By the end of part 1, I would have to say that McMurphy is managing to get the better of the nurse more so than the other way around. The fact that this part ends on McMurphy getting all of the ward to quit working and stare at a blank tv screen just to show her up probably shows that at the very least he has more power over the patients at this point. While the Nurse still has technical power, at this point McMurphy has managed to make his point more or less so.
The Chief goes out of his way to be near McMurphy so that he can hear what is going on. That shows a change in that at the beginning of the story he was less excited about things and more or less just along for the ride. Now, while still mostly just along for the ride, he also seems to be more active at attempting to be around people and things. The fact that McMurphy managed to get him to break out of his shell and raise his hand shows just how much he actually has managed to effect the Chief, with this being the most obvious one of the ways that he has been affected. At this point I like the Chief relatively well, because I kinda think that he is smarter than what the others think he is, and he does a good job of hiding it, but at the same time I think that he has very little bearing on the story physically. The part in which he comes in is more so in his description and how he gets you to lean to one side or the other just by how he describes it.
I find myself cheering for McMurphy, even though I don't particularly like him, mostly because I like the patients and what he is doing is also making them happy. In the same way, I also think that I lean towards his side thanks to the Chief's storytelling and the fact that there is an obvious slant towards McMurphy's side.
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
First Cuckoo's Nest Blog
The first character that I feel confident placing would be McMurphy, who I personally think is an anti hero. He has traits that would make him qualify as a hero, but at the same time he shows traits that make him not so savory. The facts that he is lazy (he is in the mental hospital because he would rather be there than a work camp), aggressive (what originally got him in prison) and manipulative all point towards him being more of an anti-hero than anything else. He is rude at times and is obviously attempting to manipulate those within the ward. Nurse Ratched says, "He is what we call a ‘manipulator,’ Miss Flinn, a man who will use everyone and everything to his own ends." While not the most trustworthy, I do believe that she was telling the truth in this statement; this is proved even further once he takes the bet at the end in order to try to get under the Nurse's skin and try to turn the already established order a little onto its head.
Another easy one to place would be the Head Nurse. While probably not as mean as McMurphy would lead us to believe, the truth of the matter is that she does not really seem to care about the patients. Also, like McMurphy, she is manipulative and used to being in control. She has everything running under a tight ship, under her control, and the doctor can't do a thing about it thanks to his cowardliness. She definitely is looked upon as the villain to most people in the ward. McMurphy's conversation with Harding at the end proves that everyone in the ward thinks of her as meanest, most manipulative woman on the face of the planet. After McMurphy attempts to prove this to Harding, he eventually gives in, admitting that, "No one’s ever dared come out and say it before, but there’s not a man among us that doesn’t think it, that doesn’t feel just as [McMurphy does] about [Nurse Ratched] and the whole business, " She's got them under such a tight rein that they can't even admit to themselves that they dislike her through some sort of cognitive dissonance. She holds the rest of the ward in fear, so much fear that they are helpless to do anything about it.
The hardest one to place would be hero...there doesn't appear to be any heroes in this story, at least not of the traditional sort. Even with tragic hero, it would be hard to shoehorn a character into the role. I would say Harding might fit a tragic hero, but I can't say that I know enough about him to be able to aptly place him. His faults are not ones that would make a villain or even an anti hero. He could be a hero, but his cowardly attitude, even if it is self-aware, would make it hard for him to a traditional hero. Even more so, I have little idea of how much he will even affect the story. Another character in a similar situation is the Chief, who also cannot fit as a villain or anti-hero, but isn't a traditional hero. The fact that he clearly cannot be trusted also leads you to wonder how much of what he tells you is true, and how much of it is his insane ramblings. Either way, I don't know how much bearing he will have to do with the story, regardless of his place as the narrator.
Another easy one to place would be the Head Nurse. While probably not as mean as McMurphy would lead us to believe, the truth of the matter is that she does not really seem to care about the patients. Also, like McMurphy, she is manipulative and used to being in control. She has everything running under a tight ship, under her control, and the doctor can't do a thing about it thanks to his cowardliness. She definitely is looked upon as the villain to most people in the ward. McMurphy's conversation with Harding at the end proves that everyone in the ward thinks of her as meanest, most manipulative woman on the face of the planet. After McMurphy attempts to prove this to Harding, he eventually gives in, admitting that, "No one’s ever dared come out and say it before, but there’s not a man among us that doesn’t think it, that doesn’t feel just as [McMurphy does] about [Nurse Ratched] and the whole business, " She's got them under such a tight rein that they can't even admit to themselves that they dislike her through some sort of cognitive dissonance. She holds the rest of the ward in fear, so much fear that they are helpless to do anything about it.
The hardest one to place would be hero...there doesn't appear to be any heroes in this story, at least not of the traditional sort. Even with tragic hero, it would be hard to shoehorn a character into the role. I would say Harding might fit a tragic hero, but I can't say that I know enough about him to be able to aptly place him. His faults are not ones that would make a villain or even an anti hero. He could be a hero, but his cowardly attitude, even if it is self-aware, would make it hard for him to a traditional hero. Even more so, I have little idea of how much he will even affect the story. Another character in a similar situation is the Chief, who also cannot fit as a villain or anti-hero, but isn't a traditional hero. The fact that he clearly cannot be trusted also leads you to wonder how much of what he tells you is true, and how much of it is his insane ramblings. Either way, I don't know how much bearing he will have to do with the story, regardless of his place as the narrator.
Monday, March 5, 2012
Final Great Gatsby Reading
What was Fitzgerald trying to accomplish by repeatedly mentioning the glasses of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg?
The sign was a way to symbolize all the attention the elite class got, and how they were always being watched. In the first time it is described, it is said to rise above the fog and is able to be seen by many in the surrounding area. Later, after the trouble with Myrtle and the car, his sign is again mentioned, only this time it is referred to by Wilson, who seems to hold the idea that it is "God" and is always watching. Specifically, that he is watching Myrtle with her affair, and that he knows and will punish her for it. Wilson takes it too far, but it does go to show that there is a lot to be seen and watched, with the affairs and underhanded business that goes on in the area.
How effective was Fitzgerald's use of character to portray his theme?
Considering it appears that Fitzgerald's theme has to do with looking back at the past, and how the characters he use all seem to be stuck in the past for one reason or another, I would say it was very effective. In effect, Fitzgerald is dwelling on the one girl who turned him down because he was too poor, and this book goes to show that. Gatsby is his stand in, constantly stuck in the past, one that can never be real again. Tom is the typical, or at least at first, stereotype of the jerk jock who is otherwise perfect. However, Fitzgerald throws a twist in that all of the characters are portrayed sympathetically by the end of the book, at least for a moment (for Tom, literally just a moment.) It also goes to show that sticking in the past hurts everyone: Gatsby dead, Tom and Daisy in shambles, with Nick and Jordan no better or worse than they started, if only for the fact that they were both friends with those affected.
What is Fitzgerald's reasoning for making Gatsby what he is (hero, anti-hero, villain)?
Gatsby is, in my opinion, a tragic hero. His downfalls all come back to the fact that he is stuck in the past, and all of the bad things that he does/did can be linked to that fact. He got into somewhat shady business so that he could be more successful and as such gain Daisy's affection again, like they'd been prior to him leaving for the war. This, of course, mirrors Fitzgerald in that Fitzgerald would be sympathetic with him, seeing as how Gatsby is a sort of stand in for himself, in a way. At least, in that he gets turned down by the woman he loves because he doesn't have enough money, and then when he does have money, there's still no way of regaining her affection for real. This makes people feel sorry for him, while all the same it gets across Fitzgerald's point that it's useless to be stuck in the past, and that the only person it hurts is oneself.
How effective was Fitzgerald's use of Gatsby as a stand in for himself?
It was effective in that it showed just how useless it is to be stuck in the past. With Gatsby, the issue was that he couldn't move on, and after he had managed to pull himself up to Daisy's level and she still found herself unable to truly reciprocate in the way that Gatsby remembered it being, he just couldn't imagine that she didn't feel the same way as him. It managed to show the reader just how hopeless Fitzgerald felt that dwelling on the past could be, and Gatsby's death was the cherry on the top of everything, in that it was symbolic. Everything in Gatsby's life had been leading up to his reunion with Daisy, and after she could not be what he wanted, it only shows that Gatsby would die. Even more so, his death was in part caused by his refusal to let go of his attachment to Daisy.
The sign was a way to symbolize all the attention the elite class got, and how they were always being watched. In the first time it is described, it is said to rise above the fog and is able to be seen by many in the surrounding area. Later, after the trouble with Myrtle and the car, his sign is again mentioned, only this time it is referred to by Wilson, who seems to hold the idea that it is "God" and is always watching. Specifically, that he is watching Myrtle with her affair, and that he knows and will punish her for it. Wilson takes it too far, but it does go to show that there is a lot to be seen and watched, with the affairs and underhanded business that goes on in the area.
How effective was Fitzgerald's use of character to portray his theme?
Considering it appears that Fitzgerald's theme has to do with looking back at the past, and how the characters he use all seem to be stuck in the past for one reason or another, I would say it was very effective. In effect, Fitzgerald is dwelling on the one girl who turned him down because he was too poor, and this book goes to show that. Gatsby is his stand in, constantly stuck in the past, one that can never be real again. Tom is the typical, or at least at first, stereotype of the jerk jock who is otherwise perfect. However, Fitzgerald throws a twist in that all of the characters are portrayed sympathetically by the end of the book, at least for a moment (for Tom, literally just a moment.) It also goes to show that sticking in the past hurts everyone: Gatsby dead, Tom and Daisy in shambles, with Nick and Jordan no better or worse than they started, if only for the fact that they were both friends with those affected.
What is Fitzgerald's reasoning for making Gatsby what he is (hero, anti-hero, villain)?
Gatsby is, in my opinion, a tragic hero. His downfalls all come back to the fact that he is stuck in the past, and all of the bad things that he does/did can be linked to that fact. He got into somewhat shady business so that he could be more successful and as such gain Daisy's affection again, like they'd been prior to him leaving for the war. This, of course, mirrors Fitzgerald in that Fitzgerald would be sympathetic with him, seeing as how Gatsby is a sort of stand in for himself, in a way. At least, in that he gets turned down by the woman he loves because he doesn't have enough money, and then when he does have money, there's still no way of regaining her affection for real. This makes people feel sorry for him, while all the same it gets across Fitzgerald's point that it's useless to be stuck in the past, and that the only person it hurts is oneself.
How effective was Fitzgerald's use of Gatsby as a stand in for himself?
It was effective in that it showed just how useless it is to be stuck in the past. With Gatsby, the issue was that he couldn't move on, and after he had managed to pull himself up to Daisy's level and she still found herself unable to truly reciprocate in the way that Gatsby remembered it being, he just couldn't imagine that she didn't feel the same way as him. It managed to show the reader just how hopeless Fitzgerald felt that dwelling on the past could be, and Gatsby's death was the cherry on the top of everything, in that it was symbolic. Everything in Gatsby's life had been leading up to his reunion with Daisy, and after she could not be what he wanted, it only shows that Gatsby would die. Even more so, his death was in part caused by his refusal to let go of his attachment to Daisy.
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