Thursday, June 4, 2009

Cuckoo's Nest III

Following McMurphys lead, the patients begin to rebel on their own, but McMurphy still keeps his humor. For example, he asks for an Accompanied Pass with a hooker. By doing this he shows Nurse Ratched that she has not gained control of him or his sexual drive. Then, McMurphy undermines Nurse Ratched by getting Spivey’s approval for a fishing trip. This angers Ratched more than anything.

Soon, Chief Bromden begins to have flashbacks of when he was younger and the suppressive government and how similar the ward is to this government. Chief Bromden begins to talk to McMurphy, which is a big thing for him. It shows his trust in McMurphy. One of the “black boys” find Chief Bromden’s gum and in an effort to try and gain control back, he attempts to take all of it from under his bed.

Cuckoo's Nest II

Part II shows the shift in power in the ward. After the meeting, Chief Bromden fears that he has been discovered. That they know he is no longer deaf and he is very scared. And it is clear to see Nurse Ratched is keeping a very close eye on him. The staff decides that McMurphy is potentially violent and should be sent to the Disturbed ward, but Ratched disagrees. She does this because she knows McMurphy is truly sane, but she has control of how long he is stuck in this ward and she doesn’t want to lose that leverage.

While the ward is to the hospitals pool to swim, McMurphy finally learns that he is not free to leave when he pleases. He is stuck in the ward until Nurse Ratched clears him. He knows this is very unlikely to happen. Knowing this new information, McMurphy decides to behave more civilized and try to do as told. McMurphy no longer rebels against Ratched.
Soon after this, McMurphy begins to realize why the patients give into Nurse Ratched. She can have anything done to anyone at anytime she pleases. So it’s not so much that Nurse Ratched is in charge, but more that she knows how to instill fear into others. This is how she gained her control, and this is how she keeps it; fear.

There is another meeting, in which the paientes are punished for not doing their cleaning duties. Many of the ward paitents look to McMurphy to see what he does, and he does nothing. For this brief time, Nurse Ratched thinks she has control again. Then McMurphy calmly goes up to her window, says he wants some cigarettes and punches through the glass; his excuse, the glass was so clean he did not see it.

Cuckoo's Nest I

Chief Bromden, is the main character and narrator of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Since he fakes his deafness, many people reveal things in front of him, that they normally wouldn’t tell others, because they think he doesn’t know. I think this is why Chief Bromden is the narrator. He more inclined to information, much like a narrator should be. You and constantly reminded of Chief Bromden’s mental illness because throughout Part I, he is very paranoid, but it seems almost to be for just reasons. Many of the patients are treated horribly, with no exception to Chief Bromden.

The oppressive force in this book is Nurse Ratched. She is evil to all the patients in the hospital. Chief Bromden makes her seem almost, inhuman, like a machine. Chief Bromden sees the ward as machinery hidden behind walls, and nurse Ratched is the main control board almost. She has complete control, not the head doctor.

Finally, McMurphy, the rebel. He is in the book to bring down Nurse Ratched. When McMurphy arrives there is a clear upset in the order of the ward and everyone knows McMurphy is to blame, or thank.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Hamlet Play

In going to the Lantern Theater and seeing Hamlet performed, I was surprised. Mostly in the way they used the stage. It was small, but they used it well. I couldn’t pull myself away from the play personally. I was very captivated because the actors seemed to love what they were doing and when the actors love it, it is so much easier to pull the audience in. If I had the chance to, I would love to go back and see another play performed by the Lantern Theater.

My favorite part of the play was the set. I’ve never seen a play that had no separate set for each scene and the way that they made it work, amazed me. Even without props you could still tell where they were for each scene. And I feel that because they didn’t have any types of painted backgrounds, it made the play more fun to watch because you could use your imagination to picture the scenery so I’m sure every person had a different picture of where the scenes took place.

The actor’s interactivity with the audience helped to move an otherwise long play, very quickly. The fact that actors tried to bring in audience members seemed to keep everyone awake even through the long boring monologues and soliloquies. I think that the actor who played Hamlet seemed the most interesting. He was very funny and acrobatic. I loved just watching him because of how much he seemed to love what he was doing. When someone has that much passion about their work, it’s hard to not be interested.

Monday, June 1, 2009

Hamlet Act II

In Act II, I think typical Shakespeare comes out. The whole, I love you, but it can’t happen storyline. We all know it, and we know it well. I feel that even though this is a repeated theme through many Shakespeare plays, and can get a little well, dry at times, it can hold your interest. Usually at some point in your life, you can relate to this theme. If it’s because your parents don’t like the person you’re dating, or due to surroundings, or living far from each other. Almost everyone deals with caring for a person and it just doesn’t work out.

That’s part of the reason why I think Shakespeare has been able to withstand such time changes. Shakespeare is always relevant. Love is always a factor of life. Hamlet and Ophelia are in love. Anyone can see that; including their parents. But Polonius tries to keep them from each other. Everyone knows that since King Hamlet’s death, young Hamlet has been a little less than, well, normal. He’s basically been off the wall since the death of his father. Which in some ways should have been expected, but back to my point, Polonius feels they should not be together I think because he fears for his daughters safety. Which I think is a valid reason, but Hamlet loves Ophelia so I really doubt he would hurt her, intentionally.

Hamlet Act I

After I read Act I of Hamlet, I felt sorry for Hamlet. Within the first couple scenes, you learn of his father’s death which takes a great toll on any person. Then on top of that, his mother married no more than 2 months afterwards to his uncle! It just seems like Hamlet had no time to grieve for his father’s passing. He had to automatically welcome and accept someone else as his father. It seems unfair to me.

Also, Claudius, Hamlets uncle or “new father” as some may say, constantly talks of King Hamlet, young Hamlets deceased father, and how similar they are. When young Hamlet knows this is not true in any way. King Hamlet was a great man; very giving, kind, fair, loving, and most of all trustworthy. King Claudius is a snake, and to compare a snake to something so virtuous is just an insult and that is how young Hamlet takes these comparisons. Claudius says to Hamlet, I guess in some ways trying to ease the pain “But you must know, your father lost a father; that father lost, lost his, and the survivor bound in filial obligation for some term to obsequious sorrow” (I,ii,89-92). While this is true, most children outlive their parents, the way in which King Hamlet died, we all know, it was far before his time. King Claudius is the man who killed King Hamlet and then took his wife, Queen Gertrud. It just does not seem fair for Hamlet to lose his father not only so young, but so viciously.

Then, Hamlet begins to see the Ghost of his father, who tells him he was murdered. This news greatly affects Hamlet. Imagine what it would be like to find out that your own uncle, someone who is related to you, killed your father, his own BROTHER to gain power. I just feel that Hamlets life is basically one big train wreck. Hamlet feels he must get revenge. He must show Claudius he cannot get away with such a horrible crime.