GS-F311

One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest

Group Members:-
 Ganeshan Malhotra(2017A8PS0512G)
 Bhavya Gupta(2017A8PS0474G)

Main Characters
 P.McMurphy
 Bromden
 Ratched
 Bilbit
 Harding
 Cheswick
 Martini
 Taber
 Spivey
 Candy
 Washington
 Warren
 Rose
 Ellsworth
 Miller

McMurphy is brought to the mental hospital. He feels bogged

down when Ratched doesn’t allow him to watch the World
Series even though he manages to get clear majority and
decides not to comply with her rules. It involves inter-personal
conflict between Ratched and McMurphy and intra-
organizational conflict between the patients and hospital
authorities. There’s also a behavioral element in the defiant
and aggressive way with which McMurphy plans to retaliate.
The causes of conflict include survival, autonomy and
substantive since he felt offended by the behavior of hospital
staff and wished to amend the situation.

McMurphy realizes that Ratched has the power to keep him in

the hospital for as long as she wants. During their counselling
session Cheswick addresses the issue of cigarette rationing
which leads him to have fits of temper. The session ends in
extreme violence and Cheswick, McMurphy and Chief are given
shocks. This incident has cognitive, behavioral and emotional
dimensions of conflict to it as the patients feel frustrated and
act aggressively and the difference in opinions is quite obvious.
Cause of conflict include autonomy and substantive.

Candy agrees to help Mcmurphy escape the hospital and brings

booze and a friend along. McMurphy and Chief decide on
escaping that night. On finding that McMurphy is leaving, Billy
becomes very upset. He asks for a date with Candy and
McMurphy allows her to sleep with him and McMurphy
couldn’t escape. This brings out intra-personal conflict within
McMurphy which has a cognitive dimension to it and cause
includes intimacy.
Ratched found out that Billy slept with Candy in the ward and
became very upset with Billy. She threatens to tell his mother
about this and sends him to get a shock. All this proves too
much for Billy as he commits suicide. This incident involves
behavioral conflict as Ratched in the way she responds to assert
her authority. Incident also involves an emotional intra-
personal conflict since the comments made by Ratched led Billy
to commit suicide. Causes also include intimacy since Billy
didn’t feel intimacy in his relationships.

McMurphy tries to strangle Ratched to death who is saved in

last moment by Washington and McMurphy is sent to the
mental ward. Incident involves behavioral and intra-personal
conflict gauging by the reaction of McMurphy towards the
death of Billy. Causes of conflict is psychological since
McMurphy didn’t like the treatment of him and others in the
ward.

Final incident involves a cognitive element since Bromden

finally gains the courage to escape the hospital. There is an
intra-personal conflict as he seems to be flustered on learning
that McMurphy has already been given a frontal lobotomy. The
killing of McMurphy by Chief has an intimacy element since
Chief couldn’t bear McMurphy living that way.