Everyone needs to express themselves. Many in society are struggling vigorously to make individuals conform to society's standards. Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “To be yourself in a world that constantly tries to make you something else is the greatest achievement.” Emerson, JFK, and Ken Kesey all realized that self-expression is one of the most essential aspects of a successful life. Ken Kesey, through One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, mirrors the social struggle between conformity and self-expression and alludes to the pitfalls that arise in school, church, and life when society tries to eliminate self-expression. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The actions taken by Nurse Ratched in the book symbolize and mirror how society teaches individuals to conform. Kasey conveys, by punishing characters who express their ideas, that in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest conformity is valued and rewarded over self-expression and individualism. Nurse Ratched shows her disrespect when she says, “If Mr. Taber chooses to act like a child, he may have to be treated like one. We tried to be kind and thoughtful to him. Obviously, this is not the answer. Hostility, hostility, this is the thanks we receive. You can go, Mr. Taber, if you don't want to take oral medications." Patients' standard of living is directly tied to their ability to express themselves. When Nurse Ratchet blocks Mcmurphy's attempt to express his frustration, she directly blocking his ability to change his situation. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, when patients lose their individuality they lose their freedom. Ken Kesey reinforces the idea that one must strive for conformity and cooperation. He features a “Cooperation Plaque” in his area that clearly illustrates the qualities he values. He quickly tries to suppress McMurphy's individuality when he says, “Mr. By refusing to call him by his name, she is upsetting him as a person and his identity. In stark contrast to Nurse Ratched, Ken Kesey uses the character McMurphy to advocate for the benefits of self-expression and individuality. McMurphy is a character with little regard for social norms. He refuses to accept his situation and instead fights to change his surroundings. In Ken Kesey's book the control panel symbolized the patient's struggle to express himself. «I could lift it very well. Well, hell, there you are right there: that thing Billy is sitting on. That big control panel with all the handles and cranks. It's hard enough, right? And damn well it should be heavy enough.”(Kesey 96). Just as patients struggle to express their ideas, McMurphy struggles to lift the control panel. The control panel symbolizes the journey the characters go through. One of the clearest examples of nonconformity in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest can be seen when McMurphy nonchalantly hands out pornographic playing cards. “Well, let's say, here we are, I brought my deck with me, just in case, it contains something other than figures - and check the pictures, eh? All different. Fifty-two positions. This sets the stage for how McMurphy will act from now on in the book. Inspire patients to reject the status quo. Because of his repeated refusal to conform, patients eventually change their situations and create a better life for themselves. The company is extremely effectivein teaching the individual to conform. In a famous experiment called the Solomon Asch Conformity Experiment, researchers set out to investigate the extent to which social pressure could cause a person to conform. The study took place in 1951 and involved 50 male students taking an "eye test." “Each person in the room had to state aloud which comparison line (A, B, or C) was most similar to the target line. The answer was always obvious. The real participant sat at the end of the row and gave his or her opinion. answer last. There were 18 trials in total and the confederates gave the wrong answer on 12 trials (called critical trials). Asch was interested in seeing whether the true participant would conform to the majority view even a control condition in which there were no confederates, but only a "real participant". of people have answered incorrectly at least once when under social pressure to conform. The experiment, which takes society and the story of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest as a model, shows that people often know which is best. course of action. However, individuals often make choices that will be harmful to themselves based solely on pressure from others. The researchers, in this experiment, stated: “Most [participants] said they did not believe their answers but that they followed the group for fear of being ridiculed or considered peculiar” (Asch, 4). Just like in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, the participants in the experiment changed their behavior due to the pressure. There is a universal struggle between the freedom of individuals to express themselves and the society that rewards conformity. Society does not practice, but rather claims to value individuality. At school, in politics and in church, conformity is rewarded. John F. Kennedy recognized this phenomenon when he said, “Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth.” JFK recognized the fact that despite the appearance of individuality, people in society were under constant pressure to conform. The first place children learn to suppress their individuality and creativity is at school. In the first grade classroom, teachers are introduced to students who are bursting with energy. In this environment, it is considered necessary to create rules that limit student behavior. “The results revealed that teachers perceived students' problem behaviors as behaviors that involved rule violations” (Sun & Shek, 1). This step is the beginning of a long process that society puts individuals through to teach children to conform. This process quickly becomes dangerous when leaders do not keep the interests of their followers in mind. One such leader was Adolf Hitler, who recognized the fact that children are very moldable and susceptible to this type of conditioning and took advantage of this in his rise to power. energy. He said: “If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed. Make the lie big, make it simple, keep telling it and eventually they'll believe it. Only he who possesses youth gains the future” (Adolf Hitler, 2). The events that came out of Hitler's regime show the drastic effects that can result when individuals in a society stop questioning authority. The Nazi regime was a huge disaster that could easily happen again if we continue to teach conformity. The pattern of teaching people to conform continues. 2012 (2012): 208907.