The period where the story is set is a transition period for women, and Kesey knew it well. WW2 had just ended, and when men were just returning from Europe feeling all empowered, women had felt equally as strong in the homefront. They worked in factories and production lines to replace those male workers that left for the war; this was very important in their race for equality, as they noticed they were as capable as men in everything. They tried to adopt new roles in society other than being housewives, and this is represented in the book.
Women nowadays are represented comically as controlling and manipulative, and where we see this new role as effective members of society and imposing persons most is in movies. For example, I remember this case in the movie Daddy Day Care: Eddie Murphy's character is overshadowed by his wife, who is a successful businesswoman and an excellent mom, and Murphy just lost his job and is pressured by her wife to do something in order to gain money and help her with their son at the same time. After he sets up a day care for his son in his own home, we can see that the traditional roles of men and women are inverted in this movie. The wife worked out of the house and Eddie Murphy took care of their house and their son.
The author, through Ms. Ratched, portrays this new role of women perfectly. In a time where this new image of the female gender hadn't developed fully, Kesey shows Ms. Ratched as a strong and demanding character. She manages her staff with certain toughness and constantly demerits her patients, which can be an interpretation of her being controlling and spiteful. Also, the contrast with the other nurse, the one with the birth mark on her neck, puts Ms. Ratched as a new breed of females ready to take on the world.
Women nowadays are represented comically as controlling and manipulative, and where we see this new role as effective members of society and imposing persons most is in movies. For example, I remember this case in the movie Daddy Day Care: Eddie Murphy's character is overshadowed by his wife, who is a successful businesswoman and an excellent mom, and Murphy just lost his job and is pressured by her wife to do something in order to gain money and help her with their son at the same time. After he sets up a day care for his son in his own home, we can see that the traditional roles of men and women are inverted in this movie. The wife worked out of the house and Eddie Murphy took care of their house and their son.
The author, through Ms. Ratched, portrays this new role of women perfectly. In a time where this new image of the female gender hadn't developed fully, Kesey shows Ms. Ratched as a strong and demanding character. She manages her staff with certain toughness and constantly demerits her patients, which can be an interpretation of her being controlling and spiteful. Also, the contrast with the other nurse, the one with the birth mark on her neck, puts Ms. Ratched as a new breed of females ready to take on the world.
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