Classics Without All the Class discussion

How does Ratched maintain power over her patients? How does Ratched eventually gain control over McMurphy? Why does he gradually submit to her—and why does the newly subdued McMurphy confuse the other patients? What has he become to them? How is Nurse Ratched’s ward like a totalitarian society? Anything else you might want to add.

I just finished the book yesterday. Like a few others, I saw the movie and the play years and years ago and whoever said it was a BIG thing then was right. McMurphy's victories over Nurse Ratched were always cheered during the play which portrays the mindset of the time. I'm pretty sure she was referred to as Nurse "Rat Shit" in either the movie or the play, no? I was surprised to find that wasn't in the book - or perhaps there was one veiled reference to it. I think Nurse Ratched would be considered a psychological study all her own in this day and age. She ruled the ward by fear and intimidation and by continuously picking away at the weaknesses of the men under her control. Under her control, no one was ever going to be allowed to accept themselves for what they were, much less consider leaving the asylum - her job security. And what a surprising moment it was, and the turning point in McMurphy's decision making process I think, when one of the men fessed up that very few of the men on the ward were committed but were there on a permanent voluntary "vacation." I'm not sure why McMurphy submits to her over the course of the book - he made a few confusing decisions - the worst of which being his decision to take a nap at the end of the book which had devastating effects on the ward - but there are so many interesting aspects of this book to discuss as evidenced just by the number of threads in this discussion and the many different opinions of those thousands who have reviewed the book on GR. Was it selflessness in his continuing effort to convince the men that they didn't need to be there or selfishness in his own effort to shirk the responsibilities of life outside the asylum? He didn't strike me as a selfless sort of man, and the continuing mention of his increasing exhaustion (Christ bearing the cross?) don't point to a desire to remain in a "safe haven." It's a mystery.