and also brings out the outrage within them all.