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In the book One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, there are many facts and examples to believe that McMurphy and the Big Nurse Ratched have conflicts within the ward. Nurse Ratched is believed to be the controlled center of the universe, inside the ward. The combine as Chief Bromden calls her, is what gives her the oppressive force upon society and authority throughout the story. The nurse is, in fact, in complete control of the ward, and she uses psychological intimidation, and physical abuse, which are every bit as powerful and dangerous to the ward members.
I think the book takes on the interpreting the view of how the world emphasizes cruel social pressure to do the accepted thing. Those who do not accept society’s rules and conventions and considered damaged and labeled mentally ill. So, the mental hospital is a symbol for the repression Kesey sees in society, before the coming out of the 1960s counterculture. A hospital, normally a place where the ill go to be cured, becomes a dangerous place.