Everyone needs to express themselves. Many people in society struggle vigorously to make individuals conform to society's standards. Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying 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 an overview of the cuckoo's nest, reflects the societal struggle between conformity and self-expression and alludes to the pitfalls that result in school, church and life when society attempts to eliminate self-expression. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay The actions taken by Nurse Ratched throughout the book symbolize and reflect the way society teaches individuals to conform. Kasey conveys, by punishing characters who express their ideas, that in one fly through the cuckoo's nest, conformity is valued and rewarded over self-expression and individualism. Nurse Ratched shows her lack of respect when she states, "If Mr. Taber chooses to act like a child, he may have to be treated like one." We tried to be kind and considerate to him. This is obviously not the answer. Hostility, hostility, these are the thanks we receive. You can go ahead, Mr. Taber, if you don't want to take your medication orally. Patients' standard of living is directly linked to their ability to express themselves. When Nurse Ratchet shuts down Mcmurphy's attempt to express his frustration, she directly ends his ability to change his situation. In One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, when patients lose their individuality, they lose their freedom. Through the character of Nurse Ratched, Ken Kesey reinforces the idea that conformity and cooperation should be sought. It displays a “Cooperation Plaque” in its territory which clearly illustrates the qualities it values. She quickly attempts to remove McMurphy's individuality when she says, "Mr. McMurry, could you come here please." By refusing to call him by his name, she disrupts his person and his identity. Unlike Nurse Ratched, Ken Kesey uses the character of McMurphy to advocate the benefits of self-expression and individuality. McMurphy is a character who has little concern for societal norms. He refuses to accept his situation and fights to change his environment. In Ken Kesey's book, the control panel symbolized the patients' struggle to express themselves. “I could lift anything. Well, damn, there you are: that thing Billy's sitting on. This large control panel with all the handles and cranks. It's hard enough, isn't it? And it should be pretty heavy. ”(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 are going through. One of the clearest examples of nonconformity in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest can be seen when McMurphy casually deals pornographic playing cards. "Well, let's say, here we go, I brought my own game, just in case, it contains something other than tricks - and check the photos, eh? Everyone is different. Fifty-two positions. This sets the stage for how McMurphy will act in the future in the book He inspires the patients to reject the status quo Due to his repeated refusal to conform, the patients eventually change their circumstances and create a life for themselves. better society.is extremely effective in teaching the individual to comply. In a famous experiment called the Solomon Asch Conformity Experiment, researchers set out to study the extent to which social pressure could cause a person to conform. The study took place in 1951 and had 50 male students participate in a “vision test.” “Each person in the room had to state out loud 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 their answer last. There were 18 trials in total, and the Confederates gave the wrong answer on 12 leads (called critical trials). Asch wanted to see if the real participant would conform to the majority opinion. Asch's experiment also included a control condition in which there were no confederates, only a "real participant." When participants were under no pressure to conform, less than 1% of them chose the wrong answer, however, 75% of people responded. incorrectly at least once under social pressure to conform. The experiment, which models society and the story of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, shows that people often know what the best course of action is. However, individuals often make choices that will be detrimental to themselves, based solely on pressure from others. The researchers of this experiment stated: "Most [participants] said they did not believe their answers but followed the group for fear of being ridiculed or considered strange" (Asch, 4) . Just like in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, the experiment's participants changed their behavior under pressure. There is a universal struggle between the freedom of individuals to express themselves and society that rewards conformity. Society does not practice but rather claims to value individuality. In school, politics, and church, conformity is rewarded. John F. Kennedy recognized this phenomenon when he said: “Conformity is the jailer of liberty and the enemy of growth. » JFK recognized the fact that despite the appearance of individuality, members of society were under constant pressure to conform. The first time children learn to suppress their individuality and creativity is at school. In the first grade classroom, teachers are presented with students bursting with energy. In this environment, it appears necessary to create rules that limit student behavior. “The results revealed that teachers perceived students' problematic behaviors as behaviors involving a violation of the rules” (Sun and Shek, 1). This stage 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 have the best interests of their followers in mind. One of these leaders was Adolf Hitler, who recognized the fact that children are very moldable and susceptible to this type of conditioning and took advantage of it in his rise to power. power. He said: “If you tell a lie big enough and if you tell it frequently enough, it will be believed. Tell a big lie, keep it simple, keep telling it, and they will eventually believe it. He alone, to whom youth belongs, wins the future” (Adolf Hitler, 2). The events during Hitler's regime highlight the drastic effects that can result when individuals in a society stop questioning authority. The Nazi regime was a massive disaster that could easily be repeated if we. 2012 (2012): 208907.