Power—Period 3
- The Combine, women and Mack all wield power. When thinking about women, Harding says, “we are the victims of a matriarchy”. Many patients are in hospital because of women. Billy is too tied to his mother and has no confidence, Chief was really affected by how his mother beat down his father and took his power, Harding has a terrible marriage and his wife doesn’t help him get better, and the nurse deprives men of their masculinity.
- Mack’s power comes from his personality and his genuine laughter emboldens the men/heals the men.
- Mack has a great deal of power, but not enough to conquer the nurse’s power because the authorities have ultimate power. The nurse is very controlling and uses her power to keep the men down. She has the power of the institution and society behind her. The orderlies get their power from her. Even the doctors defer to her (nurse is powerful because she knows how to use fear to manipulate even those considered to be above her in status). As for the patients, if they don’t follow the rules, they will be punished. The Combine/machinery will punish individuals who step out of line. When power shifts, she feels threatened.
- This ties in with the power of the Combine. Whatever the authorities think is sane becomes right. People like Murphy are agents of change in society. They challenge society’s assumptions about what is accepted.
- Chief talks about power on p. 137. He says that he can’t help the others because if he does, he’ll leave himself wide open to attack. The men actually have power but don’t realize it. Most of them could walk out of the institution under their own steam because they are voluntary patients. The institution is society that will punish people who do not follow the rules.
- During the fishing trip, the men realize that they have power that they can use to their advantage…the power of mental illness.
- Mack had a great impact on the patients. The nurse loses control to him and Mack loses his life to her, but he has a lasting effect on the men on the ward. Mack was the first to stand up to the nurse and opened up the idea of rebellion, but the nurse always had to win. She had a ‘don’t test me’ attitude.
- Kesey does a good job of representing the power of sexuality. Harding fears his own sexuality, Billy fears his too—he has never been with a woman. Being openly sexual is frowned upon, Kesey wants people to be more open.
- Chief’s silence comes from his lack of power. He begins speaking when he begins feeling more powerful. On p. 8, he says “I’ve been silent so long” and he talks about his story being true even if it didn’t happen. Often if people have experienced something bad, it’s hard for them to express themselves. It’s easier to say nothing, but Chief has been silent for so long that he is going to tell his story. Nurse worked hard to take away all the men’s voices.
- Society is like the nurse and never thinks it is doing anything harmful, but Kesey shows us what society is doing. With power comes influence.
- Mack uses his power for good. He doesn’t think the patients are that ill. He thinks they would be fine to be out in society, and this gives them the confidence to leave the hospital.
- Under democracy can be subverted to maintain an authoritarian status quo.
- Power is where people believe it to be. Mack is in a worse spot than most of the other patients (he’s committed), but because the men believe in him, he has power.
Power—Period 4
- On p. 185, Harding says “this world belongs to the strong…we must face up to this”. The weak are fearful and hide in their fog.
- Fear is used by those in power to control the weak and gain power. Harding also talks of rabbits and wolves. The rabbits are happy to give their power to the wolves.
- The nurse feels very responsible to do her duty…this turns her into a robotic woman.
- Chief at the start of the book hides from those in power. When he is taken to the shaving room he says “I don’t yell, otherwise it’s just tougher on you”.
- Mack shows off his power on the ward in order to gain authority.
- Size is also used to show power.
- Those with power can manipulate others (Mack persuades Turkle to let in the women for the party). Nurse gets her power from her connections (to the head of the hospital and Billy’s mum).
- EST and lobotomies are the ways in which society wields power.
