Essay plan - opening of two novels present central concerns explored in remainder of text Flashcards
Thesis statement
- both novels opening explores emasculation while each introducing an important independent theme
- Fight Club opening presents central theme of emasculation and also flaws of consumerism
- Cuckoo’s Nest presents central theme of emasculation and also matriarchal power
Fight club - para 1
Emasculation introduced in presenting a character extremely weakened
- “His own gym, Big Bob had owned a gym. He’d been married three times. He had done product endorsements.”
- “Fast-forward Bob said to the cancer. Then he was bankrupt. He had two grown kids who wouldn’t return his calls.”
Cuckoo’s nest - para 1
Emasculation introduced in absence of laughter and therefore liberation
- “Not like that fat public relations laugh. This sounds real. I realise all of a sudden it’s the first laugh I’ve heard in years.”
Fight club - para 2
Flaws of consumerism shown in it making the narrator distant from reality due to the meaningless nature of his pursuit
- “You buy furniture. You tell yourself, this is the last sofa I will ever need in my life.”
Cuckoo’s nest - para 2
Matriarchal power shown in the close control the Nurse has of the men, and how this is later significant
- “They’re fidgeting and twisting, responding to the dials in the control panel.”
- “I lurched it up to my knees and was able to, get an arm around it and my other hand under it.”
Fight Club - para 3
Final comment on masculinity in showing its evolved state in society
- “The rain trickles down through the house and everything wooden swells and shrinks, and the nails in everything wooden, the floors and baseboards and window casings, the nails inch out and out.”
Cuckoo’s nest - para 3
Deeper exploration in Harding stripped powerless by his wife
- “He had stated that his wife was extremely well endowed in the bosom and that this made him uneasy because she drew stares from the men on the street.”
