nurse ratched quotes + analysis Flashcards
“The Big Nurse is able to set the wall clock at whatever speed she wants by just turning one of those dials in the steel door”
- The idea that Nurse Ratched can control the speed of the wall clock symbolises her authority over the patients in the institution
- By manipulating time, she controls not just their daily routines but also their perceptions of reality, reinforcing their sense of helplessness
- This power highlights the oppressive nature of her rule, contrasting sharply with McMurphy’s attempts to restore the patients’ sense of autonomy and freedom
She reached into the basket for the logbook. ‘Must we go over past history?’ That triggered something, some acoustic device in the walls, rigged to turn on at just the sound of those words coming from her mouth. The Acutes stiffened.”
- The ward, especially the day room, symbolizes total control over the patients
- Chief Bromden describes the walls responding mechanically to Nurse Ratched, showing her constant authority and the patients’ complete loss of control
- The ward represents a larger authoritarian system that strips the men of freedom and forces them to conform, reducing them to objects of control
she’s down the hall about to turn into the glass Nurses’ Station where she’ll spend the day sitting at her desk and looking out her window and making notes on what goes on out in front of her in the day toom during the next eight hours”
- The men are afraid to rebel because they know Nurse Ratched is always watching
- Her note-taking behind the glass shows how her control extends everywhere on the ward
- The glass symbolizes dehumanization, turning the men into zoo animals constantly watched and judged
- This creates fear, making the men too scared to resist, as they believe they will face severe punishment if caught, so they choose to stay submissive
“she always wins my friends, always”
- Highlights the powerless nature of the patients due to the oppression they feel in the war
- Due to the Nurse mentally and physically overwhelming them they have come to terms with the control and understand there is no point fighting back against it
‘screaming when he grabbed for her and ripped her uniform all the way down the front’, ‘two nippled circles’, ‘swelled out’
- did she enjoy? how a woman is naturally meant to feel
- male violence against women cases her terror and scare
- exposing metaphorically her femininity and therefore weakness
- no power or intimidation over men
- to be powerful, women have to conceal their femininity, because their power is being ruthless
