Cuckoo's Nest #2

The conflict between Big Nurse and McMurphy is in full swing at the end of "Part One." Who is getting the best of their rivalry at this point? Why do you say that (specific evidence)?

What is your perception of the Chief at this point in the story? Why? And how has the presence of McMurphy changed the Chief's character or his narration (be specific)?

Who are you rooting for at this point in the story and why?
1. By the end of Part 1, McMurphy is getting the best of Big Nurse in their argument. "But she doesn't blow up, not right off, not until about an hour later" (page 124). After they are done arguing, Big Nurse must keep her cool and remain calm in front of the patients. However, McMurphy's rebuttals are finally getting to the Big Nurse and remaining constantly collected is proving to be extremely difficult.
2. At this point, Chief is being "lifted out of the fog" by McMurphy. His personality and thoughts are consequently changing because of his interaction with McMurphy. Soon enough, Chief starts to think of the people around him as insane instead of his fellow peers. "If somebody'd of come in and took a look, 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, they'd of thought the whole bunch was as crazy as loons" (page 126).
3. At this point in the story, I am rooting for McMurphy, just as the author expects the reader to. I think McMurphy is crucial to the battle against society and conformity, and McMurphy represents the counter-culture urging people to break free from the holds of society. McMurphy is slowly but surely influencing and changing the atmosphere of the mental hospital, challenging the woman who usually enforces strict order and discpline.

OFOTCN #1

Having talked about hero, antihero, and villain in class, I am sure that you are completely clear on what all three are. And knowing that, you also are aware that how you classify chraracters into one of these categories is a very personal thing.

Chief Bromden: I assume Chief to be an antihero. He is dumb and deaf and without those abilities, he will probably fail realistic to grow as a person if he is stuck inside his own world. We all hope for Chief to regain himself, but this will be a very difficult task when he is alienated from everyone else because of his label of a Chronic. "They got enough of those things they call pills down me so I don't know a thing" (page 8)

McMurphy: McMurphy already appears to be the protagonist. Following common story lines, he will be the villian. He is out of place in the institution, almost seeming happy. "Yet he looks like he's enjoying himself, like he's the sort of guy that gets a laugh out of people."

Nurse: The nurse is the woman who helps everyone and monitors the patients. She seems to slowly dehumanize each person that is taken in, so I would classify her as the villain. "Right as your balls. No, that nurse ain't some kinda monster chicken, buddy, what she is is a ball-cutter." (page 54)

Gatsby 3

Create four open-ended questions - two interpretive in nature and two evaluative in nature - that have to do with the novel The Great Gatsby. These should address a wide array of ideas and themes from the book. You also need to come up with a one paragraph answer for each of your questions. These questions can be something that you don't know the answer to, but are willing to speculate about, or they can be questions to which you think you know the answer and feel very strongly about. Either way, these questions should be thought-provoking and their answers should show evidence not only that you've reasd the text, but that you understood it on more than a literal level.


I 1. How does wealth determine status in Gatsby and what do you think Fitzgerald is implying by this?

• In Gatsby, wealth seems to be the judging factor for everyone in the upper class. If you are not wealthy, you are not worthy. Gatsby worked his way up from a very average man to a rich one. When he was poor, the women he loved would not marry him. As he gained success and money, he was able to obtain Daisy. Fitzgerald is implying that with wealth comes happiness, whether it is genuine or a false sense of the feeling. 

I 2. How is honest (or the lack of) prevalent throughout the story?

• As Nick is introduced, he prides himself in being completely honest. Through the book, we see Nick having biased judgments on the characters that come through. By the end of the book, Nick has been dating Jordan, who is extremely dishonest. She has cheated several times with Nick and they finally split due to her dishonesty and cheating. Daisy is not honest with Tom about her affair, and Tom is not honest with Daisy about his affair. 

E 3. Is it fair to say that based on the characters from Gatsby we are driven by our dreams from the past?

• Gatsby is continuously searching for ways to reconstruct and fix his past. Fitzgerald was a man who lived an extravagant life, but he was barely able to afford the luxuries he indulged in. He was constantly trying to live the wealthy lifestyle he dreamed of and the family he came from. We can probably interpret this and conclude that Fitzgerald implies we are constantly looking for ways to relive the past. We can never move onto the future without satisfying the past first.

E 4. What is the importance of Gatsby and the American Dream to Fitzgerald's view of the American Dream?

• Gatsby worked himself up from a lowly soldier to a highly-regarded man with status and wealth. Fitzgerald was born into an upper middle class family, but as he grew older he was not able to completely indulge in the wealth he was born into. After he married Zelda, they consistently threw lavish parties that constantly kept them tight on money. Fitzgerald was constantly striving to obtain something he could not have, implying the American Dream was a failure. Gatsby was the same way in that even after he built himself up to wealth and status, he was not fully happy. He still died a painful death without the woman he thought loved him.