Two Worlds Corrupt: Lord of the Flies Versus One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest In 1 Corinthians 15:33, Paul states that “bad company corrupts good morals” (New American Standard Bible). His declaration stresses one of the primary points communicated in the novels Lord of the Flies by William Golding and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey. Published in 1954 and 1976 sequentially, both novels have remarkable similarities amongst characters Simon, who is stranded on an island and Randle McMurphy who has found himself placed into a new psychiatric ward. Simon and Randle are both selfless and courageous individuals who constantly struggle to be their true self while surrounded by people who have great influence on them. While the two
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Throughout the novels Lord of the Flies and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, both William Golding and Ken Kesey use symbolism, religious imagery, and themes of conformity versus individuality ultimately to convey that in Lord of the Flies societies corruption comes from within whereas in One …show more content…
One of the most powerful symbols in the novel is the Combine, which is used to describe the machine-like character of both the ward and the world itself. To fully understand the symbol of the Combine one must first understand that the ward also represents the outside world. So, people inside the ward are seen as robots that are controlled by the Combine. Those labeled as “Acutes” represent those that the Combine had gained full control over whereas those labeled as “Chronics” are considered to be a malfunctioning machine (Olderman). Inside the ward, Nurse Ratched represents the Combines controller. She uses fear and conformity to create the kind of men that are easiest for her to control (Slater). The Combine is able to function only when one person is in full control, but when Randle McMurphy arrives and starts to challenge Nurse Ratched, ultimately exposing her to the men, the Combine is no longer able to function. The Combine inside of the ward is seen in society through Chief Bromden’s vision of Nurse Ratched as the face of the outside world. His vision represents the way that society forces those in it to conform to its social norms. Almost always if one does not fit in with the social norms established, they are considered an outcast. But by forcing people into these molds, they lose crucial aspects of their
Throughout the novels Lord of the Flies and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, both William Golding and Ken Kesey use symbolism, religious imagery, and themes of conformity versus individuality ultimately to convey that in Lord of the Flies societies corruption comes from within whereas in One …show more content…
One of the most powerful symbols in the novel is the Combine, which is used to describe the machine-like character of both the ward and the world itself. To fully understand the symbol of the Combine one must first understand that the ward also represents the outside world. So, people inside the ward are seen as robots that are controlled by the Combine. Those labeled as “Acutes” represent those that the Combine had gained full control over whereas those labeled as “Chronics” are considered to be a malfunctioning machine (Olderman). Inside the ward, Nurse Ratched represents the Combines controller. She uses fear and conformity to create the kind of men that are easiest for her to control (Slater). The Combine is able to function only when one person is in full control, but when Randle McMurphy arrives and starts to challenge Nurse Ratched, ultimately exposing her to the men, the Combine is no longer able to function. The Combine inside of the ward is seen in society through Chief Bromden’s vision of Nurse Ratched as the face of the outside world. His vision represents the way that society forces those in it to conform to its social norms. Almost always if one does not fit in with the social norms established, they are considered an outcast. But by forcing people into these molds, they lose crucial aspects of their