Book review - One flew over the cuckoo's nest

The story written by Ken Kesey takes place in an asylum in Oregon. All the story is being narrated by a patient that has been there for a long time. This patient, called Chief due to his impressive and big stature, is half-indian and he pretends all along to be deaf and mute. The story really begins with the arrival of Randal Patrick McMurphy a strong headed character with a will of his own.

He has been transfered from prison to the institute because he fakes insanity wanting to finish his sentence in the asylum. The ward where all the action takes place is run by an head nurse wich is Nurse Ratched also known as the "Big Nurse". She is a very cold person and she enjoys having a lot of authority and power on her patients. She controls every aspects of the patient's life including their own personnal liberty. She likes to organize everything and she has already established a strict routine for the patients of the ward.

When McMurphy arrives, he realizes how tyrannical Nurse Ratched is and his goal is to change all the routines previously established by the "Big Nurse". He first starts by creating some kind of gambling between the patients with tables of card games and with some betting. But this is only a small part of McMurphy's rebellious act. He also decides one day to take the Acute on a fishing trip, wich are the more active people that still have a kind of logical thinking. He takes the bus of the asylum and drives them to an area filled with fishing boats. Of course all of those provocative acts really scares and frustrates Nurse Ratched. She then decides to send McMurphy for a little shock therapy, to"reset" his deranged mind. But the elctro shock therapy doesn't doesn't really alters McMurphy's fierce temper. He then continues to disturb the perfect harmony of the ward by getting into a fight with the black boys, wich are the guards, and with Chief who is fighting by his side. Nurse Ratched who is really exasperate by his behavior, sends both Mc Murphy and Chief for another shock treatment. They develop a mutual friendship and they elaborate a plan to escape from the asylum.

The nigth where McMurphy and Chief are supposed to escape, they throw a big party in the ward with alcohol and two prostitutes. Instead of escaping, the two of them falls asleep. The next morning, Nurse Ratched finds the ward in disastrous condition. She also finds one of the patients in a separate room alone with one of the prostitutes. She makes him feel ashamed of his act. Feeling guilty, he commits suicide. McMurphy who blames Nurse Ratched for the patient's suicide tries to kill Ratched by chocking her. He is stopped before Nurse Ratched totally suffocates and he is sent for intense electro shock therapy. After a long stay in the intensive care McMurphy returns to the original ward. But all the shock treatments have transformed him into an empty shell. Chief, who doesn't recognize him anymore decides to suffocate him with his pillow, wanting to preserve McMurphy's dignity. He then escapes alone and travels towards Canada.

That is what happens in the story One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest.

Tryst

What is the writer's purpose? To play on the viewers emotions.
What is the writer's tone? The writer is being serious but at the same time, quite humorous.
How does the story begin? The character is the main point of the beginning. The author gives the setting by the lines of the first character appearing on stage. The main character explains who he is where he lives and what he does.
How does the story develop? The story is told very chronologically. Except for one or two scenes where the characters goes back in their mind in past stories.
How does the story end?The story ends with a big twist. The writer really plays with the viewer 's mind.
Who tells the story?The story is told by the two main characters,the only two characters of the play. Each of them tells the story by their separate point of view because the story is only between the two of them.
What is the language and style like? The writer uses a proper english with some older words.

What images are used? In the play the female character, Adelaide, represents fear and weakness with her posture and the way she dresses. Opposite from her, M. Love really gives the image that he is strong and really minded.

What are the characters like? Adelaide: She doesn't really know what she wants, she just follows her everyday schedule made by her parents. She really fears the unexpected. She is represented as really plain and conservative.

M.Love : He is the exact opposite of Adelaide. He lives on the money he made by marrying some women. He doesn't have any kind of planned life. He goes on day by day. He is very charming and has a lot of assurance.

How important is the setting in conveying the ideas and mood of the story? The story takes place in England in the early 19th century. The setting is important because it explains a lot of things. In that time, it was normal for an adult to still live at her parent's house.

Mid-term wtiting test (10%) - "The story of an hour"

Part A- Short-answer questions

1-What is Louis Mallard’s opinion of marriage?
Louise's opinion on marriage is that it is a will between the man and the woman, the husband and the wife, binding them sometimes against their own choices. Her opinion is in the 12th paragraph.

2-Why is there so much description of what is outside the window when Louise is alone in her room?
There is a lot of description to show that Louise is like born again. Being a widow, she feels just like new and now she can really live for herself. The description is there to show how she enjoys every single details.

3-Why did the author make the story so short?
The story is short because it only happens in an hour. The title : "The story of an hour" clearly indicates that all of the action takes place in an hour only.

4-Why does Louise Mallard suddenly stop crying? Indicate the place in the text?
Louise stops crying because she is beginning to feel something else, something new. She is beginning to feel freedom and joy. This is indicated in the 10th paragraph and the 11th one.

Part B- Developement questions

In this short story, the author uses irony to show some important elements to the reader. Irony is often used in english language to say one thing but to mean the exact opposite. For example, one could say " The weather is so nice today ." but he would actually want to say that the weather is really bad. It is used to create a certain importance on some themes the author wants the reader to pay a good attention.

At first, the author uses irony to show exactly how the main character, Louise really feels about her marriage with her supposely loved husband. When she is in front of everyone, Louise cries and weep after hearing that her husband is now dead, but when she is alone in her room, Louise starts to feel a lot of joy and freedom, while she is thinking that now "she would live for herself" as if while she was married, she was trapped in something she didn’t really wanted. What is ironic about this is that Louise thought she was happy in her marriage with a man she loved, but while really thinking about her ended marriage,she can also feel very free, joyful, and relieved. The author is trying to show that even if mariage is supposed to be a great thing and that everyone sees it as wonderful, there is another point of view about marriage wich is not that optimistic.

Second of all, the author uses irony when Brently, Louise’s husband, who is supposed to be dead, comes in alive and unaware of everything that happened. When the main character sees that her beloved husband is in reality alive, while she has been imagining her new and bright future alone and free, she is in real shock. After such a shock, Louise dies of "of heart disease--of the joy that kills"The author really used irony when she wrote the final line. She wrote that Louise died from the "joy that kills" wich means that she died in horror and despair of seeing her husband alive when she was so excited of his death, imaginning a whole new life living alone and free.

In conclusion, the author uses irony to show the reader some very important element of the story in which there is two main themes explored by the author, wich are marriage and love. Those two themes are very close but still different. The use of irony really helps the reader to reflect on the purpose of marriage, and on love in general.

Number of words: 427