I chose this book because Mrs. Disher recommended this book to me, and in hearing the summary of someone inside of an insane asylum and cheating the system, I got instantly hooked. I can't wait to see what the author wrote and how someone wins in an insane asylum.
Shady is my partner!
One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest is a very interesting book to read. To hear the perspective from a man who is faking being deaf is something that I admire about Ken Kessey. That situation allows the novel to be in the first person, but also allow the audience to know what the nurses and staff are doing because they all think he is deaf. I love how this book is portrayed and all the characters. McMurphy is definitely my favorite. I love how rebellious he is and how Ken Kessey makes McMurphy’s goal to bring the mean nurse over the edge. What do you think about the nurse? I think she is extremely mean and doesn’t give the patients a chance to have their own fun. She isn’t very flexible with the schedule and the patience are at the point that they are so afraid to ask a simple question or change a little thing. I’m glad McMurphy is there to talk some sense into them. The main character is definitely my second favorite. Mr. Bromden is very peculiar and I think he is definitely insane and deserves to be in the hospital, unlike McMurphy who is there for kicks and giggles. Chief Bromden is very smart for faking being deaf so that he is able to hear the staff ideas and what they will do. I definitely would not be able to pull off being deaf. I would give it away the day I tried it. Those are all my thoughts on One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest. I have one question for you. Chief Bromden talks a lot about fog and how people are in the fog and out of it and it being a safe place. Why do you think Ken Kelley is talking about fog in this book? What does it symbolize? Why does he talk about it so much?
ReplyDeleteStarting off the book, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, it was hard to follow and keep up with it but as I continued reading, I started following better and I started to like it a little bit. I agree this was very interesting starting off. I’d have to say my favorite character in this book is the narrator, Chief Bromden. He goes around the ward sweeping the halls and fakes his deafness. When he does this, he hears all the secrets all over the ward and people don’t realize that he’s can. He’s narrating the story as he sees the ward and the world around him. McMurphy is an interesting character. I agree that he is rebellious and does his own thing but I also see some pride in him in the way that he wants things to go in his advantage. What do I think about the nurse? I don’t know what I think about her to be honest. I also feel like she doesn’t give the patients enough freedom. She also treats them as patients rather than actually people if that makes any sense. I agree that Bromden is definitely insane. He’s a big person but not feared by the patients. I feel like he’s looked at as a bit soft. The fog that Bromden represents his escape from reality. A real life fog, you can’t see anything beyond it since it’s covering it all up, like in the book, the fog is like a lack of insight or covering up vision of the world. I feel like Bromden fears the rest of the world or whats beyond the fog and chooses his own personal fog to be there. That’s my thoughts on the symbolism of the fog and my thoughts on One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest so far.
Delete-Shady
One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest is getting even better. I love how McMurphy decides to go along with Nurse Ratched in realization that she controls when he leaves or not, but then gets back into the swing of things and continues to annoy her and be a nuisance. He really makes this book interesting to read and making readers wonder what he will do next to the Black Boys or to the Nurse. I also wonder if people will figure out that Chief Bromden is not actually deaf after he raised his hand to watch the playoffs during the cleaning hours. The Black Boys and Nurse Ratched are a lot more careful with him and are trying to catch him. I also wonder if Chief Bromden will tell any of the other patience that he is actually not deaf and doing it to get more information from the staff and Nurse. I hope he does, it will really throw a wrench into the book. One thing I have noticed is that Chief Bromden is no longer talking about fog or the fog machine. Chief said that it broke, and that is the last I have heard of it. What happened to it? Did he stop hallucinating the fog? Is there an actual fog machine? I don’t know. I wish the author, Ken Kessey, would talk a little bit more on the Doctor. I wish he talked more or was discussed more because I am very interested in him. He seems to be best friends with McMurphy and agrees with everything he says, McMurphy is also very persuasive, and he wants the best for the patients. He is very different from Nurse Ratched, the Nurse is very orderly and not fun, while the Doctor is more sporadic and wants the patients to have fun and do something new. I want more of the Doctor and less of the Nurse. That’s everything I have for you. One question to end on, why do you think the Nurse decided to not send McMurphy over to Disturbed? Why did she think he would change from being annoying to being orderly? Does Nurse Ratched actually think she can change him? What are your thoughts?
ReplyDeleteOne Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is getting pretty interesting. I think it is obvious that McMurphy is going to go along with Nurse Ratched since he wants to leave. But just because he is sucking up to her doesn’t mean he is going to stop annoying her. McMurphy is a smart guy, he is rebellious, but he is a smart guy. McMurphy definitely knows that Chief Bromden is faking his deafness. This causes Bromden to fear that others may find out as well. It would be pretty interesting if Bromden told someone that he is faking his deafness but also at the same time I would want to see how long he can keep this up for. It would really change a lot, but I personally would not want him to tell anyone yet. I think the fog machine breaking basically means Bromden is changing in the way he sees the world. I am also wondering the same thing. If the fog machine was a real thing or just a thing Bromden imagined in his own head. Ken Kessey could have elaborated more on the fog and how it affected Bromden later on. How I see McMurphy is someone who is a leader to the patients in a way. I think the nurse did not send him to Disturbed because she gets to decide when he leaves so she felt like if she kept him in the main prison, he would change on his own. She just believed that if she was doing him a favor, he would do a favor in return and not be as annoying. I feel like the nurse believes she can change him and will try until he is fully changed. Those are my thoughts on One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest so far.
Delete-Shady
I’m almost done with One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and I wonder how the book is going to end. Will McMurphy leave the prison? Will Nurse Ratched lighten up? Will Chief leave since he is the main character? I can’t wait to see. Ken Kessey did a good job to keep the book moving along and make it interesting throughout the whole book. There is always a new variable he puts in or someone does something unthinkable. An example would be Chief Bromden talking now. He is talking with all the others and making jokes and not acting deaf anymore, which I never would have guessed would happen. I give props to the author for keeping it interesting. What do you think about the book currently? What do you think about fishing trip? I like Ken Kessey putting in the fishing trip and their adventure outside the building. McMurphy is definitely making a huge difference to this group and changing their lives for the better. It almost seems that McMurphy is curing this group by putting the fun in their lives and having them act themselves. The group is laughing more and I can’t see a reason for anyone being in the insane asylum. They all seem to act normal to society and don’t have valid proof of being crazy or special in any way. Look at Billy Bibbit, he is about to on a “date” with Candy, and she is described as an extremely attractive person, and she is gladly “going out” with him. I think Nurse Ratched did more bad than good to this group. I still cannot wait to finish this book and see how it ends. I also cannot wait to watch the movie. I heard it is really good, and I love Jack Nicholson. One question to end this third letter, what do you think will happen to Candy and Billy? Will they end up getting to together after this “date”? Do you think they will get together, or will Candy not be able to handle Billy’s stutter?
ReplyDeleteOne Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is almost finished and I believe McMurphy will eventually get to leave the prison, but I believe Bromden will stay. I believe the nurse will eventually lighten up a little especially to the patients. I agree that Ken Kessey did a good job with the flow of the book and how he adds different things throughout the book. When Bromden is not acting deaf and starts talking really surprised me. The book has exceeded my expectations so far, I am hoping for a good finish to the story. I thought the dishing trip was interesting. They were catching fish while getting drunk. I agree that McMurphy is making a big difference in the group. He is making a positive difference too. On the other hand, the nurse in my opinion is not making a positive difference in the group. Something McMurphy is doing is giving the patients freedom which leads to adding fun in their lives. Fun is something they are not used to with the nurse. I agree that it is not an insane asylum as much anymore since everyone is laughing and having fun. The date that was set up is just proof that this asylum is changing for the better. In a normal insane asylum, dating would be very rare and uncommon since they were put in the asylum in the first place since they are not like normal people. I also heard about the movie and I might watch it if I can find the time. I think that Candy and Billy will stay together through the rest of the book. I think that she will be able to handle Billy’s stutter. Those are my thoughts. I can’t wait to finish the rest of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.
Delete-Shady
I finished One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and let me tell you, it was a good ending. I am surprised that Candy and Billy got together, but I am sad that Billy ended up committing suicide. I liked him, he was genuine, and I blame Nurse Ratched for the cause of him killing himself. I also never would have guessed that McMurphy would attack Nurse Ratched. It is good that she was never able to gain control of the asylum, she was bad at controlling it and her leaving made everyone leave to a better asylum or out of the asylum. I’m glad that everyone left that horrible place to somewhere better. What I didn’t understand was that McMurphy became a vegetable. Why did Ken Kessey add that in? His punishment was to be a vegetable. Why couldn’t he go to a different place? Also, why did Chief Bromden kill him? What was the point of Chief killing McMurphy? Was it to teach him a lesson, or get what he deserved for acting the way he did? I never would have guessed Chief being a murder. All in all, I am glad that Chief got to escape. He did not deserve to be in that asylum. He was the smartest one there. He faked being deaf for heaven’s sake, and pulled it off for years. He did not deserve to be there and should be with his tribe, which is where he is going. This was a very satisfying ending. People left the horrible asylum, Chief escaped, Billy killed himself, Nurse Ratched lost her voice, and control of the place, and McMurphy became a vegetable for attacking the nurse; resulting in him being suffocated by Chief. This wasn’t the ending we were all suspecting, at all, but it was the ending we needed to finish off a fantastic book by Ken Kessey.
ReplyDeleteAfter finishing One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, it was better than I expected it to be. It stayed interesting throughout especially at the end. Candy and Billy getting together after the date was something I predicted, and I was right, but I could not predict Bill committing suicide. I believe that the nurse had something to do with Billy ending up committing suicide. She was a terrible nurse and did not care for the patients in the asylum as much as she could have. Everyone leaving was for the better. The asylum itself was not a good environment. McMurphy became a vegetable after attacking the nurse and I personally do not know why Ken Kessey added that in, but it could have been to teach him a lesson. What surprised me was Bromden killing McMurphy with a pillow. That was very unexpected. Bromden did not seem like a bad person let alone a murderer. I think he did it because McMurphy attacked the nurse. After killing McMurphy, Bromden escapes the asylum. After reading this ending, I kind of want to watch the movie now. I feel like all of this put into a movie would be more exciting and interesting for me. Maybe in the movie we find a reason that Bromden had to kill McMurphy that the book does not show. I usually do not like reading books, but this book kept me engaged and wanting to know what would happen and how it was going to end. How did you like this book? I know you enjoyed the ending as much as I did. Would you read another book by Ken Kessey? If his other books are like this where the ending is not what the reader expects, I wonder consider reading more books written by him.
Delete-Shady
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ReplyDeleteHi Riess and Shady! What a rollicking ride. Good job tracking the ups and downs of the power struggle between McMurphy and Ratched. Especially good observations about Bromden's fog machine, its breaking, and its meaning for Bromden's changing view of the world. Overall, please remember that at least one quotation per entry is required (see instructions in my original blog post and elsewhere). In addition, feel free (esp. Shady) to talk about additional or different examples than your partner gives. Both of you, it's so interesting that the ending so thoroughly reverses your expectations. In what ways does Ratched still kind of win? Is there any possible positive meaning behind Bromden's killing of McMurphy? You both suggest Kesey might be teaching McMurphy a lesson, but does it actually seem like either Kesey or Bromden is against M's attacking Ratched? How could death be a kind of victory or freedom for McMurphy. Thanks! Grade on Portals,
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