"I put my back toward the screen, then spun and let the momentum carry the panel through the screen and window with a ripping crash. The glass splashed out in the moon, like a bright cold water baptizing the sleeping earth."
When McMurphy breaks the glass of the Big Nurse's office, his excuse was that the window was so clean he couldn't even see it. Although the men on the ward can clearly see how the nurse is manipulating them, McMurphy is the first to finally do something about it. In this quote, Chief Bromden takes his own action by breaking the window of the asylum and running away. The water imagery connects with the symbol of water as cleansing for the men on the ward, awakening to truth and sanity.
"As I get closer I see there's light seeping out this peephole, green light, bitter as bile. The staff meeting is about to start in there, is why there's this green seepage; it'll be all over the walls and windows by the time the meeting is halfway through, for me to sponge off and squeeze in my bucket, use the water later to clear the drains in the latrine." pg. 151
The passage struck me because of the language used and the description of the light as "green" and "bitter as bile." The light seems to represent the actions of those who run the asylum and the way they treat their patients. They are often portrayed in the story as evil characters and in the staff meeting the evil characteristics of the staff come to the forefront and are explicitly stated. The last sentence implies that it is the cruelty and evil nature of the staff that ends up "cleaning the latrines," although I am not exactly sure how this works.
Kesey sets up a very ironic situation, in which the "mental" patients seem to be more sane than the Big Nurse herself. For example,when McMurphy pretends the World Series is on television and he gets some of the other patients to join him, the Nurse loses control. Also, the gradual fading of the fog throughout the novel serves as a symbol of Chief Bromden's progression to sanity. Bromden believes there are machines that produce this fog in the ward, and after McMurphy arrives, McMurphy slowly pulls the patients out of the fog. During the fishing trip scene, Bromden comments on how much the fog has cleared. -Caroline
“McMurphy raises his voice; though he doesn’t look at the other Acutes listening behind him, it’s them he’s talking to. ‘The flock gets sight of a spot of blood on some chicken and they all go to peckin' at it, see, till they rip the chicken to shreds, blood and bones and feathers. But usually a couple of the flock gets spotted in the fracas, then it's their turn. And a few more gets spots and gets pecked to death, and more and more. Oh, a peckin' party can wipe out the whole flock in a matter of a few hours, buddy, I seen it. A mighty awesome sight. The only way to prevent it—with chickens—is to clip blinders on’” (page 49.)
McMurphy utters these lines in part I after he witnesses the first Group Meeting. The way in which he describes the meeting shows that it was quite different from anything that he expected to hear. Through this quote, Ken Kesey, shows the power that Nurse Ratched has, as she starts the conversation, and decides which person to criticize. She then sits back and happily listens to the negative comments that the patients speak When McMurphy is in the meeting, he is at taut and anxious because he realizes the reality of having one person get teased for a long period of time, while everybody else is used to it and relieved that it isn’t their day to be in Harding’s place. The patients are unable to realize the negative effect that criticizing someone might have in the near future; McMurphy understands where these meetings are going and the fact that Ratched enjoys controlling the patients. He has trouble fitting in with the group in this sense and he is confused as to whether he should give in to the Nurse or stand up for the patients.
5 comments:
"I put my back toward the screen, then spun and let the momentum carry the panel through the screen and window with a ripping crash. The glass splashed out in the moon, like a bright cold water baptizing the sleeping earth."
When McMurphy breaks the glass of the Big Nurse's office, his excuse was that the window was so clean he couldn't even see it. Although the men on the ward can clearly see how the nurse is manipulating them, McMurphy is the first to finally do something about it. In this quote, Chief Bromden takes his own action by breaking the window of the asylum and running away. The water imagery connects with the symbol of water as cleansing for the men on the ward, awakening to truth and sanity.
This is actually lily. Apparently, I'm on my brother's blog name.
"As I get closer I see there's light seeping out this peephole, green light, bitter as bile. The staff meeting is about to start in there, is why there's this green seepage; it'll be all over the walls and windows by the time the meeting is halfway through, for me to sponge off and squeeze in my bucket, use the water later to clear the drains in the latrine." pg. 151
The passage struck me because of the language used and the description of the light as "green" and "bitter as bile." The light seems to represent the actions of those who run the asylum and the way they treat their patients. They are often portrayed in the story as evil characters and in the staff meeting the evil characteristics of the staff come to the forefront and are explicitly stated. The last sentence implies that it is the cruelty and evil nature of the staff that ends up "cleaning the latrines," although I am not exactly sure how this works.
Sam Ebb
Kesey sets up a very ironic situation, in which the "mental" patients seem to be more sane than the Big Nurse herself. For example,when McMurphy pretends the World Series is on television and he gets some of the other patients to join him, the Nurse loses control.
Also, the gradual fading of the fog throughout the novel serves as a symbol of Chief Bromden's progression to sanity. Bromden believes there are machines that produce this fog in the ward, and after McMurphy arrives, McMurphy slowly pulls the patients out of the fog. During the fishing trip scene, Bromden comments on how much the fog has cleared.
-Caroline
“McMurphy raises his voice; though he doesn’t look at the other Acutes listening behind him, it’s them he’s talking to. ‘The flock gets sight of a spot of blood on some chicken and they all go to peckin' at it, see, till they rip the chicken to shreds, blood and bones and feathers. But usually a couple of the flock gets spotted in the fracas, then it's their turn. And a few more gets spots and gets pecked to death, and more and more. Oh, a peckin' party can wipe out the whole flock in a matter of a few hours, buddy, I seen it. A mighty awesome sight. The only way to prevent it—with chickens—is to clip blinders on’” (page 49.)
McMurphy utters these lines in part I after he witnesses the first Group Meeting. The way in which he describes the meeting shows that it was quite different from anything that he expected to hear. Through this quote, Ken Kesey, shows the power that Nurse Ratched has, as she starts the conversation, and decides which person to criticize. She then sits back and happily listens to the negative comments that the patients speak When McMurphy is in the meeting, he is at taut and anxious because he realizes the reality of having one person get teased for a long period of time, while everybody else is used to it and relieved that it isn’t their day to be in Harding’s place. The patients are unable to realize the negative effect that criticizing someone might have in the near future; McMurphy understands where these meetings are going and the fact that Ratched enjoys controlling the patients. He has trouble fitting in with the group in this sense and he is confused as to whether he should give in to the Nurse or stand up for the patients.
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