Thursday, April 30, 2009
Insanity
As I was beginning the reading, I came to the part of the story in which Nurse Ratched gives McMurphy the shock treatment. The first day he doesn't respond the way Ratched hopes. So she tries the same thing the next day. It once again fails. The third day it fails. And so on. This repetition made me wonder, when Kesey wrote this scene did he think back to Albert Einstein's famous quote, "Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results".
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9 comments:
I do feel that it is entirely possible that this is a stab at the nurse's mental health. The novel clearly shows her as someone who has a twisted mind. However, the quote relates to subjects that are more black and white than the situation regarding the EST. Einstein's quote is accurate in how it relates to logistical things, but it does not have much relevance when individual limits are involved. A number cannot resist the processes performed on it; a human spirit can withstand stimulus to a certain degree. Also, the EST is not a precision tool like an equation is. The results of EST are predictable to an extent, but, for the most part, random. The effects depend entirely on a persons tolerance and state of mind. Every person has a breaking point and just because the limit may not be reached on the first try does not mean it is unreachable. It is also important to see the nurse's use of EST as part of a larger plan. It is possible her plan was to administer EST ten times to McMurphy, then return him to her ward. If this is the case, the process has not been repeated at all, leaving Einstein's quote with little standing on the situation. I think Kesey was aware of the quote, but desired to disprove it by incorporating the human factor into Einstein's mathematics based words.
I agree with what Ben said that every person "has a breaking point". McMurphy might resist now but sooner or later he is going to give in. He might not want to but he is going to have to if he wants to get out.
my own personal opinion is that i think Kessey did think back about Einstein's famous quote “Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”. which proves that everybody is insane in their own way. Every human being has a mania or obsession. for some people someone might be crazy, but for others that someone isn’t. For example, when Einstein came up with the theory of special relativity, most people thought he was crazy and out of his mind, but others believed in him and he ended proving the concept to be correct. McMurphy is considered to be crazy at least Nurse Ratched thinks so, that's why she gives him several shocks. Meanwhile, the other patients think hes fine.
The purpose of this novel was to prove that people who resided in the mental institutions that some people were not crazy they were just not excepted by society. Furthermore, going along with the Insanity topic, this book shows irony when Kesey depicts the staff and their doings. it seems as though the staff is more crazy then the actual patients do. An other example of how Nurse Ratched appears to be insane, is when McMurphy sits down in front of the TV and the Nurse turns it off and McMurphy just sits there and watches a blank screen when other people join him in watching the blank screen, Nurse Ratched freaks out and starts screaming. From someone looking from the outside of the room, it would apeers that Nurse Ratched is the crazy one not them. This is yet another example of irony that the patients are not the crazy ones its Nurse Ratched.
When I look at Einstein's quote and I think of the situation in which it could be used (with the Nurse), I believe that there is a direct correlation between the two and it is very much possible that Kesey could have viewed Einstein's quote. A quote can mean many different things to many different people. Einstein didnt have to make the quotes meaning about mathematics or science or anything in particular, it could just be a broad statement (showing the incredibly amount of understanding of the world Einstein had- not just logistics). The Nurse is insane in various degrees and it is seen throughout the book. Everything about her is to the extreme, which in psychology, could be a sign for insanity or could lead to insanity. In my perspective, the Nurse is undoubtedly insane and to do something over and over and not see that there is a change or are still expecting a change is mindless. But what if the Nurse is not just doing this to try and see if McMuprhy will change, maybe she isnt looking to use this "therapy" as helpful, maybe since the Nurse knows that she made a mistake about McMurphy and he is truely not insane, maybe she is using the shock treatment to try and have the reverse effect. If the shocks work when one is "insane", they the shocks would probably do damage when one is not insane. I think the Nurse is trying to harm McMurphy rather then cure him, and that in and of itself is insane.
I think that the situation of the shock treatment is somewhat relative to Einstein's saying. I don't exactly know if Kesey read Einstein's quote and based the situation off of it, but I agree that it is somewhat similar to the situation. As McMurphy keeps regaining his normal ways after est, Nurse Ratched keeps expecting McMurphy to reach a breaking point. However, as McMurphy isn't willing to give up, I thin Nurse Ratched's way of thinking questions her sanity -- why would she keep going on with the treatment that obviously doesn't have any effect on the patient?
Shock treatment is, in my opinion the must brutal and horrific treatment ever administered. To put thousands of volts of electricity into someone's body is bad enough, let alone shock the brain directly. I agree with what Mike said about the Einstein quote. I think that the patients that are in the ward are not nearly as insane and sadistic as the nurse. She has all the power and uses it unjustly. I think that she is crazier then all the acutes in the ward. She is a person who is too powerful for her own good, and i think if she had her way that she would dispose of many of the patients in the ward.
I agree with Mike that this quote relates a great deal to Kesey's novel. I do not think the novel is based off this but the aspect of the book dealing with insanity (mostly the entire boook)does correspond very closely. I also agree that the pasients in this ward are not nearly as insane as people, and Nurse Ratched, think they are. They are treated unfairly and are under harsh rule which could lead someone to go a little crazy with enough time. By giving the shock therapy to the patients it is only giving Ratched a form of entertainment, if you will, and serves minimal purpose.
I think that is a great quote and summarizes my feelings about the entire book. Its insane to continuously just 'put away' people who don't fit societies standards and expect the problem to just go away. The quote could be related to so many aspects of the novel not just whether the big nurse is actually insane or just pointing out that the label being given to the patients actually by definition in this quote defines the authority which is keeping them 'put away'
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