One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

Essay Outline by Adrian Hui

Cause and Effect Essay

Acutes are afraid and controlled by fear

The acutes on the ward have been conditioned to fear Ms. Ratched and the orderlies ever since they arrived

Orderlies rape new patients so they will be more submissive Nurse Ratched takes away their manhood so that they can be more easily

controlled by her The acutes never rebel or talk back to Nurse Ratched and they always listen

to what she says

McMurphy rebels against Ratched because he is used to rebelling against anyone in control

McMurphy started a bunch of fights back when he was in prison, just to get out. The reason why he was put into the psychiatric ward was because the prison had no control over him

When McMurphy came onto the ward, he had already broken many established procedures

McMurphy refused to be taken to the shower room where patients are raped. This shows that the orderlies already do not have control over him

Laughed out loud the second he stepped into the ward, which is prohibited

McMurphy is afraid when he realizes that he is committed to the ward

When McMurphy entered the ward, he thought he would be released in relative comfort after his sentence. However, he soon realizes that he is commited, meaning he will be released when the head Nurse deems him “cured”

Nurse Ratched has found McMurphy’s phobia is and exploits it. She controls him with fear and he becomes her docile pet

McMurphy does not want to upset Nurse Ratched any longer because with a blink of an eye, he could be stuck in the ward forever

This leads to McMurphy being a goody two shoes and no longer defying Nurse Ratched’s will

He stops making jokes, interrupting Nurse Ratched and allows the combine to once more take control

Cheswick’s death

After seeing McMurphy changed this way, Cheswick cannot bear to see his role model like this and decides to kill himself

Cheswick becomes an absurdist because he feels he can no longer be the rebellious one without McMurphy by his side

McMurphy inspired Cheswick and without McMurphy, Cheswick was too scared and lost.

McMurphy was like a brother to Cheswick and the sudden change made Cheswick feel like he lost someone close

Tragic lesson dealt

McMurphy feels remorse for his actions and knows that Cheswick died because of him

He knows that Cheswick’s death was because he became Nurse Ratched’s pet and that the death could have been avoided

McMurphy realizes that him being “good” and allowing Nurse Ratched to control him is killing the moral the acutes

McMurphy needs to decide whether his friendship with the acutes is more important, or his freedom

McMurphy deliberately rebels

McMurphy decides that the acutes need him he choses to once more to do battle with Nurse Ratched

He decides that he will set an example for the acutes so they may one day be able to make the decision to leave the ward

Sacrifices his freedom over the freedom of others McMurphy deliberately breaks the glass window and pulls all kinds of stunts

throughout the rest of the book on purpose. He wants to teach the acutes that they should not be afraid to make their own decisions and until they do, they will never be free of Nurse Ratched