Book Review

Nurse Ratched is the head nurse in the novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Her appearance is described as a doll in the novel because her white uniform is perfect and wrinkle free. She also wears her hair the same every day and is constantly smiling. She looks so perfect she could be displayed on a shelf.

Nurse Ratched is manipulative, evil, perfectionist. She has to have everything in the hospital run the way she wants it to. She uses patients against other patients. For example she will have patients spy on each other so she can find their weaknesses. Then she will use those weaknesses to make them feel like naughty little boys and scare them so they will never challenge he authority. She also controls the doctor so what ever she wants to happen to the patients does.

She is motivated by seeing everything in the hospital running the way she wants. She likes the control she has over everyone and everything. She also seems to enjoy seeing the patients in fear and miserable.

She has one main conflict through out the novel. When McMurphy is admitted to the hospital he doesn’t seem to be afraid of her, everyone in her hospital start to revolt. She tries everything in her power to scare him, but nothing seems to work. She still pretends to have control during the entire novel and just smiles when things don’t go her way. Then at the end of the novel McMurphy throws a party and Nurse Ratched scares a patient so much he commits suicide. When McMurphy finds out about the suicide he tries to kill Nurse Ratched. She survives the attack and McMurphy is given a lobotomy. Then all her problems are over when one of the patients kills McMurphy.

Nurse Ratched does not change through out the novel. She is still the same evil nurse from the begging to the end.

I don’t have any personal connections with the character.

Nurse Ratched is an effective character because she is a perfect villain. She is also effective because she never losses complete control of her hospital. She keeps the reader hating her during the whole novel. She also makes you wonder if this type of person is really allowed to work in the medical field.