One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest -- Final Blog

Analyze Kesey's use of the fog in Chiefs narration.
The fog allows the reader an insight into Chiefs beliefs and his vulnerabilities. It seemingly casts him as psychotic within the beginning of the novel. The fog also demonstrates the ward, and ultimately Nurse Ratched's, control over every aspect of Chief, even within his mind and his dreams. His belief that the ward holds a "fog machine" depicts him acknowledging and recognizing that the power is held by the ward.

Evaluate Kesey's choice of using Cheif as the narrator versus a different patient of one of the staff.
Chief is ultimately the best narrator for this novel because of his background, his admiration of McMurphy, and his access to the most information. However, his narration is questionable at the beginning of the novel because of the constant fog of medication he is under. The fact that he had a troubled childhood with the American government taking away his home allows the reader to pity him as well as sympathizing for him. Although this doesn't build Chief's credibility, it builds the willingness to understand him and accept his story. His admiration of McMurphy is key to us liking and identifying with McMurphy, the proclaimed anti-hero of the novel. If it were to be a staff member narrating the novel, there would be a distinct difference in the view of McMurphy. Another patient would be able to describe McMurphy positively, however, McMurphy has the most positive impact on Chief by bringing him out of his introverted shell and breaking his silence, thus making the reader see McMurphy more positively. His access to the most information, both from being one of the longest patients in the ward and from his facade of being deaf and dumb, gives the reader an insight into the ward that no other patient would be able to provide.

Is Chief a reliable or unreliable narrator? Why or why not?
Chief, though unreliable at the beginning of the novel due to the constant state of medication, becomes more and more reliable as the novel continues and his confidence is increased by McMurphy's defiance of authority. Chief ultimately is the most reliable because of the length of his hospitalization and his access to information otherwise withheld. In addition to this, Chief's cognitive ability isn't compromised by his choice to pretend to be deaf and dumb and the medication he takes. The medication simply confuses him for the time being, however, he always regains consciousness despite the paranoia the medication brings him.

What is the role of women within this novel?
The role of women is very interesting and extreme in this novel. There is first Nurse Ratched who is the Big Nurse of the psychiatric hospital. During the 1960s in America, more and more women were entering the work force and it is interesting to a woman in such a high place of power. Nurse Ratched has ultimate control over the men's lives in a world where men generally held the power. The choice of Harding's wife constantly emasculating him and Harding feeling powerless against her is also one that is out of the norm for the patriarchal society that was before the 60's. However, Kesey also introduces women considered dirty and undesirable: prostitutes. These prostitutes submit to the demands of McMurphy, even sneaking into the ward at 2 in the morning. The other women mentioned within this novel is also quite overbearing, with Chief's father taking on his mother's last name and Billy's overprotective mother. Within this novel, Kesey paints women in a negative light, with the exception of the ever submissive prostitutes.

One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest -- Second Blog

At the end of Part One, McMurphy clearly has the upper hand due to the fact that he is the first to disturb the supposed peace that Big Nurse set forth with her "reign". This is best exemplified when McMurphy moves to allow the men to have a game room of sorts and to allow them to watch the World Series game on TV as well as ending the section with "men watching a blank TV, a fifty-year-old woman hollering and squealing at the back of their heads about discipline and order and recriminations" (Kesey 145). This shows the patients dominance over the nurses, especially because they all defied the nurses orders in order to do so. 


At this point, I personally pity Chief more after learning more of the prosecution his people went through and the haze he is always in. For example in his foggy state he states "A furnace got its mouth open somewhere, licks up somebody" believing that to be real whereas he had a nightmare under the potential influence of drugs (Kesey 88). This also gives insight to his twisted thoughts, which evokes pity from the audience as well as being tied up to his bed and unable to move (Kesey 90). 


I believe that the presence of McMurphy drew Chief out of his isolation. Before, everybody believed that Chief was deaf and dumb, however McMurphy discovers that that is all an act (Kesey 84). Chief also slowly interacts more and more with the patients with "lift[ing] [his hand]" to vote in order to watch the World Series on TV (Kesey 142).


After reading Part One, I am most definitely rooting for McMurphy. Chief does not seem to play an integral part of the story with the exception of his narration of events and the nurse seems too straitlaced to be liked. McMurphy, on the other hand, seems very fun and outgoing, especially with his prank about not having any clothes issued to him. He also seems to be more of a protagonist due to his daring ways and his charm. 

One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest -- First Blog

Within the first five pages of the book, Ken Kesey portrays Nurse Ratched from a mild mannered nurse to one that is read to "tear the black [workers] limb from limb... she really let's herself go and her painted smile twists, stretches to an open snarl, and she blogs up bigger and bigger..." (5). This immediately gives the reader the impression that she is to be the villain of the novel with the violence that the narrator portrays her to have.

McMurphy seems to be the most heroic out of the characters we are introduced to within the first section of the novel. The first real introduction of McMurphy depicts him as a patient with a curable disease (an Acute) and "grinning and shaking hands with everybody he comes to," (Kesey 18) as well as depicting him laughing and winking at the narrator Chief (Kesey 24). The narrator goes on to describe a group meeting where the attending physician "is working so hard to keep from giggling again" from McMurphy's wise cracks (47). This gives him a very amiable and likable personality that the reader would most likely identify with, making him more of the hero of the novel. 

If there were to be an antihero, Chief would most likely be it. He doesn't seem very relatable to the audience with his choice to deaf and dumb, which, as the audience, we can tell he is not (24). However, the audience is gathering the story from his point of view and also sympathizing for him on the first page when the black employees are mocking him.  

The Great Gatsby -- Final Blog

Why would Gatsby create a fictitious past for himself? 
In order to establish himself within a new and fabulous area, Gatsby had allowed rumors of him to circulate, as well as claiming he was the son of a rich family, whom had all died, and was an Oxford man. To further his new background he even changed his name from James Gatz to Jay Gatsby in order to create a new life for himself and establish a new legacy. His fake past also could have contributed to his plan to win back Daisy; by reinventing himself into something he never was, Daisy wouldn't have known that it was the James Gatz that she knew in Louisville and therefore would come to his great parties. His new identity also is a representation of the American dream and it's success. By stumbling upon money, Gatz wanted to leave his simple life completely behind and grasp his new found life and in order to do that he felt the need to create an elaborate past in order to hide the fact that he himself was once simple and plain.


Why would Daisy choose to reconcile the relationship that she and Gatsby had in Louisville?
Daisy's love for Tom and Gatsby were two very different kinds of love. Her love for Tom was for the security and money that he would be able to provide her, as well as the status she would have by marrying him. However, her love of Gatsby was much more emotionally driven because he was still James Gatz when they had first met. Once Daisy sees Gatsby's great wealth, much greater than that of Tom, she realized that she could have both a man that was in love with her and that would have treated her well and all the money that she could have dreamed of. This is also is representative of the pursuit of the American dream, with Gatsby representing the American dream and it's success. With Daisy now pursuing a relationship with Gatsby, it shows her pursuit of her idea of the American dream, comfort, security, wealth, and love.


How does Nick choose to explicitly state that all the characters are from the West help the story? 
The great American dream originally lied in the West and the potential prosperity that it could bring. With all of the characters moving to the east and establishing a life in New York City, it illustrates the idea of the American dream dissipating as well as the morality of the West losing itself to the materialism of the East.


How does the title The Great Gatsby relate to the story?
With the setting of the story in the 1920's, it was the decline of the idea of the American dream. Fitzgerald depicts a society in which materialism reigns over morals with Nick Carraway, a supposedly very moral person who withholds judgement, telling the story. With the earlier explanation of Gatsby being the American dream, his death represents the end of the great American dream and is ultimately the main theme of the novel.

The Great Gatsby -- #2

With the introduction of Meyer Wolfsheim as a character leads the reader to believe that Gatsby may not be as positively intriguing as the beginning makes him out to be. Wolfsheim "fixed" the 1919 World Series and also seems to be shady, from which the reader can make the assumption that Gatsby may somehow be involved with an underground shady business and that is where his wealth stems from.
The backstory of Daisy and Gatsby made me personally pity Gatsby and the situation that he is in because Daisy is married to Tom and Gatsby is still in love with her. This realization of forbidden love and lost love makes Gatsby seem more vulnerable and human and not as great and almighty as what we were first told at the beginning of the book.
The rest of Gatsby's backstory also makes him seem more relatable than the image of a great and mysteriously wealthy person that we first were led to believe. His simple and humble beginnings of being a janitor and growing up in North Dakota appeals to a greater audience than just being a man born into wealth. It also makes Gatsby seem more admirable of a character because of his elevation in wealth and status from janitor to millionaire. His meeting with yacht owner Dan Cody to warn  him of an impending storm also makes Gatsby more personable, as well as explaining why Gatsby decides to not drink because of Cody drinking himself to a stupor.
In the first three chapters, Gatsby was a much more distant character and though not directly portrayed negatively, he seemed to be aloof in the sense that he never interacted with his guests and had rumors surrounding him. However, with Gatsby's past now exposed, Gatsby seems more, as aforementioned, personable and relatable as a person. His humble beginnings and work ethic appeal to a wider audience and his love for Daisy makes the reader pity him. I would say now I like him more, though I didn't dislike him at the beginning of the book.

"Black Bottom Stomp" -- Jelly Roll Morton

How do you envision this music playing a part of Gatsby's parties?
Because the music is lively and fast paced, it gives off a very playful feeling which would be great at Gatsby's parties. I would imagine that there would be a live band there for entertaining the guests as well as providing music to dance to.


What is the mood? How/why?
The mood is very playful and light. The song uses a moderate to fast tempo with instruments sliding their notes, giving it a very playful feel and light feel.

What activities go along with this music?
I would imagine that there would be dancing, gossiping, and chatting going along with this music.

Great Gatsby Reading Blog #1

In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Nick Carraway, the narrator, seems to be the hero of the story. More often than not, the narrator is usually the hero, however, Fitzgerald portrays Nick as a good person with the quote that "[he] is inclined to reserve all judgments" (1). Nick also states that he is shocked by the elaborateness of Catherine's like about Daisy being Catholic, again making him seem like a morally good character (Fitzgerald 33).

Tom seems to be the villain of the novel so far. Daisy describes her husband Tom as "a brute of a man, a great, big, hulking physical specimen" (Fitzgerald 12), all words with a negative connotation. Daisy also seems to be tied down by Tom, Fitzgerald writing that after Tom left the table something that "quickened" within her, which again paints Tom negatively (14). Not only does he seem to be a brute of a man, Miss Jordan Baker says that he has a mistress in New York, showing that he is being unfaithful to Daisy and again portraying him negatively (Fitzgerald 15). 

Gatsby himself seems to play the role of an antihero, however, based on the first three chapters there cannot be a conclusive classification for him. At the end of chapter 1 after Nick decides to call out to Gatsby, he mysteriously vanishes, giving him an aura of mystery that isn't typical of a hero (Fitzgerald 21). Lucille, Jordan, and an unnamed girl begin gossiping about Gatsby, saying that he "killed a man once" and that he "was a German spy during the war", which is countered by one of the girls saying that "he was in the American army during the war" (Fitzgerald 44). The uncertainty of him being good or bad adds to his aura of mystery and the sense that he may be an antihero.