The topic for this blog is relations of power. Both Cuckoo's Nest and Streetcar deal with dominating figures, Big Nurse and Stanley, who force their own will on others through the use of both physical and psychological intimidation. And in both cases, there are some, like Billy Bibbit and Blanche, who crack under the pressure, while others, like McMurphy and Stella, refuse to simply accept oppressive treatment. Your goal is choose two characters to compare and contrast in terms of their approach to the struggle for power that defines both the Hospital and the Kowalski apartment. Include a quotation from each character, explained in depth and linked to your thesis about how (and WHY) the two characters differ. Your response should be a paragraph long, following the guidelines for paragraph structure in the initial summer reading post.. We'll talk about how to approach this assignment (and the reaction paper due the first day of class) at the August Workshops.
Speaking of which... The workshops were supposed to be NEXT week, August 10, 11, 12 and 13, but there was a mistake on the website saying they were THIS week. So, Mr. Canning will be running a workshop tomorrow for anyone who can only make it those days, and I will be at the school Wednesday and Thursday in case anyone is unavailable next week. However, if you are free both weeks, Mr. Canning and I will both be there on the 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th as well, assuming people still show up. Any questions, email [email protected].
117 Comments
Megan Dingelstedt
8/6/2015 07:10:43 am
Most environments contain a dominant figure holding power, and others respond to this struggle in different ways. In Tennessee Williams’s famous play, A Streetcar Named Desire, the Kowalski apartment is an applicable case with an oppressive “leader” and two striving characters. Stanley Kowalski, a despotic character, drives his own intentions at his wife, Stella Kowalski and her sister, Blanche DuBois, through intimidation. Stella and Blanche approach the struggle for power that Stanley presents in their own manners. The sisters both attempt to treat the powerful man with respect and understanding, and do not show aggression towards him. They try to avoid Stanley at times, by going out on their own and occasionally staying together in his presence. However, the two characters greatly differ in their tackle of the apartment’s struggle. Blanche cracks under the pressure of Stanley’s formidable ways and tries to escape the situation. An example Williams provides us with is when Stella attempts to take control of her husband’s Poker game and things become out of control. Blanche becomes weak and nervous about the tyrannical figure as she tells her sister, “Stella, I can’t live with him! You can, he’s your husband. But how could I stay here with him, after last night…?” (Williams 69). Blanche wants to leave the Kowalski’s apartment because of the harsh owner, which shows that she is greatly intimidated by his power, and is afraid to try to take away his dominance. On the other hand, Stella refuses to merely embrace the repressive treatment from her husband. She stands up to him and tries to reason and change his way of thinking. Stella expresses her capability to overrule Stanley by the statement, “Stanley, stop picking on Blanche. Lately you been doing all you can think of to rub her the wrong way, Stanley, and Blanche is sensitive and you’ve got to realize that Blanche and I grew up under very different circumstances than you did” (Williams 98). Tennessee Williams proves that his character Stella is able to approach a powerful figure with confidence and does not allow the intimidating ways to bother her. The quotations from the two sisters, Blanche and Stella, show that the characters greatly differ, specifically in their approach to the struggle for power, presented by Stanley, in the Kowalski apartment, since one (Blanche), falls to Stanley’s intimidation, while the other (Stella), refuses to take the tyrannical treatment. The characters in A Streetcar Named Desire, the prominent play written by Tennessee Williams, demonstrate that any two people react to dominating figures who display power, in a specific setting and situation, in contrasting ways.
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Edison Quesada
8/28/2015 05:32:13 am
Both “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest“ and “ A Streetcar Named Desire” are entertaining stories about the struggle for power. Two prime examples of authority figures in these stories are Nurse Ratched (One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest) and Stanley Kowalski (A streetcar Named Desire.) Nurse Ratched (often referred to as “Big Nurse”) has real authority in the mental hospital. She is the head nurse who can and will use her authority to her benefit. This can be viewed in the passage from Cuckoo’s nest, ”They sense she’s glaring down at them now, but it’s too late. They should of knew better’n to group up and mumble together when she was due on the ward.”(Kesey,7) This quote shows how much fear the black boys have for “Big Nurse”. On the other hand, Stanley Kowalski has little to no power or authority in the real world, instead he demonstrates his authority in his home. More specifically to his wife whom he hurts both physically and mentally. This is expressed by, “Stanley stalks fiercely through the portieres into the bedroom. He crosses to the small white radio and snatches it off the table. With a shouted oath, he tosses the instrument out the window.”(Williams,56)This quote shows Stanley’s anger and frustration slipping through his usually calm demeanor. In both cases, power and the desire for it are exhibited. In cuckoo’s nest it is shown with “Big Nurse” and her established authority. Especially how most of the other characters almost fear her. On the other hand in Streetcar Named Desire, power is symbolized by the way Stanley runs his household. In the end, it does not matter how power dresses itself, authority is something that humans will always need. Therefore authority will be weaved within human behavior forever.
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Catherine Mellor
8/12/2015 05:27:14 am
“A Streetcar Named Desire” demonstrates a power struggle between characters Stanley and Blanche. It shows that Stanley holds all the power while Blanche holds none. In the very beginning he puts himself out there as the upper hand. He is the more dominant of the two. Stanley is almost like a wall in Stella’s way. He’s trying to read her at the same time. In the first scene when he asks if she would like a shot she says “No, I-rarely touch it”, to which he responds with “Some people rarely touch it, but it touches them often”(30). He’s almost calling her out, saying she’s lying on how much she drinks. In the end he figures out her big secret, how she’s been with many men before other than her late husband. He uses this secret to catch her off guard, to scare her. Stanley then overpowers her and sexually assaults her saying they’ve “had this date with each other from the beginning” (130). He holds all the power and uses it. Even when Blanche told her sister (Stanley’s wife) about the rape, she doesn’t believe her and sends her to a mental asylum. Stanley has everything he wants: Stella with him, and Blanche gone; Stanley has all the power.
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Makenzie Lowrey
8/12/2015 05:29:08 am
Tennessee Williams’ “A Streetcar Named Desire” displays two powerful characters: Stanley and Blanche. Stanley’s type of power is masculinity. He shows his strength, and dominance, by overpowering both women in the house multiple times. He appears physically and sexually superior, therefore making him the most powerful. In Scene 2, he finds Blanche’s love letters, and when Blanche tells him to stop touching then, he yells, “I’ll have a look at them first!” (Williams 42) While Stanley has masculine power, Blanche has class. A long-time Southern belle, Blanche stands up to Stanley, unlike Stella. After the passing of her husband, Blanche started messing around, and soon after had nowhere to go but to her dear sister, Stella. Blanche, while frail and small, has a secret strength to stand up to Stanley until Scene Ten. Scene Ten is where the power clashes, and Stanley wins out. Not only does he bash her down to the smallest she could get, he assaults her, yelling “ We’ve had this date with each other from the beginning!” (Williams 130). In the end, Blanche goes insane, Stella is stuck with her child and helpless, and Stanley holds all the power.
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Rashaad Pratt
8/12/2015 05:42:55 am
There is a force that has run and controlled civilization from the beginning to today's society. This force is known as power; and it and all beings fight for it in some form or to some degree. A play write by the name of Tennessee Williams created a play titled A Streetcar Named Desire. Within this play, we have three characters who struggle for some form of power, and fight against each other for it.Two of these characters named Stella and Blanch fight for control over Stella's future. Specifically, her future with Stanley. Stella provides this idea that she truly believes her future is with Stanley, and sees future success in him within Scene 3. "Stanley's the only one who is likely to get anywhere. Look at him... It isn't genius... It's a drive that he has."(William's 50). Within the next scene, Stella's belief that she belongs with Stanley is further examined while Blanch's opinion of Stanley is revealed after he throws a radio out the window. "Stella: He's taken the radio to get it fixed.
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Tyler Brunson
8/12/2015 11:35:31 am
Tyler Brunson
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Sarah Bailey Lakatos
8/12/2015 02:02:56 pm
There is rarely a situation where power isn’t a factor. In the play, A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams. The struggle for power between Stanley Kowalski and Blanche Dubois truly began to surface after Stanley hit his wife, Stella Kowalski. Before this event occurred, you could sense the tension between them on occasion. The competition for power between Stanley and Blanche didn’t end until the second Blanche left with the doctor. Stanley and Blanche have two different approaches when it comes to how they gain power. Blanche, coming from Belle Reve, a beautiful plantation in the south, thinks that she has all the power because she born and raised with a higher class than Stanley. In Scene Two, Blanche makes a remark about Stanley to Stella saying “Oh, I guess he’s just not the type that goes for jasmine perfume, but maybe he’s what we need to mix with our blood now that we’ve lost Belle Reve” (44). Blanche was taking a shot at Stanley by saying she has to make adjustments to her life by lowering down to his way of living. Stanley, on the other hand, uses his masculinity and strength to get what he wants when it comes to power. At the very end of the play in Scene Ten, the two strong forces have a confrontation when nobody else is home. During the struggle, Blanche smashes a bottle and threatens to stab Stanley with it. When she tries to hit him with the bottle, Stanley grabs her, overpowers her, and forces her to drop the bottle. While squeezing her wrist Stanley says “We’ve had this date for a long time” (130). What Stanley is saying is that because the two forces wanted the power so bad, they were destined to have a large confrontation no matter what. After the battle, Blanche has a mental break down and begins to lose her mind. The doctor taking Blanche away shows that the battle over power is now over and Stanley remains the leader.
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Christian Galindo
8/13/2015 11:55:46 pm
There is a certain pattern to life. A continuous vindictive struggle for power between two opposing forces fails to end. The actions performed by these two forces, whether it be in politics, households, hospitals, or business operations, are always just a little too harsh on the enemy power, causing said power to return with a vengeful comeback. Ken Kesey's marvelous novel, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," illustrates this principle of power struggle. Within what seems like an endless feud between Big Nurse (Ms. Ratched) and Randle Patrick McMurphy, severe actions are taken by McMurphy to challenge Big Nurse's authority. While doing so, McMurphy slowly gains support from the fellow patients in the mental hospital by granting them with privileges (i.e afternoon television). Even though McMurphy may have the majority of the patients on his side for the struggle to power, Big Nurse remains with the power of authority. That said, many patients in the hospital still coward in fear to her demands. However, as the novel progresses, patients begin to ignore Big Nurse's orders. By this time, the battle between authority and swagger has begun. Big Nurse does not believe in the idea of change. She contradicts McMurphy's suggestions in fear of a rebellion, and attempts to scare off the McMurphy's support with a despicable demeanor and reason. This method, although effective prior to McMurphy's arrival, is useless when dealing with a confident, brave force. An example of such is presented when a vote for the patients' afternoon television time goes awry. "You're committed, you realize. You are. . .under the jurisdiction of me. . .the staff.' She's holding up a fist," (Kesey 127). Big Nurse's anger fails her, as the remaining patients pull up chairs to watch television alongside McMurphy. While she relies on her worn out authority, McMurhphy begins with democracy. He calls for a vote to be held which would decide the outcome of the patients' television schedule. "'I'm proposing a revote on watching the TV in the afternoon,'" (Kensey 123). Even after losing the initial vote for an afternoon television time slot, McMurphy continues to challenge Big Nurse's unfair rules and regulations. How each side of this feud struggles for power is important to how the novel plays out. Due to her previous successions, Big Nurse uses her power as a staff member to control the patients. Knowing this method of control works, she has no need for a democracy. Everything she wants for the ward and patients is accessible through the fright of the patients. McMurphy, on the other hand, plays his cards in a different manner. Knowing the rules of the ward are unfair to the patients (limited cigarettes, television schedule, lack of trips, etc.), and without enough support to spark a rebellion, he uses democratic votes as attempts to achieve his wants. Only when he has the complete compliance of his fellow patients does McMurphy attempt rebellious actions, such as sneaking women and wine into the ward. To achieve this support he simply uses his confident personality and bravery against Big Nurse. "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" defines the power struggle between two nearly opposite forces. The novel explains how different methods can be used to challenge authority; and no two methods are more different than Big Nurse's and McMurphy's.
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Rachel Kline
8/17/2015 06:03:27 am
In Tennessee Williams’ A Street Car Named Desire, each character has their own distinct way of trying to gain power. Married couple, Stella and Stanley, each try to control the Kowalski household in their own unique way. Stella approaches situations in a calm but stern manner and tries to get people to do what she wants while being polite about it. For example, while Stella, Stanley, and Blanche are having dinner, Stella politely tells Stanley, “Your face and your fingers are disgustingly greasy. Go and wash up and then help me clear the table” (Williams 107). Stella is very simply telling Stanley to help her do something, but is not a making a big scene or seeming too demanding. She also is including herself in the work and not dumping all of it on someone else. Stella tries to gain power of the house by sharing the responsibilities and being polite. On the other hand, Stanley tries to gain power of the Kowalski household by scaring people into listening to him and also by using his physical strength. After Stella respectfully tells him to help her with the dishes he hurls a plate to the floor and says, “That’s how I’ll clear the table! [He seizes her arm] Don’t ever talk that way to me! ‘Pig—Polack—disgusting—vulgar—greasy!’ –them kind of words have been on your tongue and your sister’s too much around here! What do you think you two are? A pair of queens?... I am the king around here and don’t forget it! [He hurls a cup and a saucer to the floor] My place is cleared! You want me to clear your places?” (Williams 107-108). Stanley feels the need to prove to Stella that he is in charge of the household and that he has all the power. He does this by screaming and throwing things. He does not think there is any way to gain control other than scaring the other people. Stella and Stanley are two completely opposite people. Stella tries to gain control by being kind while Stanley forces people to listen to him.
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James Norton
8/17/2015 02:55:16 pm
In “A Streetcar Named Desire”, there is a clear power struggle between the characters Stanley and Blanche. Stanley holds all the power in the house, and Blanch has none of it. Throughout the story Staley establishes himself as being the one in control several times. An example of this is when he’s talking to Stella about Blanche and begins going through all of her stuff, yelling things such as “you think she got these out of a teacher’s pay?”, implying that she’s lying about how she gets most of the items she owns. (Williams, 35) This happens several times throughout the story, including him calling him out on her drinking habits. However, Blanche attempts to fight back against his power, particularly after he gets drunk at a poker party and trashes the home, she tries to explain to Stella all the issues he has and when she won’t listen she begins to become exasperated and asking things such as “Is this a philosophy you’ve cultivated”, insinuating that she has just grown so accustomed to Stanley’s control that she will just accept it. (Williams, 65) This all comes to a climax when Stanley uses knowledge of her past sexual interactions to drive her away, insane and into a hospital, where is helpless and powerless, while Stanley stays in his home with all of his power over his wife Stella.
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Erin Ostrowski
8/19/2015 06:51:17 am
In Ken Kesey’s classic novel, “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” there is an ongoing battle to prove just who has more power, the patients or the authorities. Many characters in this novel have very different ways to approach this battle, but none like the differences between Big Nurse and the young nurse from Disturbed. On Ms. Ratched’s ward, she makes the patients turn on each other and shows them how crazy they actually are. She is cruel to whoever steps out of line and becomes even more evil when McMurphy comes around and completely turns the system upside down. Unlike Ms. Ratched, the young nurse on the Disturbed ward is as sweet as an angel. She genuinely wants to cure the patients and talks to them calmly when they get into trouble instead of punishing them. Being kind makes the patients listen to her and not want to cause trouble while Ms. Ratched is yelling at her patients, making their insanity worse. Big Nurse won’t let the patients do anything remotely fun because it’s “against her policy”. Meanwhile, the other wards are taking trips to the pool and the gym. Things don’t change until McMurphy comes along. At one point, he wanted to use another room for the card games but the Big Nurse did not like this idea at all. She responded by saying, “we do not have adequate coverage for two day rooms. There just isn’t enough personnel.” She knew very well it was possible but she wanted to show McMurphy that he can’t have everything he wants. Meanwhile, when Big Nurse sends Chief and McMurphy to Disturbed, the young nurse almost immediately takes off their handcuffs. She tends to their wounds from a fight they were in and talks about how mean the Big Nurse is. She says, “It’s not all like her ward. A lot of it is, but not all. Army nurses, trying to run an Army hospital. They are a little sick themselves. I sometimes think all single nurses should be fired after they reach thirty-five… I’d like to keep men here sometimes instead of sending them back, but she has seniority.” She likes to save the men from Ms. Ratched because she knows how strict she is. She feels bad that she has to send them back to that terrible place so soon. As you can see, the two nurses have opposite views on how to treat patients and how to show them who’s in charge. The young nurse has less of a struggle for power than the Big Nurse because she’s nice to the patients and heals them. The Big Nurse just wants all of the power all of the time. Overall, the young nurse from Disturbed and Big Nurse have very different views on how to gain power in the hospital.
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Griffin Cole
8/19/2015 06:54:25 am
The struggle for dominance in the household is vividly depicted in "A Streetcar Named Desire" by Tennessee Williams. The two main characters, Stanley and Stella, have a switch of power throughout the whole story. Stella primarily seems to have the submissive/shy personality when conflicts arise- thus causing Stanley to be the more dominating of the two. Stella has her moments of dominance although it is not evenly matched when Stanley is triggered by his drinking. Although Stanley's dominance is mostly shown through his love for sexual attention with Stella. An example being: “there are things that happen between a man and a woman in the dark – that sort of make everything else seem – unimportant” (Williams 103). This shows that Stanley really only cares for his liquor and sexual interactions even though he pretends to care about the other problems. One can even go so far as saying that he wanted Blanche gone just so he could get everything back to normal and only care about sex like he has done before. On the other hand, Stella is more of the quiet type who just does whatever Stanley says. The quote that can be related to Stella though is the line she says about Blanche, “You didn’t know Blanche as a girl,” she argues, “Nobody, nobody, was tender and trusting as she was” (Williams 50). It's funny how she explains Blanche's tenderness and trusting because it is ironic when one compares it to her. Stella was most likely a trusting girl but once she caught a glimpse of Stanley's dominate side, she was scared into submission and lost her tenderness and sweetness throughout the play and her life. In the end it follows the sexist view that the man would have the main say and control in a household, with his wife obediently following his directions.
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Olivia Jordan
8/20/2015 10:20:17 am
Both “Big Nurse” Ratched and Stanley Kowalski are dominating characters who seek to control others through physical and psychological manipulation. McMurphy’s analysis of Nurse Ratched is spot on; “No, that nurse ain’t some kinda monster chicken, buddy, what she is is a ball-cutter. …people who try to make you weak so they can get you to toe the line, to follow the rules, to live like they want you to. And the best way to do this…is to weaken you by gettin’ you where it hurts the worst.” (Kesey 57.) Throughout the story Ratched demonstrates her psychotic obsession for complete control of “her ward”. She represses any and all challenges to her authority in an emotionless, machinelike manner, using intimidation to maintain her dominance over others. Stanley too seeks to control his environment. But unlike Ratched, he uses his sexuality and animal-like aggressiveness to fend off any perceived threat to his dominance. Stanley illustrates this when he declares; “Don’t you ever talk that way to me. ’Pig, ‘Pollack, ‘disgusting, ‘vulgar, ‘greasy. Those kinds of words have been on your tongue and your sister’s tongue just too much around here. What do you think you are? A pair of queens?...I’m the King around here, and don’t you forget it.”(Williams 107.) From the time Blanche arrived, Stanley has viewed her as a threat to his manhood and his relationship with Stella. He savagely punishes her, both verbally and physically, for challenging his dominance, until she is eventually committed to a mental institution. The major difference between these two characters is in how the stories end. Stanley prevails over Blanche, she is committed, and his life with Stella will go on as before. Nurse Ratched although able to restore order in the ward, has lost her power because the patients no longer fear her. To make matters worse, her formerly authoritative voice is now reduced to a weak whisper.
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Morgan McIntyre
8/21/2015 07:20:44 am
The play “A Streetcar Named Desire” by Tennessee Williams expresses many instances when a character is dominating. The characters who portray the part of being overpowering are Stanley and Blanche. But as it goes, two is a crowd when it comes to being on top. Stanley and Blanche both have a different approach to power. Whether it’s his bright clothes, rattling of objects through the house, yelling at someone or beating someone, Stanley displays his power physically. When Stanley and his wife Stella get into a dispute, “Stanley charges after [her] (Williams 57). Then, “there is the sound of a blow…something is overturned with a crash” (Williams 57). Even after Stanley abuses Stella, she comes running back to him, making him think that physically abusing someone for power is acceptable. On the other hand, Blanche tries to take power with a psychological approach. She tells many lies about her luxurious life back at home, even though the truth eventually comes out about the mess she’s in. Blanche admits that “[she] fib[s] a good deal. After all, a woman's charm is 50% illusion” (Williams 41). Blanche has her own illusion about the way her life is and does not see the reality of her problems. To people who don’t know her, she may seem like an upper class lady because of the stories she tells and the fancy clothes she wears, which makes her “superior” to the rest. Blanche’s stay at the Kowalski household definitely makes Stanley uneasy, because before she came, he was the definite leader of the home. As mentioned previously, there can only be one person in charge. Stanley ends up physically assaulting Blanche, and drives her out of the house. Ultimately, Stanley’s physical approach to power overrides Blanche’s psychological, superficial approach, and Stanley remains the alpha dog.
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Liam Tyler
8/23/2015 01:37:57 am
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey is a book that follows the uprooting of the dominant power within a mental institution. In the book Mrs. Ratchet or the Big Nurse is the head nurse in the ward in which the story takes place. She likes to keep everything running like clockwork and keeps everyone in line with threats of electric shock therapy. There are actually three different responses to this absolute authority. There are those only referred to as the Acutes who go along with the Big Nurse, Mr. Bromden who tries to go unnoticed or escape, and Mr. McMurphy who tries to disrupt the Big Nurse’s control. All of the patients share things in common, one they are patients, two they see how the Big Nurse has things completely in her control, and they all know how to keep themselves out of trouble. The Acutes’ approach towards dealing with this supreme power is best summed up in this line “It was better than she’d dreamed. They were all shouting to outdo one another, going further and further, no way of stopping, telling things that wouldn’t ever let them look one another in the eye again” (Kesey 49). The Big Nurse asked a question and in return she retrieved the Acutes dark secrets that were bad enough to change each other’s view of each other, as if it were a competition. They were so willing to please because it meant safety for them. Mr. Bromden was believed to be dumb and deaf so he used this to his advantage. While talking about the fog he tells that “Nobody complains about all the fog. I know why, now: as bad as it is, you can slip back in it and feel safe” (Kesey 114). Since he is deaf and dumb Mr. Bromden lets the Big Nurse be for no one bothers him and he can always feel safe in the fog. Mr. McMurphy is another dominating figure that is marked as good and almost immediately starts clashing with the evil Big Nurse and her fear tactics. The Big Nurse believing she has Mr. McMurphy beat tries to take away a privilege of using the “tub room” the patients earned. Instead of the intended response this happens “he shrugged his shoulders and with a loud sigh slapped both hands down on his knees and pushed himself standing out of the chair…started strolling across the day-room floor to where she sat by the Nurse’s Station…he stopped in front of her window and said in his slowest, deepest drawl how he figured he could use one of those smokes he bought this morning’, then ran his hand through the glass” (Kesey 172). Mr. McMurphy immediately makes up a lie to keep himself safe, but knew exactly what he was doing. Instead of letting the Big Nurse regain her full control of the situation Mr. McMurphy disrupts her plans and scares her into submission for a little while. The Big Nurses dominate power invoked three responses. The Acutes’ obedient response, Mr. Bromden’s hiding response, and Mr. McMurphy’s disruptive response.
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Brigid Fahy
8/24/2015 03:04:33 am
When put into a situation where one is forced to completely obey a figure of authority and submit to their control different reactions can arise from different people. Ken Kesey's character in his novel "Cuckoos nest", Chief Bromden, tries to move about his surroundings without getting in trouble with the "big nurse". He does however have his own way of "breaking the rules" by pretending he is mute and deaf. This is how he can live in the hospital without being bothered. Randle McMurphy sits on the opposite side of the spectrum. He's loud, confident, and ready to stand up for whatever he feels is important. Unlike every one else in the asylum he chooses not to follow nurse ratchets strict code of conduct. Both of these characters are underneath the authority of the big nurse but how they choose to handle their placement on the hospital totem pole differs. McMurphy thinks he can break nurse Ratchet, thinks he can overthrow her system, he shows no sign of fear upon meeting her on his first day as he says: "Ya know, ma'am, ya know—that is the ex-act thing somebody always tells me about the rules... just when they figure I'm about to do the dead opposite." (28, Kesey) McMurphy is a gambler who is use to taking risks and has never been told what to do in his life. The notion of one person controlling a whole group without any sign of rebellion from the victims is ridiculous to him. Chief doesn't certainly doesn't enjoy the big nurses control over him, but he knows that there's nothing he can do. He knows the nurse can have him sent to shock therapy, or even worse, a lobotomy if he steps out of line. Not to mention, he believes he SHOULD be in the institution. He talks about the world as if it's a big machine, the combine, and explains that he is a "broken piece" and needs to be fixed. Or, if not fixed, kept away from the rest of the working machine. However these two characters are similar in their intelligence. McMurphy sees right through the nurses kindly façade and what she's doing to these patients. Chief sees this as well, and while he doesn't go to the extremes McMurphy went to, he manages to fool everyone about how smart he really is. He gains more and more knowledge about the asylum and big nurses' methods by pretending to be dumb. "They don't bother not talking out loud about their hate secrets when I'm nearby because they think I'm deaf and dumb. Everybody thinks so." (12, Kesey)
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Olivia Barkey
8/24/2015 03:35:33 am
In the play "A Streetcar Named Desire" by Tennessee Williams two characters, Blanche DuBois and Stanley Kowalski struggle for power. Blanche struggles for control of the upper hand, which Stanley has over the whole family because of his barbarity. Blanche wants power to keep her past and her issues a secret from everyone. But Stanley won't let her have that power because he suspects Blanche has more of a past then what she is letting on. Blanche's approach to gaining power is through her sister. She gains her sister's sympathy with her lies and false struggles. "Please, please don't-I-I want you to look at the contents of my purse! Here's what's in it! Sixty-five measly cents in the coin of the realm!" (68 Williams). On the other hand, Stanley holds on to his power by acting like (and sometimes being) a brute. For example "...And I am the king around here so don't forget it!" (107 Williams). In Scene 10, Stanley and Blanche go head to head. Blanche tries to leave but is too afraid to go past Stanley. Stanley uses his brute force to scare Blanche and, in the end, win the power struggle between the two. The reader is left to assume the Stanley takes advantage of Blanche, what causes Blanche's ultimate break down. After using her, Stanley has won. He leaves Blanche used and mentally insane. And Stanley's reign of terror continues.
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Luke Pearlberg
8/24/2015 10:55:29 am
If history shows us anything, it is that for every person of power, there is one to oppose them. This is evident in Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Ms Ratched(aka The Big Nurse)has a ward that she rules over with absolute power, keeping the patients in check through the fear of what she could sentence them to, such as electroshock therapy or lobotomy. Harding describes the relationship between patient and staff as the relationship between rabbits and wolves. Harding refers to the patients as rabbits and the Big Nurse as a wolf, ready to eat them if they venture outside the rabbit hole. This is how the Big Nurse keeps control of the ward, a silent threat through her fixed wax-doll smile. That is, until Randal Patrick McMurphy is committed to the ward. Unlike the other patients, McMurphy refuses to be backed into submission by a woman he knows can do no real harm to him. Thus begins the battle for control between McMurphy and Ms Ratched. McMurphy sets his goal to “break” the Big Nurse through mind games and a disregard for rules authority. Ratched is determined to stamp the rebellion out of McMurphy by implicating rules and and the threat of extended his time on the ward. Their approaches are very different, and as McMurphy gains support and respect from the other patients, the BIg Nurse begins to crack under the stress that starts to show under her porcelain smile. McMurphy even manages manipulate the Doctor to his will. However, through McMurphy’s style of fighting for control over the ward, he is able to help his new friends more than medication and therapy ever could. This is very evident at the end of Part 1 when McMurphy sits down in the middle of chores to watch the World Series as the Big Nurse becomes more and more flustered “We can all see the nurse’s face get red and her mouth work as she stares at him. She looks around for a second and sees everybody watching what she’s going to do-even the black boys and the little nurses sneaking looks at her, and the residents beginning to drift in for the staff meeting, they’re watching. Her mouth clamps shut. She looks back at McMurphy and waits till the razor-blade song has finished:then she gets up and goes to the steel door where the controls are, and she flips a switch and the tv picture swirls back into grey. Nothing is left on the screen but a little eye of light beading right down on McMurphy sitting there. That eye don’t faze him a bit. To tell the truth, he don’t even let on he knows the picture is turned off;he puts his cigarette between his teeth and pushes his cap forward in his red hair until he has to lean back to see out from under the brim. And he sits that way, with his hands crossed behind his head and his feet stuck out in a chair, smoking a cigarette sticking out from under his hat brim-watching the tv screen”(Kesey 127). This quote demonstrates how McMurphy uses mind games and a lack of respect to break the big nurse’s image. She becomes more and more flustered as one by one all the patients sit down around McMurphy and look at the tv instead of listening to her orders. McMurphy is like this right from the start, wanting to take control. When meeting the patients McMurphy asks who the “Bull Goose Looney” is, and that he’s “thinking of taking over this whole show myself, lock, stock, and barrel”(Kesey 22). This quote, early on in the novel, shows how McMurphy-right from the start-begins to take over the ward, no matter what anyone says or cares. The Big Nurse, no matter what is going on, requires complete control of her ward. Even when Billy Bibbit commits suicide in the midst of chaos, she says nothing more than “the best thing we can do is go on with our daily routine” as if this is nothing more than one lost experiment and one less patient she must care for, and as long as her control remains intact, nothing is wrong.
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Hannah Daitz
8/24/2015 11:05:59 am
In the prize winning play, A Streetcar Named Desire, by Tennessee Williams, the two main figures of the Kowalski household are Stella and Stanley. When Stella’s sister, Blanche, comes to visit, Stella and Stanley’s interactions with her differ. While they are both trying to influence Blanche’s decisions for the future, they approach dealing with her differently. Stella is caring towards her sister and always thinks the best of her. She’s compassionate towards her sister’s needs and wishes. When Stella speaks with Blanche, she talks to her in a way that is stern, but not harsh. An example of this communication is when Stella is trying to understand what has happened to their childhood home. Stella questions “Stop this hysterical outburst and tell me what’s happened…” (Williams 26) When Stanley talks to Blanche he always assumes that she is lying or hiding something. He speaks to her in a way that is demeaning and forceful, and often interrogates her. An example of this is when Stanley questions Blanche about their childhood home. Stanley screams, “I don’t want no ifs, ands or buts! What’s all the rest of them papers?” (Williams 43) In both these examples, you can clearly see the different approach and tone used by Stella and Stanley towards Blanche when talking about the same topic. Stella and Stanley are similar because they both want answers from Blanche, but their styles are different. Both of them basically want Blanche to listen to them and do what they say, and even with their different approaches, they both get the result that they are looking for in the end.
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Peter Gibbons
8/25/2015 05:56:36 am
In the play, “A Streetcar Named Desire,” by Tennessee Williams, and in the book, “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” by Ken Kesey, two of the main characters, Stella and McMurphy, each faced abusive environments. Stella had to try to protect herself and her sister, Blanche, from the physical and verbal abuse from Stella’s husband, Stanley. McMurphy tried to endure the harsh conditions imposed by the head nurse, Nurse Ratched, and help his fellow patients improve their situation. In these abusive environments, both of these main characters fought back to improve their situations, but neither of them was fully successful.
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Matthew Vaderveer
8/25/2015 06:50:01 am
Power is the ability to influence the actions of others. Power is usually shown in a leader who controls his or her followers. In the novel “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest” by Ken Kesey power is originally shown by the big nurse who has complete control over all of the patients in the ward. Characters like Billy Bibbit and most of the other patients always crack under the pressure. The nurse uses the other patients and staff to wear down their confidence of the characters that she has more trouble pressuring into agreeing with her, like the group meeting when the big nurse has all of the patients targeting Harding to deplete his confidence so he can not fight the control of the staff and the big nurse. This is how the big nurse maintained control before McMurphy came to the ward. Unlike the rest of the patients in the ward McMurphy challenges the big nurses authority every chance he gets. He knows what the rules are but questions them every chance he gets. His first week he tries to assert his own authority by making a bet with the other patients in the ward that he can get a reaction out of nurse Ratchet. This gives him power in the eyes of the rest of the patients and power over the big nurse. He then extends this power by manipulating the doctor into taking McMurphy’s ideas and proving their value to the big nurse so that she can not deny McMurphy’s idea. This is how he gets the card players the discussion room while its not being used. The big nurse usually says that she needs to talk to the staff about something McMurphy has asked for so she can use the power of the entire staff against McMurphy. McMurphy responds by using the power of the rest of the patients by casting votes. The big nurse draws power from the fear and lack of confidence to question her among the patients. McMurphy gets his power by giving confidence to the patients and fighting the unfair rules. He tries to make them gain confidence to use against Mrs. Ratchet. In the end most of the patients are left with more confidence than when the novel started. And because of this they have more power.
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Hannah McLoone
8/25/2015 10:15:01 am
In Tennessee Williams’ award winning play “A Streetcar Named Desire”, both Stanley and Stella Kowalski struggle to gain power over one another. Stella approaches things with grace and calmness, while Stanley is more stern and aggressive, causing them to bump heads with each other. This all becomes very clear when Stella’s sister, Blanche, comes to stay with them. Stella had mentioned to Blanche that they have had a bit of problems but Stanley felt he was losing his “power” so he begins to lash out even more. One night at dinner, Stanley yells at Stella saying, “[He seizes her arm] don’t ever talk that way to me! ‘Pig—Polack—disgusting—vulgar—greasy!’—Them kind of words have been on your tongue and your sister’s too much around here ... I am the kind around here and don’t forget it!” (Williams, 107-108). This quote clearly shows how aggressive Stanley is towards Stella. But Stella is more of a caretaker around the house and wants to make sure everyone is happy. When Blanche arrives from Laurel, Stella greets her very kindly and excitedly and already trying to take care of her. When Blanche is searching around for liquor, Stella is kind and tells her, “Blanche, you sit down and let me pour the drinks” (Williams, 19). Although this is a small gesture, her kindness continues throughout the play, and shows that she is the polar opposite of Stanley when it comes to Blanche. In conclusion, Stella and Stanley have very different views on how to run the household that makes me wonder, how did they ever get married in the first place?
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Chloe Sharpe
8/25/2015 10:33:31 am
A common theme in both A Street Car Named Desire by Tennessee Williams and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey is relations of power and power struggles between the characters; specifically pertaining towards Stanley and the Nurse Ratched respectively. These two characters are quite alike in the way they treat people around them, and how they act as dominating figures, yet they differ in the way they go about domineering. Nurse Ratched controls and exploits with her subtle manipulation, which is just as mentally harmful as a beating is physically. In other words, she tortures her patients with her power over them without bound. Kesey presents Nurse Ratched in this way, as shown in her statement, “Please understand: We do not impose certain rules and restrictions on you without a great deal of thought about their therapeutic value….You are in here because you could not adjust to the rules of society in the Outside World….That foolish lenience may have been the germ that grew into your present illness. I tell you this hoping you will understand that it is entirely for your own good that we enforce discipline and order” (Kesey 171). Though it may be hard to pick up on at first, after some analysis it is clear that Nurse Ratched is using a strategy to whittle down the patients with fear of their weaknesses and shame. She makes them feel bad for not being mentally sound, and scares them into giving in to her word. This is how Nurse Ratched dominates: by using psychological intimidation.
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Robert Duncan
8/26/2015 12:35:49 am
In every story characters interact and create relationships with one another. In the play, A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams, sisters Stella and Blanche Dubois both have different approaches for obtaining power in the small apartment that they share with Stella’s husband Stanley. One example of how Stella approaches obtaining power of Stanley is played out during Blanche’s birthday. In this scene Stella, Blanche and Stanley are all eating at the dinner table and Stella tells Stanley, “your face and your fingers are disgustingly greasy. Go wash up and then help me clear table.” (Williams 107). Stanley then responds by hurling his plate to the floor grabbing her by her arm and saying, “That’s how I’ll clear the table, don’t ever talk that way to me!”(Williams 107). After Stanley’s act of rage Stella begins to cry weakly and Stanley exits. Stella does not make any effort to stand up for herself and let’s Stanley overpower her. Another example of how Stella reacts to Stanley’s violence/power, is when Stella and Blanche come home to the apartment to find Stanley and his friends playing poker. In this scene the two girls start talking and begin interfering with the poker game which aggravates Stanley. In an act of rage, he hits Stella in front of everyone. The next morning when the two girls wake up Blanche confronts Stella about last night and says that Stella, “is married to a madman.”(Williams 64). Stella then responds to Blanche’s statement by saying, “you’re making too much fuss about this.”(Williams 63). From these two examples it is very clear that when Stella has little power in the apartment or her marriage. Her attempts to gain some power are prevented by Stanley. After Stanley stops Stella, she makes no attempt to stand up for herself. Blanche on the other hand, handles the struggle for power very differently than Stella. An example of Blanche’s struggle for power is shown in the scene of the night that Stella is in the hospital having a baby and Stanley and Blanche are left alone in the apartment. In this scene Stanley has just come back to the apartment half drunk to find that Blanche has just received a telegram to allegedly go on a cruise of the Caribbean with an old admirer. Stanley calls Blanches bluff about the telegram so Blanche defends herself by saying that, “the wire came just as…”(Williams 127). Stanley then cuts her off by saying, “there wasn’t a wire at all. There isn’t no millionaire! And Mitch didn’t come back with roses. There isn’t a goddam thing but imagination.”(Williams 127). She then responds to that with, “oh god…”(Williams 127). After that Blanche starts to break down as she knows that Stanley has overpowered her. Another example of when Blanche tries to gain power is when she asks about Stanley’s Astrological sign. She guesses that Stanley must have been born under Aries because Stanley, “must have had lots of banging around in the army and now makes up for it by treating inanimate objects with such a fury.”(Williams 76). After hearing this insult, Stanley rubs some dirt on Blanche by asking her about a man named Shaw that knew her from a hotel called the Flamingo. Knowing that Stanley has gained leverage over her, she responds by saying that Shaw has her, “mixed up with this other party.The Hotel Flamingo is not the sort of establishment I would dare to be seen in.”(Williams 77). And Stanley’s ultimate show of power comes near the end of the play when he rapes Blanche. Blanche threatens to twist the end of a broken bottle into Stanley’s face, but, “”She sinks to her knees. He picks up her inert figure and carries her to the bed.” From these example it is clear that when struggling for power Blanche does stand up for herself, but when faced with Stanley’s more powerful character she is powerless.
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Erica Soya
8/26/2015 02:45:32 am
In the novels "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" by Ken Kesey and "A Streetcar Named Desire" by Tennessee Williams, they both depict two very strong, aggressive characters. Both Big Nurse (from Cuckoo's Nest) and Stanley (from Streetcar) show complete power over the other characters in their books. However, they behave differently about it; Big Nurse pretending she's protecting her patients, while Stanley is straightforward about it and doesn't care who knows. In Cuckoo's Nest, the staff and patients are in one of their meetings when Cheswick asks why the dorms have to be locked on the weekends. Big Nurse simply replies "You men are in this hospital because of your proven inability to adjust to society. The doctor and I believe every minute spent in the company of others, with some exceptions, is therapeutic, while ever minute spent brooding alone only increases your separation," (Kesey 145). This quote makes Big Nurse seem like she actually cares about her patients, when in reality she just wants everything to be in order, and done in her way only. She doesn't actually care what they do, but she wants as least trouble possible. She says this to make them think that they keep the dorms locked for their own safety, when she really just wants power and order over them. In her way, she is sly about her power, making her patients think she cares about them and wants only the best for them, when she is really tricking them to do what she wants. However, in Streetcar, Stanley is not afraid to be in charge at all. One night at dinner, Stella tries to excuse Stanley saying, "Your face and your fingers are disgustingly greasy. Go and wash up and then help me clear the table," (Williams 107). Stanley of course refuses, throwing a plate to the floor and saying "That's how I'll clear the table! [He seizes her arm] Don't ever talk that way to me! 'Pig-Polack-disgusting-vulgar-greasy!-them kind of words have been on your tongue and your sister's too much around here! What do you two think you are? A pair of queens? Remember what Huey Long said - "Every Man is a King!" And I am the king around here, so don't forget it! [He hurls a cup and saucer to the floor] My place is cleared! You want me to clear your places?" (Williams 107-108). In this statement, Stanley is clearly stating he wants everyone to know he's the king of the house. He gets angry quickly when he throws things to the floor, wanting to show Stella he is superior no matter what she thinks. He even hurts her when he feels like it just to make sure she doesn't forget. It is truly disgusting how he treats her, and Stella takes it all as if that were normal. Stanley obviously wants both women to know he is the boss, and what he says goes. Overall, both Stanley and Big Nurse keep their power over the others, but show it in different ways. Big Nurse pretends like it is the best thing for the patients when she controls everything and tricks them into believing it, while Stanley makes sure everyone that enters his house knows he is in charge, and isn't afraid to prove it. Big Nurse is more modest with her power in a way, never yelling or even frowning, while Stanley becomes primitive, smashing things and hurting the one he loves. The two characters handle their power differently, because they think what they do is done for the best of their surroundings.
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Stephen Navitsky
8/26/2015 04:07:46 am
Both novels that I have read, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" by Ken Kesey deals with a dominating figure. Some characters chose to abide by the dominating force while other's chose to overlook it. In Ken Kesey's novel Nurse Ratched or the "Big Nurse" is the dominating figure. In the Mental Hospital she is the Head Nurse who runs the hospital. Nurse Ratched has a very tight ship run at the hospital. If you act up, there WILL be consequence. Most patients always followed Nurse Ratched rules mainly because of the fear of being punished. Except for one character, Randle McMurphy. From the get go of Mr. McMurphy's time in the Hospital he was very outgoing, loud and disruptive to Nurse Ratched's "perfect" institution. She tried many things to put Randle in his place but nothing she tried would seem to work. McMurphy was a real trouble maker in the hospital. In the first few days of his stay he was making bets to see if the Nurse would crack due to his actions. He would also try to get other patients involved, for example he once said "Which one of you nuts has got any guts?". This quote demonstrates that the dominating force and rule of Nurse Ratched had no effect or impact on Randle McMurphy. Some characters chose to abide by the dominating force while others chose to overlook it, Randle McMurphy chose to overlook it. On the contrary another on of the institution's patients named Billy Bibbet was frightened of the nurse. The nurse is a dear friend to Billy's mother, who billy feared, and if anything went wrong that involved Billy, she would inform Billy's mother. The thought of that scared billy so very much to the point where he feared Nurse Ratched just as much if not close ego his mother.
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Katherine Feldkamp
8/26/2015 05:21:02 am
In Tennessee Williams book “A Streetcar Named Desire”, the battle for dominant power is ongoing between the main characters. Each character fights their own distinct battle for power in opposite ways from other characters. Two main characters, Stella and Stanley both want control over the Kowalski apartment and each want to run the apartment in their own unique way. Stanley’s approach at power is physical rather than Stella’s nurturing approach. Stanley sees himself as the leader of the apartment and when he begins to feel mistreated and not looked at as the head of the house he gets physically mad taking it out on other people, specifically his wife. For example, when kindly asked by Stella to “go and wash up and then help [her] clear the table” Stanley “hurls a plate to the floor” screaming “that’s how I’ll clear the table! [seizing Stella’s arm] don’t ever talk that way to me!” (Williams 107). Using his physical actions, Stanley believes he will gain control over Stella. In a specific situation, “Stanley charge[d] after Stella… there is [a] sound of a blow [and] Stella crie[d] out.” (Williams 57) Beating Stella physically gives Stanley the feeling of power over her, which makes him overall feel dominant and in power of the apartment. Stanley believes the only way to have control over people is to instill fear in them in order for them to listen to the figure with power. Stella on the other hand, takes more of a calm, stern approach at having control of the apartment. Stella always finds a way to get what she wants from people, but she does it in a polite way compared to Stanley. Relating back to how Stella kindly asked Stanley to help her clear the table, but Stanley blew up and went back at Stella in a violent manner, this shows how Stella always approaches things in a kind manner. Although Stella might ask for others to help while still being the lead role with the power, she still takes full responsibility without forcing other people to do something. Stella’s goal is to make everyone happy while she’s in power, but also sharing roles and responsibilities and not leaving it all on one individual person for themselves. In the end, Stanley overall wins the role of holding the power in the household, and Stella is left with control over her child. Stanley and Stella exhibit how two characters in the same setting searching for the same thing overall, can have two very opposite approaches at getting what they want in the end.
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Sarah Keale
8/26/2015 06:28:48 am
In one of Tennessee’s most popular and read plays, “A Streetcar Named Desire”, two of the main characters fight and are determined to gain power over each other. One of the characters named Stanley is a more firm character that is strict when expressing things he wants to get done or accomplished. The other character Stella is a lot calmer and shows more sympathy for people. These two very different personalities are what caused the disagreements throughout the play. Blanche is Stella’s sister and when she came into scene both of the characters’ different personalities really became clear. Stanley becomes even more stern and strong-willed when Blanche comes to stay because he feels he is loosing power and for him, that cannot happen. In one part of the play when Stella is talking to Blanche she says, “ I wish you’d just let things go, at least for a-while…” (William 69). This quote shows Stella’s personality and how she is always trying to calmly fix things and make the people around her happy. Stanley says in one point of the play while talking to Stella, “ Remember what Huey Long said-Every man is a king! And I am the king around here so don’t forget it!” (William 107-108). Nothing in the play could have showed his character better than this and how he wants power in the house by acting strict and angry. Reading about Stella and Stanley’s personalities throughout the play showed what it looks like when you have such different people trying to make a living or a life together.
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Bridget Tobin
8/26/2015 07:50:03 am
Dominating figures took place in both the famous play, “A Streetcar Named Desire” by Tennessee Williams, and in Ken Kesey’s novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. In the poem, one of the main characters, Stella Kowalski, fought for her own power and her sister’s power against her husband. In the novel, McMurphy fought against the head nurse of a mental hospital to change some of the grueling rules and orders she imposes on him and the other patients. In both instances, they have to try and gain power from someone else, and attempt to gain more power through their actions and words. In “A Streetcar Named Desire”, Stella tries to keep her and her sister, Blanche, safe from her abusive and negative husband, Stanley. One night, Stanley has a few friends over to play poker, and everything goes wrong. Blanche and Stella refuse to turn their peaceful radio off while Stanley is playing poker, and he goes “[charging] after Stella”...Stella quickly replies to Stanley, saying, “You lay your hands on me and I’ll--” (Williams 57). This scene proves that Stanley uses his power to an extreme extent and it gets to a point where Stella has to protect herself physically from Stanley hurting her. Unfortunately, Stanley ends up hitting her, but she does her best to prevent it from happening. Soon after, Stella and Blanche run upstairs, away from Stanley in order to escape the dominating figure of Stanley Kowalski. In Ken Kesey’s novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, the head of the mental hospital, Nurse Ratched, creates an excruciating environment in which patients work or sit in bed all day; therefore, many of them have no fun whatsoever. The patient who really steps up to Ratched is Randle P. McMurphy. He is the one who takes the nurses’ power and uses it as motivation to try and put a stop to this dictatorship. McMurphy has an idea that may possibly give the patients a break from sitting in bed and doing chores all day: to watch the World Series. At the first meeting, she completely denied his idea; however, showing persistence, he brought it up his idea at the next meeting and a lot more patients were into it. So, later that afternoon, “a picture swirls onto the [TV] screen of a parrot out on the baseball field singing razorblade songs” and McMurphy along with some more patients begin to sit down and watch the World Series (Kesey 127). Nurse Ratched, having all the power that she does, “flips a switch and the TV picture swirls back into the gray” (Kesey 127). This instance proves that despite McMurphy attempts to change Ratched’s ways, there is nothing that is greater than the power she imposes on the patients. He tries to entertain himself and the boys, but the plan was unsuccessful due to the nurse’s reaction. He fails greatly in the end of the book, when he tries getting people to leave the mental hospital, but it failed. Similarly, Stella unsuccessfully tries to win against her husband because her sister, Blanche, gets sent to a mental hospital and gets attacked by Stanley. In conclusion, both these characters tried to defend themselves and others from dominating figures, but in the end, nothing was great enough to conquer Stanley Kowalski and Nurse Rached.
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Lauren Berbrick
8/27/2015 12:21:26 am
In Ken Keseys famous novel, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and the Pulitzer Prize-winning play, "A Streetcar Named Desire" written by Tennessee Williams both show a dominating, powerful character. Nurse Ratched, also known as "Big Nurse" from Cuckoo's Nest and Stanley from Streetcar named Desire both are powerful figures to the other characters in the novels. Both act the same, yet have different ways of overpowering. In the struggle to find the right patience they seek the aggressive attitude towards everyone. Stanley is a character who has a free spirit, he does not care what he does or who knows what he does. Ratched pretends she cares for the patients in the hospital, when in reality she really only cares about everything being in the right place at the right time. Big Nurse states, "A manipulator can influence the other patients and disrupt them to such an extent that it may take months to get everything running smooth once more," (Kesey 142). This quote goes to show that as soon as McMurphy arrived at the hospital she was already blaming him for messing up with the other patients, never the less she did not perhaps care about his health. Stanley is a character whom is not scared, yet he is proud to be in charge. At dinner Stanley says, "Now that's how I'm going to clear the table. Don't you ever talk that way to me. 'Pig,' 'Pollack,' 'greasy.' Those kinds of words have been on your tongue just too much around here. What do you think you are?" (Williams 108). This quotes expresses how Stanley treats everyone, with disrespect. As a man in power, he does not care what the people think of him, he only cares of how he is treating the people. Based off the people around them, these two characters act differently as high power but are capable of the same things.
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Lacey Rieglwr
8/27/2015 12:39:20 am
In most aspects of life there is some sort of struggle for power, whether it be a minor fight or something bigger, we all search for dominance to some extent. And everyone has their own strength and weakness to aid in this struggle for power. In terms of A Streetcar Named Desire, each character approaches their need for power from a different aspect, a different way to gain power. To begin with, Stanley, a character from the above named book, uses his own brute forth to try and dominate those around him. And it is seen most thoroughly through his interactions with Stella. Those times when he will raise a hand to her or objects around them to show her when she has stepped out of line and to keep himself as the boss. For example in scene eight, page 107, While hurling plates to the floor Stanley says "Don't ever talk that way to me! Pig- Polack- disgusting- vulgar- greasy!- them kind of words have been on your tongue and your sisters too much around here! What do you two think you are? A pair of queens? Remember what Huey Long said- 'Every Man is a King!' And I am the King around here, so don't forget it!". Moments like this happen a bit throughout the book, times when Stanley uses his force to state his position. And while his strength is his power, his love for Stella is a weakness of sorts. Because he will come back around and apologize in some cases, which can be seen as a weakness. But he isn't the only one in the Kowalski apartment who is vying for power. Blanche looks to seek power but she goes at it from a different way. Blanche's power comes from her class status, her place in society. While hers isn't as up front as Stanley's, Blanche will slip her class status in where ever she can. For example in scene six, page 88, when on the date with Mitch, she says "Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir? Vous ne comprenez pas? Ah, quelle dommage!". It may not seem like much but when she slips the fact that she knows french into the conversation, it's a way of flashing her class status. Think of it like waving a flag that says 'I've traveled so I know other languages' in a sense. But much like Stanley, she has her strength and weaknesses. Showing her intelligence and class, as stated above, is her strength. But her weakness comes when she shows fear. Both characters are in a constant struggle for power and they both try to come at it from different angles. They differ though in the way they approach the power, Stanley's is a physical one, Blanche's is a mental one. And how they do it, Stanley's is very up front while Blanche's is harder to see right away. Overall both of these characters are in a struggle to gain the power in the Kowalski apartment.
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Kristin Dingelstedt
8/27/2015 01:16:56 am
Every individual takes their own unique approach to obtain power. This is evident in Ken Kesey’s popular novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, where a patient in a mental institute, Randle Patrick McMurphy, and the head nurse constantly battle to be the dominating force over the patients. Miss Ratched, commonly known as Big Nurse, is the strongest figure in the hospital. The patients are afraid of her heavily built body and calm, static facial expression, knowing she has complete control over them, provoking them to do as she says in order to avoid punishment. Worst of all, Big Nurse controls the men’s minds with her questions in their group meetings. She often twists what they say, causing them to believe that her point of view is correct. When Big Nurse tries to have the patients realize McMurphy is nothing more than a con-artist, Kesey allows the read to identify this psychological dominance shown, with her statement, “No, Billy, I wasn't implying anything. I was simply observing that McMurphy isn't one to run a risk without a reason. You would agree to that, wouldn't you? Wouldn't all of you agree to that?” (Kesey 222). This statement causes the men to wonder if their new leader, McMurphy, may only be helping them for his own personal gain. Big Nurse uses her authority to convince the men that she is correct, encouraging them to support and listen to her, not her competition, McMurphy. On the other hand, McMurphy uses a much different method to gain control in the hospital. He identifies Big Nurse’s dictatorship from the moment he is admitted to the institute, and tries to get the others to realize it, too. Just like the nurse, McMurphy is tall and muscular, which frightens the staff, who are aware of his strength. Though neither Big Nurse or McMurphy ever use physical force to gain power over the men, McMurphy does cause fights when he tries to defend a fellow patient. Despite this, his main approach to gain power involves playing mental games with Big Nurse, trying to bother her with his boisterous and rebellious actions. He rallies the others to follow his lead, and never shows his irritation over the staff’s policies. The author proves McMurphy’s strategy when he tells the men, “As near as I can tell I’m no looney, or never knew it if I was. Your nurse don't know this; she's not going to be looking out for somebody coming at her with a trigger-quick mind like I obviously got. These things give me an edge I like” (Kesey 69). By sharing this thought with the other patients, McMurphy asserts the fact that he plans to overpower Big Nurse with his wits. Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest proves that in any situation, though one dominating figure may hold power and control over others, it just takes one person to overthrow that tyranny by refusing to put up with such unfair treatment.
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Samantha Feder
8/27/2015 01:53:16 am
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Nicole Gaillard
8/27/2015 03:33:57 am
In the "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," by Ken Kesey there is a struggle for power between the patients and the nurse. There are the patients, such as Chief Bromden and the nurses, such as Nurse Ratched. The both struggle for who has the power over themselves and everyone in the hospital. Bromden struggled for freedom, individuality, and sexuality. The nurse did everything in her power to make the patients believe they are insane even when they weren't. She would have them undergo surgery and shock treatments just to reassure their insanity was reality. Bromden firmly believes that Nurse Ratched is a huge machine that has power over all and even though this isn't true it still appears this way to him in his mind since he hallucinates. In Part One Bromden shares this quote with us, "If somebody'd of come in and took a look, men watching a blank TV, a fifty-year -old women hollering and squealing at the back of their heads about discipline and order and recriminations, they'd of thought the whole bunch was crazy as loons." Bromden knows what hospital is up to and remains to be treated like this. He knows the struggle for power and freedom in the hospital is crucial. He's doing everything he can to try and make the nurse believe they are the ones who are truly insane. He tries to tell the other patients the cruelty and empowering that's going, but some are crushed over how weak they have become and commit suicide. Nurse Ratched tries to give pathetic excuses as to why they are being treated unfairly and are given no power over themselves. "Please understand: We do not impose certain rules and restrictions on you without a great deal of thought about their therapeutic value. A good many of you are here because you could not adjust to the rules of society in the Outside World, because you refused to face up to them, because you tried to circumvent them and avoid them. At sometime-perhaps in your childhood-you may have been allowed to get away with flouting the rules of society. When you broke a rule you knew. You wanted to be dealt with, needed it, but the punishment did not come. That foolish lenience on the part of your parents may have been the germ that grew into your present illness. I tell you this hoping you will understand that it is entirely for your own good that we enforce discipline and order." Nurse Ratched was saying here that this is just for their protection and for their own well being. We all know that this unjust treatment and cruelty isn't for their well being. The true struggle here is men and women fighting for the power over one another. These women are trying to take everything away from these man including their own pride and man hood. The real question you're left with is who will win the power once and for all?
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Kelly Farley
8/27/2015 03:42:11 am
“A Streetcar Named Desire,” written by Tennessee Williams, deals with a dominating figure that forces his own will on other characters through the use of both physical and psychological intimidation. Throughout the time Blanche DuBois stays with her sister, Stella Kowalski, and her husband, Stanley Kowalski, Stanley uses intimidation toward the two sisters to express that he is the one with the power. Initially, Blanche and Stella react to Stanley’s attempt for power in similar ways. Both of the sisters try to avoid conflict with Stanley, and they both try to show him that he is not in control. Although some reactions are the same, Blanche and Stella are different, and the way they react towards Stanley exemplifies their differences. Towards the end, Blanche breaks and becomes very scared around Stanley. You can hear the fear in her voice when she says to Stanley, “You-you stand over there! [She indicates a further position]” (Williams 129). She is undoubtedly afraid of him, whereas in the beginning, even if she was slightly scared, she never lets him know. On the other hand, Stella does not crack and simply refuses oppressive treatment from Stanley. Stanley buys Blanche a ticket back to Laurel, and she gets very upset. Stella becomes angry with Stanley and tells him that he “needn’t have been so cruel to someone alone as she is” and that she used to be delicate but “people like [him] abused her, and forced her to change” (Williams 111). Instead of letting him act that way, she stands up for her sister and herself when he replies sarcastically. The reason that the two sisters react so differently during the struggle of power between themselves and Stanley is because Stella is used to it, whereas Blanche is not. Stella has dealt with Stanley for a while and builds up a resistance for his aggression and arrogance. Blanche, however, never met Stanley, so the way he acts comes as a shock to her. This play shows that depending on the different characters and their contrasting personalities and backgrounds, they will act in various ways towards a dominating figure that is trying to gain control.
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Alex Terody
8/27/2015 04:48:53 am
In many environments there are dominant figures like the Big Nurse in the Hospital in the book One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. People respond to dominant figures in different ways. Some crack under pressure like Billy Bibbit. While others can’t accept oppressive treatment like McMurphy. Even though their approaches are majorly different there are some similarities. Billy Bibbit mostly just listens to the Big Nurse so that he doesn’t get in trouble. He does that because he can’t handle pressure of standing up to her without help. Since people noticed that he rarely got in trouble they gave him more power over the ward. To show Billy Bibbit was doing this he said,” You think I wuh-wuh-wuh-want to stay in here? You think I wouldn't like a con-con-vertible and a guh-guh-girl friend? But did you ever have people l-l-laughing at you? No, because you're so b-big and so tough! Well, I'm not big and tough.”(Kesey pg168) This shows that Billy can’t take pressure. He can’t deal with people laughing at him because of the way he speaks. So then he feels pressure whenever he talks. McMurphy does the opposite. He keeps on standing up to her so that people see how weak she actually is. Then people will start listening to him so he will gain more power over the ward. To show McMurphy was doing this he said, “I couldn’t figure it at first, why you guys were coming to me like I was some kind of savior. Then I just happened to find out about the way the nurses have the big say as to who gets discharged and who doesn’t. And I got wise awful damned fast. I said, ‘Why, those slippery bastards have conned me, snowed me into holding their bag. If that don’t beat all, conned ol’ R. P. McMurphy,’…Well I don’t mean nothing personal, you understand, buddies, but screw that noise. I want out of here just as much as the rest of you. I got just as much to lose hassling that old buzzard as you do.”(Kesey pg166) This showed that McMurphy realized he was getting power. They both are same though because they want what’s best for the people. Billy Bibbit and McMurphy handle power in different ways. As you can see, Billy becomes intimidated and cracks under pressure by the way of his stuttering. While McMurphy doesn’t accept oppressive treatment and fights back for what he believes is right.
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Caroline Cahill
8/27/2015 05:20:10 am
In One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey, Nurse Ratched is the head nurse at the mental hospital. She maintains control over patients with strict rules. This “Big Nurse” threatens patients with electroshock therapy or lobotomy if they do not obey her rules. Her powerful methods scare most of the men at the institution. One man named McMurphy reacts to Ratched in a different way. He challenges her and doesn’t let her get in his head. McMurphy says, “Just what I said: any of you sharpies here willing to take my five bucks that says that I can get the best of that woman-before the week’s up-without her getting the best of me?” (Kesey 68). He is sure that he can make the big nurse crack and take some of her power away. Nurse Ratched says, “He [McMurphy] is what we call a ‘manipulator,’ Miss Flinn, a man who will use everyone and everything to his own ends,” (Kesey 29). She says this when she becomes aware that he is up to something. McMurphy tries to obtain power by defying the dominating figure. Ratched obtains power by channeling people’s fear and lowering their self esteem.
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Megan Moran
8/27/2015 07:46:05 am
In many cases power equals dominance. No matter what is going on in life there is always a struggle for power. In the play by Tennessee Williams, "A Streetcar Named Desire", each character desired to have power, yet they all came about it in different ways. The character Stanley used physical and sexual dominance over the two women, his wife Stella and her sister Blanche. Stella was very submissive towards her husband Stanley accept for when he said something mean to Blanche. “Stanley, stop picking on Blanche. Lately you been doing all you can think of to rub her the wrong way, Stanley, and Blanche is sensitive and you’ve got to realize that Blanche and I grew up under very different circumstances than you did” (Williams 98). Stella never really seemed to strive for power in the apartment, but Blanche did. Blanche took another route to get power in the house. She never was physical but she used her social status and class to make people feel that she was much better and smarter then them. "Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir? Vous ne comprenez pas? Ah, quelle dommage!" (Williams 88). On a date with a man named Mitch, Blanche starts speaking in a different language, presumably to make her sound fancy and like she has traveled enough to learn a foreign language. Yet in the end her power tactic fails her because after telling Stella how Stanley sexually abused her, Stella sends her to a mental asylum. Stanley's physical and sexual abuse won him power. There are still many different ways to gain power, everyone finds a way.
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Brandon Trani
8/27/2015 08:17:30 am
In Ken Kesey’s novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest there is a struggle of power between the authoritative figure of Nurse Ratched and the hospital's patients. Billy Bibbit is a patient who fears Nurse Ratched and blindly obeys her commands like most of the other patients. However, Randle McMurphy is quite the opposite and shows it as soon as he enters the hospital. In one of his first conversations with the nurse he expresses his rebellious nature when the nurse says, “ ‘but you do understand that everyone… must follow the rules.’ ” McMurphy replies with, “ ‘Ya know, ma’am, ya know-that is the exact thing somebody always tells me about the rules… just when they figure I’m about to do the dead opposite.’ ”(Kesey 28) In this statement he shows that no matter what he's been through whether it be in real life or in the hospital, he doesn’t follow the rules. Also, Billy Bibbit expresses fear towards the nurse mainly because she is good friends with his mother. His mother is part of the reason Billy checks himself into the hospital because she controls him and treats him like a child even though he is a grown man. This treatment diminishes his self confidence and causes him to stutter. The Nurse echos the treatment that Billy’s mother gave him, which defeats Billy’s idea of escaping his mother by going into the hospital. McMurphy does his best to change Billy to not be scared by helping him lose his virginity to Candy and become a man. Eventually Billy comes back to being oppressed by Nurse Ratched once again. In turn, Billy shows his final attempt of defiance towards nurse Ratched by committing suicide towards the end of the novel. In conclusion, the characters of Billy and McMurphy have different reactions to the dominating figure of the nurse. McMurphy is the rebellious figure while Billy is the compliant figure in the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.
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Luke Devine
8/27/2015 08:42:18 am
The play "A Streetcar Named Desire" written by Tennessee Williams contain a theme regarding the struggle for power. In this play Stanley and Stella Kowalski, a married couple, live in a poor neighborhood in New Orleans. They live peacefully together until Stella's sister Blanche visits them and eventually lives with them for several weeks. After she moves in Blanche tries to make herself be the classiest, most important of the three, while Stanley tries to assert his male dominance and stay in control of the household. Stanley is talking to Stella when he says "Pig-Polack-disgusting-vulgar-greasy!-them kind of words have been on your tongue and your sister's too much around here!" (Williams, 107). In this quote Stanley is telling Stella that she and Blanche should not degrade him as he is in control of the house, and thus should be treated with respect. Blanche and Stanley are arguing when she says to him "Yes, swine! Swine! And I'm thinking not only of you but of your friend, Mr. Mitchell." (Williams, 126). This quotation refers Blanche's idea that she is a proper gentlewoman, while Stanley and his friends are mere primates. The struggle of power between characters occurs because of their respective backgrounds, as Stanley is a working class man while Blanche is a rich aristocrat. Tennessee Williams' "A Streetcar named Desire" displays a conflict about the dominance in a home, which regards a theme of the play the struggle for power.
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Veyra Juarez
8/27/2015 09:47:44 am
In Ken Kesey’s novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, the topic of struggling for power is very repetitive. In the struggle for wanting to have total power there comes various possibilities on achieving it. For instance, two opposing characters Big Nurse, also referred as Ms. Ratched, and Randle Patrick McMurphy brawl for the support of the patients at the Mental Hospital. Big Nurse approaches this goal of gaining power in the hospital by using fear and terror. She imposes so much fear in the patients that she will get almost anything out of them with just asking a simple question. Patients fear to even attempt to lie to her knowing that she will see right through their lies and will punish them harshly. Therefor whenever the temptation of rebelling against her and her authority has ever been brought to mind many refuse to do anything in spite of fear. The character Dale Harding proves this idea of the patients being brainwashed by him stating ”...Our Miss Ratched is a veritable angel of mercy and why just everyone knows it” (Kesey 58). Almost all patients have been brainwashed to believe that anything Big Nurse/Ms. Ratched does is solely for the benefit of the patients. On the other hand Randle McMurphy uses charisma and friendliness to gain power. At his arrival to the hospital he greets and shakes everyone's hand introducing himself. He greets everyone including those that are referred as vegetables since they cannot do much without assistance. This was the beggining on how he began to get many patient’s trust and curiosity to get to know him better.
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Sydney Gannon
8/27/2015 10:14:03 am
Ken Kesey’s famous novel “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” has many characters fighting for dominance. Ms. Ratched, better known as the “Big Nurse,” has everything in order until Randle Patrick McMurphy comes into the institute. McMurphy has his own thoughts on how the mental institute should be run and he will not back down from his ideas, no matter how out of the box they are. The Big Nurse does not take his attempt of being in charge and argues against all of his trials. One argument began when McMurphy wanted to watch the World Series on T.V., but the Big Nurse refuses to change the “T.V. time.” A vote occurs when McMurphy demands one and twenty out of forty people vote for the “T.V. time” to be changed, and the Big Nurse denies the request. “There are forty patients on the ward, Mr. McMurphy. Forty patients, and only twenty voted. You must have a majority to change the policy. I’m afraid the vote is closed.” (Kesey 124) Ms. Ratched says to the demanding man. McMurphy then tries to have one more man vote for his side of the argument and it does not go his way. “Twenty-one! The Chief’s vote makes twenty-one! And by God if that ain’t a majority I’ll eat my hat,” (Kesey 126) McMurphy exclaims when he has Mr. Bromden’s vote, but the Big Nurse tells him that the vote is closed. Randle Patrick McMurphy later switches on the T.V. to watch the game, making sure Ms. Ratched is watching him. He protests by sitting there with all the men behind him watching the blank screen that Ms. Ratched turned off not saying a word as she screamed at him. Both the Big Nurse and McMurphy are searching for power and control. They will not back down from their pen fights as they stand up for what they believe in.
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Amy Lonergan
8/27/2015 10:48:40 am
In the Pulitzer Prize winning play “Streetcar Named Desire” by Tennessee Williams there is a struggler of power in an apartment that houses the Kowalski couple Stanley and Stella. Stanley believes he is the top dog in the marriage and Stella should do whatever he says. His attempt to gain control is through violence. One instance when he uses this is in scene eight, he hurls a plate to the ground then says to Stella “That’s how I clear the table! [he seizes her arm] Don’t ever talk to me like that way to me...Remember what Huey Long said-“Every Man is a King!” And I am the king around here, so don’t forget it!” (Williams 107). Times like this in the book really shows Stanley’s true colors if he doesn’t get what he wants he will use violence on Stella. However he will then come back to her apologizing over and over again on how sorry he is and how much he loves her. Stella tries to gain control by being gentle but stern. This is shown when he tells Stanley “Your face and your fingers are disgustingly greasy. Go and wash up and then help me clear the table” (Williams 107). Stella is being polite when she tells Stanley this. She is asking for help but at the same time is gaining control because she told him to do the chore. Stella and Stanley struggle with who is in control and they differ in the way that they gain control.
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Michael Deitz
8/27/2015 11:12:17 am
Human nature requires us to want power, to want total control and obedience to fulfill our innermost desires. When two opposing forces start vying for the same rule, a power struggle begins, and both sides use all they have to beat the other. This has been proven time and time again throughout history with war, rebellions, even political parties fight each other over power. Ken Kesey, author of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, not only showed creativity and versatility by writing the novels main setting in a psychiatric ward, but also showed the struggle between two characters for power. In One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, the protagonist, the cocky, cagey, and boisterous Randle Patrick McMurphy, commonly referred to as just McMurphy, squares off against the dictator that is the Big Nurse- Ms. Ratched, a utter control freak and perfectionist. Nurse Ratched has been running her ward with the power of fear, the knowledge that she has control over every aspect of her patients lives and will do anything to keep them as her scared followers- she has absolute power. An example of Nurse Ratched using fear to control her patients, can be found near the end of the novel. “‘What worries me Billy… got the response she was after. Billy flinched and put his hand to his cheeks like he’d been burned with acid” (Kesey, 264). Big Nurse finds Billy has just slept with Candy and the nurse uses his love for his mom to get him to say McMurphy made him sleep with Candy, and not that he actually wanted to himself. He starts crying for the Nurse to forgive him and not to tell his mom. Now, where there is one power, there will always be an opposing force trying to take control from the other, and that is where McMurphy comes in. His type (The way McMurphy shows power is through absolute confidence. This is shown by....) of power is one of absolute confidence, of not only knowing what to say to chip at Nurse Ratched, but how to convince the other patients to turn against her as well. While the Big Nurse has the power of authority, Randle uses the power of democracy, and just the right mixture of cocksureness and insanity to try and outwit and break down Nurse Ratched. Not only does he have a violent nature, which he proves by breaking the Nurses window on multiple occasions, but he has a silver tongue, charm and unbreakable resolve which he uses to gather support for his cause among the fellow patients. At one point, Kesey shows Randle’s influence on the other patients using these talents, “The first hand that comes up, I can tell is McMurphy’s… First one, then another, then the next… on down the line of Actues… all twenty of them, raising not just for watching TV, but against the Big Nurse, against her trying to send McMurphy to Disturbed, against the way she’s talked and acted and beat them down for years” (Kesey, 124). That started off as a simple vote to try and move the television time so they could watch the World Series, but everyone besides McMurphy were too scared of the Big Nurse to vote for it, but now everyone was raising their hand because McMurphy empowered them. He was able to show them that the Big Nurse didn’t have a hold over them, that they were free, and that they should all fight back against her reign of terror. There is almost always an imbalance of power in the world, two causes fighting against each other to rule the same thing. Where there is compliance, there will always be resistance, and where there is fear there shall be courage. Kesey embodied those virtues within Ms.Ratched and McMurphy, giving all of the readers a real insight into the struggle for equality that happens everywhere, and making them learn something about the world they live in.
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Michael Deitz
8/27/2015 11:14:22 am
There is a section where there is a sentence in parentheses and is talking about McMurphy and his absolute confidence, that was an editing note that I did not notice was left in when I uploaded this. I apologize for that being in there!
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Lauren Keale
8/27/2015 11:14:37 am
In both classic novels, “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” by Ken Kessey, and “A Street Car Named Desire” written by Tennessee Williams, a common theme about the struggle for power is presented. The two characters, Mrs. Racthed known as Big Nurse (from Cuckoo’s Nest) and Stanley Kowalski (main character in Streetcar) both focus on having complete power over the other characters. On the contrary, each character exemplifies a different approach to power. Big Nurse tries to act as though she cares about her patients so they respect and listen to her. For example, Nurse Ratched says the following, “Please understand….you wanted to be dealt with, needed it, but the punishment did not come. I tell you this hoping you will understand that this is entirely for your own good that we enforce discipline and order” (Kessey, 171). In this quote it is evident that this is Big Nurse’s way of being able to punish her patients even though she told them what to expect. This will indirectly restore her power over her patients and the other characters just as she wanted.
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Zoe Kelleher
8/27/2015 12:30:18 pm
In Ken Kesey’s classic novel, “One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest” a corrupt group of patients in a mental institution are run by an intimidating authority named Nurse Ratched. Many patients do not know how to deal with this type of power. There are two ways they can react; either fight back or be a bystander and let it happen. Before Randall McMurphy was enrolled in the hospital, all of the patients chose to sit back and let Nurse Ratched control things. But, Randall decided from the first day he arrived that he was not going to put up with Nurse Ratched’s dominating power, so throughout the novel McMurphy challenges the Nurse’s authority and gains the other patients support along the way. McMurphy defies against Nurse Ratched at the ending of part one, when he starts to watch TV in the middle of chore time. “We can all see the nurse’s face get red and her mouth work as she stares at him. She looks around for a second and sees everybody watching what she’s going to do-even the black boys and the little nurses sneaking looks at her, and the residents beginning to drift in for the staff meeting, they’re watching. Her mouth clamps shut. She looks back at McMurphy and waits till the razor-blade song has finished:then she gets up and goes to the steel door where the controls are, and she flips a switch and the tv picture swirls back into grey. Nothing is left on the screen but a little eye of light beading right down on McMurphy sitting there. That eye don’t faze him a bit. To tell the truth, he don’t even let on he knows the picture is turned off;he puts his cigarette between his teeth and pushes his cap forward in his red hair until he has to lean back to see out from under the brim. And he sits that way, with his hands crossed behind his head and his feet stuck out in a chair, smoking a cigarette sticking out from under his hat brim-watching the tv screen”(Kesey 127). This part in the novel shows that McMurphy is one who will stand up to Nurse Ratched and fight her power. But, other patients such as Billy Bibbit, are unable to handle Ratched’s dominance the way McMurphy does. In one of the last scenes, Billy is found in bed with one of the girls McMurphy snuck in the hospital the night before. “What worries me, Billy,” she said—I could hear the change in her voice—”is how your poor mother is going to take this.” She got the response she was after. Billy flinched and put his hand to his cheek like he’d been burned with acid. “Mrs. Bibbit’s always been so proud of your discretion. I know she has. This is going to disturb her terribly. You know how she is when she gets disturbed, Billy; you know how ill the poor woman can become. She’s very sensitive. Especially concerning her son. She always spoke so proudly of you. She al—” “Nuh! Nuh!” His mouth was working. He shook his head, begging her. “You d-don’t n-n-need!” “Billy Billy Billy,” she said. “Your mother and I are old friends.” “No!” he cried. His voice scraped the white, bare walls of the Seclusion Room. He lifted his chin so he was shouting at the moon of light in the ceiling. “N-n-no!” We’d stopped laughing. We watched Billy folding into the floor, head going back, knees coming forward. He rubbed his hand up and down that green pant leg. He was shaking his head in panic like a kid that’s been promised a whipping just as soon as a willow is cut. The nurse touched his shoulder to comfort him. The touch shook him like a blow. “Billy, I don’t want her to believe something like this of you—but what am I to think?” “Duh-duh-don’t t-tell, M-M-M-Miss Ratched. Duh-duh-duh—” “Billy, I have to tell. I hate to believe you would behave like this, but, really, what else can I think? I find you alone, on a mattress, with this sort of woman.” “No! I d-d-didn’t. I was—” His hand went to his cheek again and stuck there. “She did.” “Billy, this girl could not have pulled you in here forcibly.” She shook her head. “Understand, I would like to believe something else—for your poor mother’s sake.” The hand pulled down his cheek, raking long red marks. “She d-did.” He looked around him. “And M-M-McMurphy! He did. And Harding! And the-the-the rest! They t-t-teased me, called me things!” (Kesey 264). This part demonstrates that Billy is unable to stand up for himself and breaks under Ratched’s intimidation, he even tries to blame other people to save himself. I believe that the majority of the patients would have reacted like Billy if they were in his situation, which shows that many of them can’t handle the power Nurse Ratched holds over them.
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Ian Birn
8/27/2015 12:54:47 pm
There is always a constant struggle for power in life. Whether it is getting to sit shotgun in a car or to be the boss of a company, there is regularly a fight for who gets that podium role. In “A Streetcar Named Desire” written by Tennessee Williams, two characters fight for power in their own different ways. Stanley Kowalski strives for power in a more manly, powerful way including force and action. Stella Kowalski also tries to find power, but she does not always show it. Stanley’s rule is always present except for when Stella conveys her domination. In scene three, as the men play poker, Blanche turns on the radio and begins to dance but then Stanley throws the radio out the window showing he clearly outraged by the sight of something disruptive taking place without his permission. Stella says, “Drunk - drunk - animal thing, you! All of you - please go home! If any of you have one spark of decency in you -” (Williams 57). Here Stella showed her power in the apartment by kicking all of the men out of the house. Unlike Stella’s search for power, Stanley shows his power throughout the play usually trying to one-up somebody who may be stealing his authority. For example, after Stella yelled at everyone to leave the apartment Stanley charged after Stella. “She backs out of sight. He advances and disappears. There is the sound of a blow. Stella cries out” (Williams 57). Here Stanley uses force to regain his reign over the Kowalski apartment. In conclusion, Stanley’s authority in the apartment is strong but when compared to Stella’s when she shows it, it is marginally stronger. In conclusion, the competition for control is perpetually taking place in the Kowalski apartment.
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McKayla Prestininzi
8/27/2015 01:02:40 pm
The classic novel by Ken Kesey, “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”, portrays the change in power between two overly motivated characters. Miss. Ratched, the Big Nurse, is the authority figure of the hospital, who uses her power to generate unfair rulings amongst the patients and to make sure the patients know why they must be there. Continuously she reminds them of their issues, and how they will be outlaws of society if they leave. McMurphy was at first the only patient with enough courage to challenge her, but he works to rally the other patients against her. Throughout the book, readers can watch as Miss. Ratched maintains power through frightening the patients and lowering their self- confidence, while the adverse McMurphy fights back by lifting up the patient’s spirits and bringing back their fearlessness. These methods of each character differ because they each want a different outcome of the patients- for them to stay, and for them to leave. The Big Nurse wants to patients to stay so that she may continue her job, while McMurphy wants the patients to be able to leave because he cares about them. An excellent example is provided when McMurphy tries to set up a fishing trip for ten men, “… [but] the nurse started steadily bringing in clippings from the newspapers that told about wrecked boats and sudden storms on the coast” (Kesey 177). McMurphy waved her off and said that there was nothing to worry about with a trained sailor, but the patients were listening to her stories too. “The clippings scared them more than McMurphy figured. He’d figured that there would be a rush to sign up, but he’d had to talk and wheedle to get the guys he did” (Kesey 178). Later that night, McMurphy talks with Chief, “… and you not only get my special body- buildin’ course for nothing but you get yourself a ten- buck fishin’ trip free! ... Look there, Chief. Haw. What’d I tell ya? You growed a half foot already” (Kesey 188). Here we see that both the Big Nurse and McMurphy put up a good fight to help a cause, but dissimilarly are their methods to do so.
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Finn Smith
8/27/2015 01:12:37 pm
In the play “A Streetcar Named Desire” by Tennessee Williams, the struggle for power is an ever-present theme. The main conflict occurs between Stanley Kowalski and his wife, Stella Kowalski. These characters have very different approaches to win the fight for power: Stanley has a brutal and harsh approach, whereas Stella uses a calm and strong approach. Throughout the play, the two clash many times. As the tensions start to rise in the Kowalski apartment, Stanley begins to lash out more and his true aggression surfaces. An example of Stanley’s brutality is shown when Stella tells Stanley that his face and fingers are “disgustingly greasy” and that he should wash them. Stanley lashes out and grabs her and says, “Don’t ever talk that way to me!” and that “’Every Man is a King!’ And I am the king around her, so don’t you forget it!” (Williams 107). This shows how Stanley wants to be seen as the “king” and that he is in charge. However, Stella does not give in to him. She stands her ground and refuses to be oppressed. Her approach to gain control is to care for and protect her sister frail, Blanche, and to not let Stanley get the upper hand. An example of this is when Stanley tells Stella to stop talking and instead of Stella giving in to his orders, she replies sternly with “this is my house and I’ll talk as much as I want to!” (Williams 51). This shows how she refuses to succumb to Stanley’s oppression by standing her ground. Throughout the play the two characters use differing approaches to achieve power. Stanley is harsh and physical, while Stella is calm and stern. In the end, neither of them gain full power over the other.
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Suubi Mondesir
8/27/2015 01:26:38 pm
In this world there has, and always will be a struggle, and in a sense, a need for power. Power can be accumulated through various forms of intimidation or with the fortitude of many. Throughout the novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, by Ken Kesey, a character named Big Nurse manipulates and controls the patients of an Insane Asylum, physically and psychologically, which are both forms of intimidation. Another character named McMurphy uses the support of the majority to gradually gain his power. The following quote displays how Big Nurse uses forms of intimidation to gain power. “But Big Nurse has come up quietly, locked her hand on his arm, paralyzes him all the way to the shoulder. That’s alright Miss. Flinn, she says. If Mr.Taber chooses to act like a child, he may have to be treated as such”(Kesey 35). This quote depicts Big Nurse’s intimidating manner through physicality. By grabbing Mr.Taber’s arm, it affirms her position of power. In paralyzing him all the way to the shoulder it reminds him, she is stronger than he is. However intimidation is just one way to acquire power. As the novel progresses a character referred to as McMurphy receives his power in numbers. He essentially “rallied up the troops” against Big Nurse. The following quote shows how he does this. “McMurphy comes down the line of Chronics, shakes hands with Colonel Matterson and with Ruckly and with Old Pete. He shakes the hands of the Wheelers and Walkers and Vegetables, shakes hands that he has to pick up out of laps” (Kesey 25). In this quote McMurphy is already gaining power through likeability. He executes this in showing, each patient is important by shaking their hands or acknowledging everyone individually. This also shows his respect for everyone, which unconsciously instills a level of trust and admirability in each patient, for McMurphy, which he uses to his advantage. In conclusion both Big Nurse and McMurphy attain and use power differently. Big Nurse gains her power through different forms of intimidation for a negative purpose and McMurphy gains his power with the fortitude of many for a positive purpose.
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Giulia Dostie
8/27/2015 11:12:14 pm
In most situations, there is one person who holds all the power, while there are others who struggle to maintain what little authority they have. In the famous play, A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams, Stanley Kowalski plays the role of the brutal authoritative figure who "runs" the Kowalski apartment, while his wife Stella and her sister Blanche show little to no authority in the household. Stella and Blanche both struggle to maintain authority in the apartment in their own ways. Blanche is the type of person who doesn't do well under pressure. Whenever she feels threatened she gives in, and let's others overpower her. One example of this is during the night of the poker game. Stanley has had a lot to drink and was angry at Stella for playing her music loudly. As the night progressed, things got out of hand, and Blanche started to feel uncomfortable and unsafe. Blanche had a conversation with Stella the next morning and told her, "We've got to get hold of some money, that's the way out" (Williams 66). As the reader can see, Blanche feels intimidated by Stanley's power, and tries to escape it with any chance she gets. She feels weak and frightened around him and she doesn't want to be in that environment. Stella differs from Blanche when it comes to Stanley's power. Stella refuses to give into the pressure that Stanley puts her in. Unlike Blanche, Stella stands up for what she believes in and doesn't let Stanley walk all over her. One example of Stella standing up for herself is when Stanley was picking on Blanche. He wanted her to leave so badly, but Stella couldn’t let him talk about her sister that way. Stella said, "Lately you been doing all you can think of to rub her the wrong way, Stanley, and Blanche is sensitive and you've got to realize that Blanche and I grew up under very different circumstances than you did" (Williams 98). Stella shows the reader that she owns some of the power in that apartment. Even though Stanley is overpowering and brutal, Stella proves that she can stand up to someone of power and not feel intimidated by them. In conclusion, Williams has shown the reader that these two characters, though alike in the amount of power they have, demonstrate what it is like to be controlled by someone with power. He teaches the reader that you can approach people of power with authoritativeness and leadership, or you can show them how weak you feel, and let them walk all over you. This novel, A Streetcar Named Desire, has taught the reader that there are different ways that you can challenge authority, and you can chose if you want to be more like Blanche or more like Stella.
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Ava Nevad
8/28/2015 12:08:43 am
In the famous play, A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams, the two characters that hold the authority in the household is Stanley and Stella Kowalski, a married couple. Stanley Kowalski's method of showing his authoritative figure is harsh and brutal. When Stanley does not get his way he acts almost childish and throws a tantrum that leads to violence and brutality. In fear of Stanley's violence, his wife Stella and her sister Blanche who is visiting the couple, give Stanley the main authoritative power. An example of when Stanley lashes out on Stella is when Stella informs Stanley he needs to go wash up because he is dirty. Stanley grabs Stella and replies by saying “Don’t ever talk that way to me!” and that “’Every Man is a King!’ And I am the king around her, so don’t you forget it!” (Williams 107). This shows that Stanley believes that he should not be told what to do by anyone, especially his wife and by using violence and brutality on Stella, he is trying to show his dominance. On the contrary, Stella Kowalski shows her authority in a much more relaxed and gentle manner. Most of the time Stella is relaxed and makes suggestions to show her authority and does not use violence or brutality to get her way. Finally, when Stella had had enough of being abused by her husband, Stanley, she spoke up, “needn’t have been so cruel to someone alone as she is” and that she used to be delicate but “people like [him] abused her, and forced her to change” (Williams 111). Stella is referring to how nice and thoughtful her sister, Blanche was until she took Stanley' s abuse and grew a thicker skin which made her more tough and less vulnerable. Stella shows that although she has a different approach then her controlling and abusive husband, she can still stand up to his authority and hold some power over him and the household. In conclusion, Williams shows through his play, A Streetcar Named Desire, that not only do people treat holding authority differently, but there are also ways to stand up to people who hold the authority and that violence is not always the only way or the right way to get your way and maintain your power.
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Evan Bardinas
8/28/2015 01:07:22 am
Throughout the plots of both One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, by Ken Kesey, and A Streetcar Named Desire, by Tennessee Williams, a main power is shown to be oppressive and in control throughout the entire stories of both books. In A Streetcar Named Desire the power was Stella's husband, Stanley, throughout the book he committed many despicable acts, ranging from hitting his pregnant wife to raping his sister in law, to show his authority and power over everyone else there. In One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest the Big Nurse, or Miss. Ratched, was the main power doing everything in her power to declare her superiority above all of the patients in the mental asylum. In both books there were characters who collapsed from the oppression and there were characters that were able to withstand the oppression and fight back. Two characters that were similar in these books would be Stella and McMurphy. Throughout both stories Stella and McMurphy were two of the only characters that stood up for themselves and fought against the oppressive situation that they were introduced to. In One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest McMurphy says, "But I tried though, Goddammit I sure as hell did that much now, didn't I?" McMurphy says this when he is attempting to lift a cement control panel in a bet he made with the other patients. This quote shows how McMurphy attempts to fight the oppression from the big nurse by trying to do things that other patients wouldn't even think about doing because they think that they would get in trouble by the Big Nurse. In A Streetcar Named Desire Stella says, "There's plenty of time to ask her questions later but if you do now she'll go to pieces again. I don't understand what happened to Belle Reve but you don't know how ridiculous you are being when you suggest that my sister or I or anyone of our family could have perpetrated a swindle on anyone else." Here Stella is talking back to Stanley and defending her sister about Stanley's thoughts of her swindling both Stella and Stanley about Belle Reve. This quote shows that, like McMurphy, Stella is not afraid to stand up to the power, in her case Stanley, and correct him in a way that she feels is right. The way that McMurphy and Stella differ though is that Stella is more passive in her way of standing up to Stanley, while McMurphy is more robust and eccentric in his ways of angering the Big Nurse. McMurphy would do things such as breaking the rules of the asylum while Stella would take her stand by simply talking to Stanley about it later rather than acting up right then and there and causing a scene. That is how Stella and McMurphy compare and contrast in A Streetcar Named Desire, by Tennessee Williams, and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, by Ken Kesey.
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Evan Bardinas
8/28/2015 01:10:53 am
I realized that I had forgotten to give the page number and author of the quotes. The first quote was (Kesey 125). The second quote was (Williams 35). I am sorry for the inconvenience.
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Daisy Major
8/28/2015 01:20:44 am
In A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams there are two characters who struggle for power but in different ways and for different reasons. These characters are named Stanley Kowalski and Blanche DuBois. Stanley wants to obtain the power of the household because he believes Blanche is hiding something and that she isn't telling him everything. He also believes that the man of the household should have all the power and he tries to enforce that. In order to hold power, Stanley uses violence and intimidation to make Blanche scared of him. Blanche tries to hold power because she feels she is the most important person in the house and deserves the utmost respect. I believe she also does not want anyone to find out about secrets from her past. But Stanley breaks down her confidence throughout this play to make sure she does not become the person with the most power. Even in the first scene that Stanley and Blanche meet you can already tell that Stanley is superior. He does not treat her like the guest that she is but instead like a lower priority even though guests are usually the priority. One example of a time when Stanley showed his power was when he was talking to his wife Stella, Blanches sister, saying "Who do you think you are? A pair of queens?... I am the king around here, so don't forget it!" (Williams 107) He knows that he is the person of power and shoves in Blanche and Stella's faces. He believes he always has to get his way otherwise he will get angry. Tennessee Williams conveys the struggle for power throughout this book and the fight for complete dominance of the household.
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Genevieve White
8/28/2015 02:11:29 am
The play "A Streetcar Named Desire" by Tennessee Williams shows many instances of characters trying to assert dominance. With Blanche DuBois and Stanley Kowalski living in tight quarters it was a constant fight for dominance. Stanley uses his strength to intimidate others into doing what he wants while Blanche uses the art of persuasion. Blanche is always trying to convince everyone of who she used to be back home before going to New Orleans. She comes off as a high strung, high- class lady who deserves respect. She does not let people know who she truly is, a woman who is constantly on the verge of a breakdown. "I know I fib a great deal. After all, a woman's charm fifty percent illusion..." she states, while talking to Stanley. She uses the art of persuasion to come off as a more dominant person. Stanley is very aware of who he is and he yells and abuses Stella as shown on page 57 after Stella says "You lay your hands on me and I"ll-" and is unable to finish the statement because a blow is heard and Stella cries out. She runs off to the apartment upstairs with Blanche and after Stanley shows some remorse she comes back down and gives into him. Stanley and Blanche are constantly fighting for dominance in the apartment.
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Willow Martin
8/28/2015 02:51:25 am
In Tennessee Williams’ play A Streetcar Named Desire, the characters Stella and Stanley approach the struggle for power in different ways, as a result of their different levels of understanding of the true injustice within the relationship. While Stanley attempts to achieve and maintain overall power in the household, looking at the bigger picture, Stella seeks out smaller victories, ones that make her feel powerful, but in reality have no impact. During a poker game at the house, Stella and Blanche converse in the bedroom, laughing and gossiping. Stanley, irritated by the noise, yells at them to silence themselves. Stella counters with a sassy remark, asserting her own power as she retorts, “This is my house and I’ll talk as much as I want to” (Williams 51). In her proclamation, Stella demonstrates her independence and power, reassuring herself that she has power over her own being. However, a need for reassurance stems from uncertainty. In truth, Stella holds no power and will never leave Stanley, but she still pretends that she may, as she utters bold statements in order to make herself out as an independent individual, capable of leaving if she so desires. She strives to fool both Stanley and herself, but Stanley is not fooled. After Stanley, angry and drunk in the midst of a poker game, throws Stella’s radio out of the window, Stella attempts to break up the assemblage and send the boys home. Stanley then charges at Stella and hits her. As the other men rush to restrain Stanley, the DuBois sisters flee upstairs to Eunice’s apartment to seek refuge, at least until Stanley comes calling. Upon his desperate cries for her return to him, Stella emerges from Eunice’s flat and goes to him. Stanley highlights the strength of their love’s bond as he “presses his face to her belly, curving a little with maternity,” drawing the audience’s attention to Stella’s growing child, a product of the couple’s love (Williams 60). Stanley is aware that Stella’s love for him establishes a bond between them too strong to be broken by weak Stella, and his knowledge of this gives him power. Stanley does not need to squabble over silly, insignificant victories that Stella prides herself on, for he knows they do not diminish his power over Stella, for if anything, they help to ensure Stella does not ever pose a genuine threat to Stanley’s authority. He knows that through allowing Stella a few little victories, such as her rebellious response to Stanley’s demand for quiet, she keeps believing that she has some power. The satisfaction stimulated by Stella’s false belief in her own independence helps to pacify her on the many occasions where Stanley desires for her to submit to his will. If she is satisfied with her position, she won’t question the system. A passionate rage, which could be incited if she were to become aware of her true lack of authority in their relationship, could provide her with the strength she needs to sever to the bond between Stanley and herself. Stanley knows and fears this, so he keeps the fire of rebellion from ever being lit, by smothering her consciousness with blissful ignorance. Stella’s alleged happiness veils the unjust nature of her marriage, an ugly guise which neither of the two members of the couple wishes to face. However, in order to create and maintain a healthy relationship, such ugliness must be confronted. A successful relationship depends on balancing the power. Whether it be in a governmental or romantic relationship, having the power concentrated mostly, if not entirely, in a single person leads to the rise of dictators, like Stanley. When one does not retaliate against such a tyrant, just as Stella fails to do, the dictator will continue to rule. He will establish a system in which his subjects are kept satisfied and compliant. All will function as he wishes. No one will question the order of things. And thus nothing will change.
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Emma Flynn
8/28/2015 03:43:23 am
The struggle for power is a theme that is commonly shared amongst famous novels, like One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. In all novels alike characters approach this struggle for power in a magnitude of ways. In One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, two characters the Big nurse and McMurphy are at a constant struggle over who has power and the medical ward. The Big Nurse is the head nurse at a medical ward for men. She runs this ward with strict rules and policies. In order to maintain power she manipulates and belittles patients. Patients are made to feel inferior, and are therefore easier to control. “she has a sure power that extends in all directions…. to get the results she wants.” (30 Kesey). She plays with each persons emotions until they do exactly as she wished.The Big nurse gains all her power through putting others down and manipulating them into doing her bidding. On the other hand, McMurphy, a outspoken patient at the ward, fights her for power by disregarding what ever she throw his way, and instilling courage and hope in the other patients. He even says “…look at you, talking yourself into running scared from a fifty- year old woman. What can she do to you, anyway?” (63 Kesey). This statement tries to provoke the patients to stand up for themselves. McMurphy attempts to gain his power by being the voice for the smaller people, or the other patients. He constantly tries to get them to stand up for themselves, and when they refuse to he stands up for them. Through out the novel, the Big nurse continues to try and put McMurphy and the other patients down, but he constantly prevails showing he cannot be a victim of her phycological intimidation. The difference between these characters are what creates the major plot in the famous novel.This novel contains two different people struggling for the something, power, but how they go about getting it is completely diverse.
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Sofia Fernandes
8/28/2015 03:54:41 am
In an environment where a fight for power is prominent, different people can react differently due to their unique personalities. Certain reactions can result in either negative or positive outcomes, depending on the situation. In the novel written by Tennessee Williams called A Streetcar Named Desire, Blanche DuBois and Stella Kowalski are both placed under the heavy weight that Stanley Kowalski creates. Stanley has an animalistic desire to have power over the people in his life. Blanche and Stella’s reactions to his strong inclination for power can compare and contrast. The two characters can compare because Stanley has a negative effect on both of them. Blanche ends up losing her mind at the conclusion of the fight. When she cries, “Let me-let me get by you!” (Williams 129) she has become completely submissive. From that point on in the story, Blanche has lost the fight for power along with her sanity. Similarly, Stella ends up having to live quietly alongside a man while he is internally destroying her. It is evident that Stella chooses to settle for Stanley because she feels as though she is simply meant to be with him according to fate when she says, “People have got to tolerate each other’s habits, I guess” (Williams 65). Both Blanche and Stella are mentally harmed by Stanley’s actions. The two sisters can also contrast. Blanche chooses to fight for power. Her persistence is apparent when she says, “This man is a gentleman and he respects me [improvising feverishly]” (Williams 126). This is one of many of Blanche’s last efforts to win her battle against Stanley Kowalski. On the other hand, Stella chooses to remain quiet and allow Stanley to overpower her because she believes it is her responsibility to love him no matter what. Stella’s constant denial of Stanley’s brutal persona is displayed when she says, “I am not going to say anything more at all about it!” (Williams 70). Unlike Blanche, Stella refuses to question Stanley’s actions because her mind is numbed by the idea of loving him. In conclusion, both Stella and Blanche are mentally harmed by Stanley’s actions in the end of the novel. The sisters are different because while Stella never attempted to put up a fight, Stanley brought Blanche down while she was still punching.
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Laura Neff
8/28/2015 04:04:14 am
In life and in literature, every environment contains a dominant figure who force their will on others, whether it be through physical or psychological intimidation. Ken Kesey’s novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Tennessee Williams’ play “A Streetcar Named Desire” explores the different ways one can hold power over others both mentally and physically. In Kesey’s novel, the character in power is Big Nurse, otherwise known as Miss Ratched. Miss Ratched, big and strong, holds control over the mental hospital with great power and always gets her way.This relates to the power figure in Williams’ play. This character is Stanley Kowalski. While the genders of the two differ, their overall appearance match. Both a big and strong, with personalities that seem to fill the room. This gives them the appearance of being able to do whatever they want whenever they want. Many give in to their every wish no matter what; however, the way these individuals hold power over each other are day and night. While Miss Ratched focuses more on psychological power to defeat those below her, Stanley uses physical force. Big Nurse can get anyone to do what she wants without even telling the poor soul what to do. Her intimidating yet motherly demeanor causes her to be able to get everything she wants. Harding, a patient at the ward, describes her crafty tactics to another patient and discusses what she does by saying “She Doesn’t accuse. She merely needs to insinuate, insinuate anything. Didn’t you notice today? She’ll call a man to the door of the Nurses’ Station and stand there and ask him about a Kleenex found under his bed. No more, jut ask. And he’ll feel like he’s lying…if he says he has a cold in his nose she’ll say ‘I see, a cold’ and she’ll nod her neat little grey coiffure and smile her neat little smile and turn and go back into the nurses’ station, leave him standing there wondering just what did he use that kleenex for” (Kesey 60). She can use this kind of mental manipulation because she is in a mental hospital. She also needs absolute order at all times, and physical abuse or power would disrupt the order of things. Miss Ratched is very subtle with using her power. She does not come right out and say it. This contrasts to Stanley’s blunt, caveman-like physical representation of power. Stanley keeps his power by being abusive to his wife, Stella. When he and stella get into a fight, “[he] charges after [her]. Then, there is a blow…something is overturned with a crash” (Williams 57). Stanley is consistently drunk, and does not carry himself well. While Miss Ratched is proper, clean, and orderly, Stanley is sloppy, brutal, and disorganized.
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Courtney Fenty
8/28/2015 04:15:18 am
In the books One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey and A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams both show the lust for power and authority. The two characters that strongly display these acts of physical and mental abuse is Nurse Ratched from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Stanley Kowalski from A Streetcar Named Desire. First starting off with Nurse Ratched she used physical abuse like EST, Electroshock Therapy, to show the patients what could happen to them if they refuse to follow the rules. Chief Bromden explains in this quote the power that the Nurse and her black boys have over the patients while using physical abuse, “The two big black boys catch Taber in the latrine and drag him to the mattress room. He gets one good kick in the shins. He’s yelling bloody murder. I’m surprised how helpless he looks when they hold him, like he was wrapped with bands of black iron” (Kesey 36). This is how Nurse Ratched is a similar figure to Stanley Kowalski because he too uses physical abuse. In scene ten in the Kowalski apartment Blanche and Stanley have an encounter which leads us to believe that Stanley raped her. Before this quote is said Blanche threatens Stanley to use a broken bottle on his face if he comes near her, “Oh! So you want some rough-house! All right, let’s have some rough-house!” (Williams 130). Stanley then proceeds to take Blanche to bed.
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Keira Albano
8/28/2015 04:16:16 am
Throughout the play, "A Streetcar Named Desire" by Tennessee Williams there is the a conflict on the control of power. The power struggle in the Kowalski apartment is between Stanley and Blanche. In the play, it seems like 3 is a crowd and only one will be on top. Before Blanche had visited it was clear that Stanley had all control of power using physical violence to get what he wanted. "[There is the sound of a blow. Stella cries out.]" (Williams, 57) Stanley uses physical force on his wife while intoxicated, even though she is pregnant. So once Blanche comes and wants power, it makes Stanley uncomfortable and irritated, so he stops at nothing to get her kicked out. Blanche uses a physiological approach in order to fight for power. She creates an alter ego of sorts, lies about basically her whole life after Stella left their home. "I know I fib a good deal. After all, a women's charm is fifty percent illusion" (Williams, 41) She would make the average person believe she was wealthy with her expensive fur coats and jewelry that she had gotten from "admirers". Her lies had fooled her sister but not Stanley who discovers her lies exposes them and rapes her. When she confesses to her sister she is put into a mental hospital and out of the apartment which is what Stanley wanted all along.
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Trey Soya
8/28/2015 04:40:34 am
The struggle for power in the Hospital is defined by two characters, “Big Nurse” Ms. Ratched and Randle Patrick McMurphy in the novel “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” by Ken Kesey. Nurse Ratched has power by striking fear into the patients so they obey her. She divides and conquers the patients so they fight against each other, making them feel weak and ashamed. They soon become hypnotized by her and obey all her rules. McMurphy has power by grouping and gaining the patients’ trust and showing them that they can fight back against Ratched’s power. In the novel, there is a group meeting where Nurse Ratched manipulates the patients so they fight against each other. McMurphy calls this a chicken “pecking party”. McMurphy says “The flock gets sight of a spot of blood on some chicken and they all go to peckin’ at it, see, till they rip the chicken to shreds, blood and bones and feathers. But usually usually a couple of the flock gets spotted in the fracas, then it’s their turn. And a few more gets spots and gets pecked to death, and more and more. Oh a peckin’ party can wipe out a whole flock in a matter of a few hours,” (Kesey 55). McMurphy means by this statement that Nurse Ratched starts pointing fingers at the patients, or “pecking”, and the patients pass this along, turning against each other once again. After the group meeting the patients are together and McMurphy talks to them saying “Look at you, talking yourself into running scared from some fifty-year-old woman. What can she do to you, anyway? She can’t have you whipped. She can’t burn you with hot irons. She can’t tie you to the rack. They got laws about that sort of thing nowadays; this ain’t the Middle Ages.”(Kesey 63). McMurphy means that all the patients can’t be afraid and they have to show her who’s boss. McMurphy and Ratched’s battle for power would only be decided by who has control and complete trust of the patients.
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Will Spencer
8/28/2015 05:04:15 am
In both novels, A Streetcar Named Desire and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, characters struggle for an urge of power. There are many main characters in both novels, but the ones who stuck out were the ones with the most power. In One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey, Nurse Ratched has almost all the power in the world. She controls the patients and has absolute power over what they can and cannot do. The book is centered around how all the patients strongly dislike her, but their actions are limited against her. In the book A Streetcar Named Desire, by Tennessee Williams, the characters are also trying to get a hold on power. The male in this novel is Stanley Kowalski, who is basically the head of the household. Stanley, like Nurse Ratched, has the keys to the kingdom. Stanley can be very rude to the other women, (Blanche and Stella). This no surprise considering the time period this book takes place in. Both characters, approach their power in similar and different ways. Nurse Ratched approaches her power quickly, and in a quiet matter (most of the time). The narrator tells us how Nurse Ratched was “Just sitting there, smiling up at the ceiling and not saying anything, she has taken control again and made everyone aware that she's the force here to be dealt with”. (Kesey 133). This shows how she was implying how she had all the power, which she does. Stanley approaches his power in a more fierce and straight to the point manner. He tells a story about how he met this girl, and he says “She didn’t say nothin, that shut her up like a charm”. (Williams 39). This shows how straightforward he his, he says whatever he wants and he doesn’t care what he says or who he offends. The nurse is sort of like this as well, but not this extreme. Overall both characters have an immense amount of power and they approach it in similar and different ways.
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Seamus Cochrane
8/28/2015 05:06:55 am
Since the dawn of time, humanity has been driven by power. The people who have power can control those around them and get whatever they want. In the play "A Streetcar Named Desire" by Tennessee Williams, all the power in the Kowalski apartment is held by the character Stanley, who uses his masculinity and fierce attitude to get whatever he wants. The character Blanche is the only one to oppose him. This struggle for power between these two characters is the main plot of the play, and both characters fight for power in their own ways. Stanley uses violence to get his way, and isn't afraid to lash out at those who oppose him. "There is the sound of a blow. Stella cries out," (Williams 57). Blanche on the other hand, attempts to gain control through deception. "I know I fib a good deal..." (williams 41). Both characters attempt to gain control of the apartment, and they both use Stella to spearhead their attempts at domination. However, Stanley eventually wins out by discovering the secrets hidden by Blanche's lies, and he uses them to destroy her relationship, her body, and her sanity. All the power is held by Stanley in the beginning, and he maintains his power through the play with a deadly combination of strength and cunning, a trait that Blanch lacked and eventually led to her downfall.
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Brad Chavero
8/28/2015 05:09:14 am
When a powerful figure rules oppressively and to their own satisfaction, others can react to the power struggle in different ways. In “A Streetcar Named Desire”, a play by Tennessee Williams, the Kowalski apartment is a metaphorical battleground for this power between its inhabitants Stanley, (the oppressive ruler) and his wife Stella along with her sister Blanche. In the play, Stella and Blanche can relate because they are the weaker beings of the household as shown when Stanley booms, “You hens cut out that conversation in there!” (Williams 50). At this point in the play, the women have just returned to their apartment (after leaving the men alone to play their own poker game) and were merely talking to each other when Stanley felt he had to show his dominance by yelling at them in a harsh tone (calling them hens) in front of the other men. Stella and Blanche both receive this same yelling without disrupting or disturbing it but, now respond to the power in different ways. Stella deals with the power struggle in a very open and rebellious way. She shows this by responding with her own out blast exclaiming, “This is my house and I’ll talk as much as I want to!” (Williams 51). Noting that this is a play meant to be performed, the ending exclamation mark really gives the sense of Stella’s passion to not just be pushed around by her husband. This line makes it clear that Stella can fight back against Stanley and can rebel the oppressive leader. Blanche, on the other hand, responds to the whole situation in a much more fearing and accepting way of Stanley’s rule. Blanche’s acceptance is shown when she responds to Stella (right after the previous quotation) by saying, “Stella, don’t start a row.” (Williams 51). This shows that Blanche is not trying to fight Stanley’s power like Stella does, but instead fears it by warning Stella of a likely serious dispute arising with him due to Stella’s response to Stanley. As seen in this scene of the play, Stella and Blanche approach the struggle for power in the Kowalski apartment in similar and different ways. The women do it similarly by being the victims, lacking power in the eyes of Stanley and by trying to be considerate to him initially. However, their approaches change once Stanley uses his power on them by angrily yelling at them. Stella fights back because she feels she can challenge her husband’s authority while Blanche fears for her doing so because she is actually intimidated by Stanley. In conclusion, powerful figures are all around society today. However, it is our approach to their power that will define who we are, whether it be a rebel or a bystander.
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Ruthselvi Gonzalez
8/28/2015 05:20:59 am
In the play “A Streetcar Named Desire” by Tennessee Williams, focuses on the struggle for power. Stanley and Stella are a married couple that live in New Orleans. Then one time Stella’s sister, Blanche DuBois, decides to visit her and live with them for several weeks. Stanley begins to question about Blanche’s background because he still tries to take control of the house. Stanley explains the Napoleonic Code to Stella because of the stuffs Blanche has. “Open your eyes to this stuff! You think she got them out of a teacher’s pay? Look at these feathers and furs that she come here to preen herself in! What’s this here? A solid-gold dress, I believe! And this one! What is these here? Fox-pieces! Genuine fox fur-pieces, a half mile long! Where are your fox-pieces, Stella? Bushy snow-white ones, no less! Where are you white fox-pieces?”(Williams 35). The Napoleonic Code occurs in the state of Louisiana, according to which what belongs to the wife belongs to the husband and vice versa. Stanley does not appreciate the fact that Blanche tries to take over. On page 72, Blanche explains her opinion on Stanley to stella. “He acts like an animal, has an animal’s habits! Eats like one, talks like one! There’s even something--sub-human--something not quite to the stage of humanity yet! Yes, something--ape-like about him, like one of those pictures I’ve seen in--anthropological studies!..”(Williams 72). She is at their home and complaining about the way Stanley acts. But, Stanley continues to have the “power” of the house. On page 107, Stanley, Stella, and Blanche have a birthday supper then he got mad because he did not like the way Stella talked to him he responds “What do you think you two are? A pair of queens? Remember what Huey Long said---”Everyman is a King!” And I am the king around here, so don’t forget it!”. This play just explains the struggle for power and who is going to take it.
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Shelley Banfield
8/28/2015 05:30:00 am
In the play A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams, all of the characters have struggled with one another for power over each other. Two characters, Stanley and Stella are married and they constantly battle for control over one another but they have different ways of ascertaining power. Stanley is a tall and muscular man who uses those traits to his advantage when fighting with anyone for power. For example, once he hit Stella when he was angry at her. Another time when he discovers the truth about Blanche, he commands Stella, “Sit down! I’ve got th’ dope on your big sister, Stella.” Despite his physical advantages he is also a very straight forward and blunt person in general so he constantly is telling people what to do in order to show his power. Stella is a more mellow arguer who doesn't accept arguments.When she was asking everyone to leave a rowdy poker night, Stan became incredibly angry and hit her and after she exclaimed, “I want to go away, I want to go away!”. She is smaller than people and pregnant so her fighting style will not be physical, instead she waits for things to cool down and completely stays quiet and keeps her cool. These two characters have two completely different ways of showing they have power and ascertaining it which is constantly displayed throughout the play A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams.
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Juliet Provost
8/28/2015 05:30:41 am
In Tennessee Williams “A Streetcar Named Desire”, the two characters Stanley and Blanche are both very similar but also very different. Stanley makes a clear point that he is dominant over everyone, especially his wife Stella. Blanche is Stella’s sister, who is visiting for the summer. As soon as Stanley comes home from bowling and meets Blanche, there is tension between them. Stanley holds all the power in that household and he even says it. During Blanche’s birthday dinner, Stella makes comments about the way Stanley is eating which makes him mad. He throws a plate to the ground and says, “What do you two think you are? A pair of queens? Remember what Huey Long said – ‘Every man is a King!’ And I am the king around here, so don’t forget it.” ( Williams 371). Here Stanley uses force and calls himself the king which obviously shows how he believes he holds all the power. Blanche acts calm and collected around Stanley but is actually terrified of him and what he is capable of. After Stanley is pressing Blanche about what happened to the Belle Reve, she says “We thrashed out. I feel a bit shaky, but I think I handled it nicely, I laughed and treated it all as a joke.” (Williams 285). Blanche tries not to let him see her be weak because she wants Stanley to believe she strong and powerful too. In the end, Stanley sexually assaults Blanche and she tries to tell Stella but she doesn’t believe her. Then, Stanley sends Blanche to an insane asylum and those last couple acts show he holds the most dominance and power.
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Jackie Izzo
8/28/2015 05:47:03 am
In Tennessee William’s, A Streetcar Named Desire, power is a predominant idea in this novel. People approach power in different manners than others. Some may approach power more forcefully, others may rely on confidence and demands to signify their stature. Married couple, Stella and Stanley differ in the way they demonstrate power in the Kowalski apartment. Stella approaches power in an easy going and subdued manner. She does not scream or provoke fighting, she remains calm. For example, when Stanley’s friends are guest at their apartment, they are playing cards. Stanley has had a little too much to drink and he throws the radio out the window when Blanche and Stella refuse to turn off the music. Embarrassed, Stella says, “drunk-drunk-animal this you! [She rushes through to the poker table] All of you- please go home”(Williams 62). Although her husband is acting in a childish and barbaric way, Stella manages to pull herself together and asks her guests to leave respectfully. Although she seems to be uninvolved and innocent, Stella is a very authoritative figure. On the other hand, Stanley is the complete opposite. Stanley approaches power in a naive and cogent way. For example, when Stella, Blanche, and Stanley are all eating dinner, he begins to eat with his fingers. Disgusted, Stella demands Stanley to clean himself up. Stanley screams at Stella and states, “[He hurls a plate to the floor] That’s how I clear the table! [He seizes her arm] Don’t ever talk that way to me! ‘Pig-Polack-disgusting-vulgar-greasy!’”(Williams 131). His abusive tone and rude behavior reveal that this is the only way to show his power in the Kowalski apartment. He has a short temper and acts forcefully. Stanley shows awful etiquette and poor attitude to not only Stella but towards everyone. He is both physically and verbally an abusive husband. In conclusion, both characters have their own way of expressing their power in the household. Stella struggles to show her influence in the apartment because of Stanley. Stella’s polite commands are no match for Stanley’s abusive actions.
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Alice McKeon
8/28/2015 05:48:20 am
Stella Kowalski, character in A Streetcar Named Desire, and R.P. McMurphy, character in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, answer to their oppressors using their femininity and masculinity, respectively. Stanley abuses and overpowers Stella to remind her who is in charge. When this happens, Stella goes to her neighbors for protection. This is how she gains the upper-hand; by keeping away from Stanley, by playing hard to get, so to speak. He repents, she goes back to him, and the cycle of drunken beatings continues. Stella puts up with this behavior because it seems unimportant. When a frightened Blanche asks her how she could go back to Stanley, Stella explains,”… I know how it must have seemed to you and I’m awful sorry it had to happen, but it wasn’t anything as serious as you seem to take it. In the first place, when men are drinking and playing poker anything can happen. It’s always a powder-keg. He didn’t know what he was doing… He was as good as a lamb when I came back and he’s really very, very ashamed of himself,” (A Streetcar Named Desire scene 4). She returned to him because the fight was not serious. The bestial Stanley was thus tamed by her reappearance. Another reason why Stella stayed was because she liked where Stanley took her. His difference from her life at Belle Reeve thrilled her. R.P. McMurphy put up with Nurse Ratched’s rules and restrictions for the same reason; he preferred his new life. He had to pretend to be insane in order to stay out of the work farm. McMurphy opposed the Big Nurse in small ways in the beginning of his institutionalization because he had to keep up appearances without getting sent to another ward (or worse, the operation room). However, this slight restraint, did not mean that he would stand for Ratched’s oppression. He uses his “masculinity” to take down the nurse. With a rather chauvinistic view of things, McMurphy would not submit to being controlled by a woman. According to the men in the ward, Nurse Ratched has conquered their machismo. A patient, Harding, mockingly turns to McMurphy for a solution to their problem: “Tell me, Mr. McMurphy, how does one go about showing a woman who’s boss, I mean other than laughing at her? How does he show her who’s king of the mountain? A man like you should be able to tell us that … So you see, my friend it is somewhat as you stated: man has but one truly effective weapon against the juggernaut of modern matriarchy, but it certainly is not laughter … and do you think for all your acclaimed psychopathic powers, that you could effectively use your weapon against our champion? Do you think you could ever use it against Miss Ratched, McMurphy? Ever?” (Kesey 70-71). The weapon that Harding alludes to is never unveiled to the Big Nurse. To the men of the ward, overpowering a woman is the epitome of masculinity. McMurphy never comes to that, but he does get the better of the nurse by parading around in his towel, pinching her, asking her bra size, sneaking prostitutes into the hospital, etc. This encourages the patients to rebel, and by doing so, they regain their masculinity. To sum up the differences between McMurphy and Stella’s tactics, Stella uses her femininity (playing hard to get) and waves off Stanley’s behavior, in order to tame him. On the other hand, McMurphy rebels against the nurse and flaunts his masculinity. R.P. McMurphy, from Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and Stella Kowalski, from Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire, use their sexuality ( one by withholding it, the other by advertising it) to overcome their oppression.
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Emily Sauer
8/28/2015 05:53:15 am
What is it about people’s differences that make them so attracted to each other? A Streetcar Named Desire, by Tennessee Williams, is a play that involves the interaction between different social classes in the 1940s. A southern belle, Blanche, who is growing older struggles with putting others beneath her. However, her sister, Stella, encourages her, and others, to consider the population equal to them, no matter how much wealth one has. Is Stanley and Stella’s attraction toward each other based solely on their different social rankings? A reader could say differently for Blanche. She can easily deceive a man and is attractive in her own way. But, can we, as readers, say the same for Stella? Is it the fact that she doesn’t attract other men that she keeps going back to Stanley even after he’s mistreated her? While Stella and Blanche are arguing about whether or not Stella should leave Stanley, Stella says, “I said I am not in anything that I have any desire to get out of.” (Williams 65) I think Stella is attracted to Stanley because he is so much different than what she's used to. Growing up she was surrounded by people who were fortunate. Stanley, however makes a living for himself. He wasn't born into money, like she was. Blanche is the complete opposite. She and Stanley do not get along with each other from the start because Stanley thinks Blanche throws all her money around.. He doesn’t have the money to do that. An example of when Stanley is questioning Blanche about her lifestyle and money is, “I don’t want no what ifs, ands or buts!” (Williams 43) It is easy for the reader to tell that both Stella and Blanche feel differently about Stanley. Stella is attracted to him greatly because they are so different. Blanche isn’t fond of him because she doesn’t think he can support her sister with his money. Sometimes opposites attract. Other times, not so much.
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Zach Mueller
8/28/2015 06:25:05 am
In the play “A Streetcar Called Desire”, there is an ever-present power struggle in the Kowalski household between the characters Stanley Kowalski and his wife Stella. Both Stanley and Stella strive to achieve power, but they go about it in different ways. Stanley is much more assertive and boisterous, using his strength and violence to assume control. Stella is very different from this because she can't use the tactics Stanley uses because he is larger, stronger and more aggressive. So Stella tries to gain power through her words to win small victories and arguments that make her feel like she retains some power. However this doesn’t always work for her as Stanley has a tendency to resort to physical violence if he feels his authority is being challenged, and this tends to happen when Stella challenges him. For example, while Stanley has men over to play poker, Blanche turns on the radio and begins dancing. This upsets Stanley who gets up and throws the radio out the window. Stella then says, “Drunk - drunk - animal thing, you! All of you - please go home! If any of you have one spark of decency in you -” (Williams 57). This is where stella tries to gain power through her words, and for brief moment she may have felt powerful. However, Stanley feels like his power is being challenged and “[Stella] backs out of sight. He advances and disappears. There is the sound of a blow. Stella cries out” (Williams 57). So the now intoxicated Stanley took a charge at Stella and began beating her to the point where the other men needed to pull him off of her. This is one of the many examples of the ongoing battle for power in the Kowalski house between Stella and Stanley throughout the story. So, in conclusion, in the play “A Streetcar Called Desire”, Stanley and Stella are constantly competing for power in their own ways, Stanley with force and aggression and Stella through words.
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Abby Decker
8/28/2015 06:30:20 am
Both “A Streetcar Named Desire” by Tennessee Williams and “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” by Ken Kesey deal with characters who obtain power with contrasting methods. Stanley, demanding husband of Stella in “A Streetcar Named Desire”, obtains power through masculinity. He yells at Blanche, outgoing sister of Stella, “[booming] Let’s cut the re-bop!” (Williams 2. 115-6). This shows how he uses volume to prove his dominance over people. On the other hand, the narrator of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”, Bromden obtains power over his peers in the hospital that they may not even be aware of. He has led everyone to believe that he is deaf, when in reality he can hear even things he’s not supposed to without anyone knowing. On the other hand is not very hungry for power over Big Nurse, only hungry for comfort and safety on the ward. When McMurphy stands up against authorities on the ward, Bromden reveals to the reader, “That’s what McMurphy can’t understand, us wanting to be safe” (Kesey 114). With this ghost-like presence, he remains for the most part on the outside of the hospital’s drama, which is the only power he needs in such a brutal setting, power over what affects him. Although their methods and forms of power are extremely different, both Stanley and Bromden use their power to benefit only themselves. Stanley uses his power to control others while Bromden uses it to save himself in the mess created by the hospital.
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Molly O'Mara
8/28/2015 06:55:46 am
Two characters in Tennessee Williams’ famous play, “A Streetcar Names Desire”, fight in attempt to gain power over one another. One of the characters, Stella, displays sympathy for other and has a composed personality. On the other hand, Stanley is aggressive and demanding. When Stella’s sister, Blanche, came into the play, the controversial personalities began to show. Stella told Blanche that they had had some problems while Stanley felt like he was losing power. In scene 4, Stella is talking to Blanche and says, “Well, you’re taking entirely too much for granted” (Williams 70). This quote shows Stella’s caring personality. Stanley’s angry character can be easily demonstrated “And I am the king around here so don’t forget it!” (Williams 107). In the end, Stanley ultimately wins power by using force to scare Blanche.
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Rebecca Crosby
8/28/2015 07:31:50 am
“A Streetcar Named Desire” by Tennessee Williams is a play about people struggling for control and power in their own lives. Stanley Kowalski is an intimidating and abusive man, who continuously tries to control both his wife, Stella, and her sister Blanche. The extent of Stanley’s’ abuse of both women went so far as to asserting his dominance at all times, raping Blanche and hitting both women, including his pregnant wife. A typical comment from Stanley was “Every Man is a King!" And I am the King around here, so don’t forget it!” (Williams 107). He believed that he ruled the apartment as if it was a kingdom, but Stella didn’t let that stop her from fighting back. Even though Stella obeyed her husband and was abused she still managed to stand up to him in little ways. After a late night poker game, Blanche and Stella are supposedly annoying Stanley with their talking and their playing of the radio. Stanley suddenly destroys the radio and Stella says “Drunk-drunk-animal thing, you! All of you-please go home! ...” (Williams 57). This statement shows that Stella had courage that if she put her mind to it, she could and would stand up to Stanley. Unfortunately, the consequences to her standing up to him was physical abuse. Yet, Stella continued in little ways to defy Stanley, which gave her back power that Stanley tried to take from her. Whereas Stanley’s’ power came from abuse, Stella’s power came from defiance. In the end Stella proves to be a strong willed character, and one you hope can protect her child from Stanley’s abuse.
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Curran Lane
8/28/2015 07:33:05 am
Power has an appeal which is very hard to deny for most. This appeal is certainly evident throughout “A Streetcar Named Desire” by Tennessee Williams in which Stanley Kowalski and his sister-in-law Blanche DuBois fight for power in very different ways. The main representation of power within the Kowalski household is the allegiance of Stella, Stanley’s wife and Blanche’s sister. Among other tactics, both Stanley and Blanche try to turn Stella on the other, typically based on their rival’s faults. After Stanley snaps and then beats Stella, Blanche uses this to attempt to convince Stella to leave by saying Stan “acts like an animal, has an animal’s habits”(72 williams) and begging her to not “hang back with the brutes”(72 Williams). Stella plays all of this off as a minor incident being blown out of proportion and shrugs off Blanche’s pleas. Stanley’s quest for power follows a similar route, he tries to explain who he thinks Blanche really is to Stella early on but she will not have any of it. He believes Blanche swindled Stella and him out of money from the selling of their family estate and spent it all on fashion. Stanley goes so far as going through Blanche’s things with Stella and upon finding seemingly expensive items asks Stella to “open [her] eyes to this stuff”(Williams 35) and questions how she could obtain it on a teacher's salary. Stella remains in disbelief of his claims knowing her sister would not do such a thing to her. In both of these quoted scenarios the characters attempt to appeal their case to Stella yet they have very different styles in other scenarios. Stanley is not afraid to use his physical size to gain power whether it be throwing a radio out a window or hitting Stella. Blanche likes to make herself seem the alpha in an attempt to get Stella to follow her or she will play the victim to gain sympathy. Overall Stanley is more physical in his search for power in his own apartment while Blanche takes a different approach with a more mental warfare to gain power. Throughout the novel both of these characters have different approaches but a similar goal, the power in the apartment.
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Maggie Davis
8/28/2015 07:51:00 am
Both novels, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" by Ken Kesey, and "A Street Car Named Desire" by Tennessee Williams deal with the theme of a struggle for power. To begin, in the classic novel "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", Mrs. Ratched, commonly known as Big Nurse, is a dominating figure who intimidates and controls the men physiologically by twisting her words to make the men think she is right. Some men, like McMurphy refuse to be treated this way and do not accept the oppressive treatment while others, such as Billy Bibbit crack under the pressure. To illustrate, one way that McMurphy does not accept Big Nurse's oppressive treatment is by turning on the T.V. to watch the game, even when Big Nurse had said that they would not be able to watch the game. To illustrate, McMurphy "drags his armchair out to in front of the TV set, then switches on the set and sits down (127)." Despite the Nurse getting mad and turning the T.V. off, McMurphy still sits right in front of the T.V as the other men join him, causing Big Nurse to get extremely annoyed and angry. Clearly, McMurphy stands up for himself and does not allow the nurse to intimidate him. On the contrary, Billy Bibbit cracks under pressure and allows the nurse to intimidate him psychologically. To illustrate, the Big Nurse threatens to tell Billy's mother about how he was found with a prostitute. She intimidates him by saying "Mrs. Bibbit's always been so proud of your discretion. I know she has. This is going to disturb her terribly(264)." Due to the nurse provoking and intimidating Billy, he cracks under pressure and takes his own life. He did this all because the nurse convinced him that his mom would furious at him for his actions. Clearly, Big Nurse is a dominating figure, and she twists her words to intimidate and provoke the men, however some men don't let her get in their head while others crack under pressure.
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Izzy Halloran
8/28/2015 07:52:08 am
In the novel, "A Streetcar Named Desire," both Stanley and Blanche struggle to maintain control over Stella. Stanley Kowalski, who is married to Stella DuBois, uses his marital position justify his to mental and physical abuse of Stella, crippling her will and rendering her powerless. However, Blanche, the other DuBois sister, disapproves of Stanley's treatment of Stella, so she attempts to gain power over Stella, offering her sister instruction and "wisdom". During the course of the book, Stanley and Blanche constantly feud over who should hold the authority in their relationship. From the moment Blanche and Stanley meet, there is tension and an obvious power struggle between them. Williams illustrates the tense relations between the two as Blanche, coming home to Stanley and his friends in the midst of a poker game, states, “please don’t get up," to which Stanley replies, “nobody’s going to get up, so don’t get worried”(Williams 11). Stanley is comfortable with his dominating position in his marriage, and he forces Stella to be fine with being hit when he drinks too much, or verbally abused when he is in a bad mood. When Blanche comes into town, she is appalled that her sister stands by and lets herself be treated poorly. Blanche refuses to listen to Stanley, and uses her power over Stella to attempt to persuade her to leave Stanley. This is the start of the power struggle between Stanley and Blanche over Stella. Blanche combats Stanley’s forceful control by talking back to him and acting like she is braver than she is. However, Stella is compliant and totally surrenders to Stanley, especially when he is dangerous. Blanche and Stanley take different approaches to gain power over Stella, and want to acquire the control for different reasons. Despite their differences though, they do share a common belief: they both think that they are doing the right thing by keeping Stella under their command.
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Alexis Disbrow
8/28/2015 07:54:24 am
In Tennessee Williams, "A Streetcar Named Desire" two of the main characters Stella and Stanley share many aspects of a character but are also very different. They both withhold the power of the Kowalski apartment though they express their power differently. When Stella's sister Blanche comes to visit, Stanley becomes angry and releases his anger through physical and sexual assault. "Stella, watch out, he's- [Stanley charges after Stella.]" (Williams 57). This quote demonstrates Stanley's aggressive actions after becoming annoyed with Blanche. While Stella does not tolerate his actions at first she later forgives him. "I want to go away, I want to go away!" (Williams 58). "You're making much too much fuss about this" (Williams 63). These quotes show how Stella became angry at Stanley for hitting her and left, and then acted like it was fine the next day. Throughout the book both Stanley and Stella demonstrate their power over the household and each other while using their power differently.
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Olivia Smelas
8/28/2015 08:40:46 am
Tennessee Williams’ Streetcar Named Desire depicts the struggle for power and the subsequent miscommunications and tension between Stanley Kowalski and his wife, Stella. Stanley utilizes his masculinity, physically more powerful structure, and pompous, erotic nature to overtake Stella, who often retaliates with small, somewhat sassy remarks, likely giving her the false sense of momentary dominance she needs to remain in the relationship. (The latter keeps Stella’s emotions and mind well, Stella claims that the physical part of her relationship with Stanley makes everything else “unimportant”) When Blanche DuBois, Stella’s sister, comes to town, Stanley attempts to take her under his control just as he had done with Stella, again putting to good use his almost preconceived masculine power. Accustomed to a lavish, more proper lifestyle, Blanche is disgusted that Stella allows Stan to treat her the way he does, and encourages Stella to run away. This in itself creates a whole separate struggle for power over Stella between Stanley and Blanche, which Blanche most definitely loses. Moreover, these power relations are illustrated on page 57, when Stella and Blanche turn on the radio while Stanley is in the midst of an intense, drunken poker game with his friends. As the music begins, “Stanley stalks fiercely through the portieres into the bedroom. He crosses to the small white radio and snatches it off the table. With a shouted oath, he tosses the instrument out the window” (Williams 57). Here, Stanley is displaying his dominance over the women with use of simple brute force, utilizing his physical strength, and even displaying his mental confidence by ripping the radio from its place and literally throwing it out the window. As the scene continues, Stella shouts at Stanley, and Stanley charges at her and hits her. Once again, physical strength being used for the assertion of dominance. Because of Stella’s delicate stature and lack of confidence, she has no other option other than to compromise. As aforementioned, Stella claims to remain in her relationship with Stanley because their physical attraction makes most other things, including abuse and emotional distress, seem unimportant. But, for Stella to keep her mind and emotions well, she utilizes feeble verbal comebacks to provide for herself a false feeling of power/dominance, when really, her words affect Stanley about has much as my opinion would affect the likes of Donald Trump. This power dynamic is displayed again previously on the same poker night. Stella and Blanche are gossiping about the couple upstairs, and Stanley interrupts, “you hens cut out that conversation in there!” to which Stella replied “you can’t hear us”, and Stanley shouts, “well, you can hear me and I said to hush up!”, and Stella spoke her final attempt at an assertion of power, “this is my house and I’ll talk as much as I want to!” (Williams 50-51). While Stanley spoke to Stella aggressively from the start by nature of the beast, Stella only had one remark in her before retreating into a comfortable state of submission, letting her argument go to Blanche and Stan’s friends. In the power relationship between Stanley and Stella Kowalski, Stan is dominant because of his physical strength and confidence, and Stella is able to compromise because of the physical perks of their relationship, and an occasional smart comeback. Though Streetcar is a wonderful play and piece of literature, it is unfortunate our society is raising young girls exposed to weak female characters like Stella, and even Blanche, and therefore perpetuating the stereotype of delicacy surrounding women, and their inferiority to “macho men” like Stanley.
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Victoria Lloyd
8/28/2015 10:17:46 am
Throughout life one will notice an idiocyncracy of the use of absolute power: with each episode where a singular power is in control there is always a second power that rises to combat it. The pattern of competitive powers is brilliantly demonstrated in Ken Kesey’s novel, “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”. Despite the seemingly absolute authority of Big Nurse, Nurse Ratched, the universal need for equilibrium brought a power to challenge her in the form of patient Randle Patrick McMurphy. As McMurphy began taking action to disturb the authority of Big Nurse he slowly gains support from the patients through earning privileges. Despite McMurphy’s popularity, Big Nurse continues to yield her authority as an unquestionable power due to the fact that a large portion of the patients continually lived in fear of the consequences of questioning it, consequences such as electric shock therapy, lobotomy, etc. However with the progress of the novel, the characters begin to disregard her orders. Big Nurse attempts to keep a stable environment using her original tactic of instilling fear in the minds of the patients, however this method is useless in conjunction with McMurphy who was able to pick out her use of manipulation from the start, comparing the use of manipulation within the ward to a flock of chickens saying "The flock gets sight of a spot of blood on some chicken and they all go to peckin' at it, see, till they rip the chicken to shreds, blood and bones and feathers. But usually a couple of the flock gets spotted in the fracas, then it's their turn. And a few more gets spots and gets pecked to death, and more and more. Oh, a peckin' party can wipe out the whole flock in a matter of a few hours, buddy, I seen it. A mighty awesome sight. The only way to prevent it—with chickens—is to clip blinders on them. So's they can't see” (Kesey 57). As the novel continues, the patients learn to dismiss their fear in favor of rebelling against the unfair power of the ward’s authority. Using the need for rebellion as his own tactic, McMurphy convinces the patients to stand up against the authority using his own boldness as inspiration for his supporters. In one instance the patients see McMurphy ignoring Big Nurse’s orders to continue doing the housework after an unfavorable outcome on the vote for the patient’s television time, and in response they join him until they all are “sitting there lined up in front of that blanked-out TV set, watching the gray screen just like we could see the baseball game clear as day, and she’s ranting and raving and screaming” (Kesey 144). To combat Big Nurse’s use of manipulation to achieve success, McMurphy uses democracy and his own confidence and brazen attitude, relying solely on the honest opinions of his and his fellow patients treatment. “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” exemplifies the natural equilibrium of power, demonstrating how no power goes unchallenged. The novel gives an in depth explanation of how absolute power is recognized and challenged and manipulation breaks down in the face of honesty, and how one power will always be met with it’s opposing force.
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Meghan Pawlak
8/28/2015 10:38:48 am
“Streetcar Named Desire” ,a play written by Tennessee Williams, depicts the Kowalski household as a place where power is not defined. The character who displays the most amount of power is Stanley Kowalski the husband of Stella. Stanley often tries to get his point across in the form of physical intimidation, while Stella has a more logical calm approach. There are moments when Stanley will be overly physical to show his dominance. An example of this when he hit Stella’s thigh during a card game with his friends “It makes me so mad when he does that in front of people”- Stella (williams 48). As well as towards the end of the book when he rapes Blanche due to accumulated feelings of power. " Oh! So you want some rough-house! All right, let's have some rough-house" -Stanley (Williams 130) However Stella knows when to stand her ground, such as when Stanley insults Blanche her attire for being so different than his or Stella’s. “Indeed they have, thank heavens- I’m going outside. You can come with me while Blanche is getting dressed.”. Stella oftener tried to reason in order to keep the within the apartment. While on the other hand Stanley had a very 'it's my way or the highway' attitude to show his manliness and dominance among his peers. As Bob Marely once said "when the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.".
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Harry Jain
8/28/2015 12:03:03 pm
The plot of Ken Kesey’s novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest revolves around the struggle for power between the patients in an insane asylum and the Big Nurse, who is in complete control of the ward. Throughout the novel, each character grows in courage until the entire group is almost unrecognizable, ultimately staging a successful rebellion to some degree. Despite the unification of the patients against the common enemy of the Nurse, each patient rebels against her leadership in different manners, most prominently evidenced by Randle Patrick McMurphy, the new inmate who prompts the rebellion, and Chief Bromden, the inmate with the longest tenure in the ward. Ultimately, it is the contrasting manners of McMurphy and Bromden that augment each other to allow for the downfall of the Nurse’s power. McMurphy is a brash, bold, charismatic man who has feigned lunacy in order to escape a work camp he was assigned to because of his acute gambling inclination. McMurphy is extremely extroverted, asserting himself as the “Bull Goose Loony” upon arrival and leading the active rebellion against the Big Nurse’s absolute dictatorship. On the topic of trying to limit her power by voting against her rules, he says, “Hell, I don’t care. Vote on anything. Don’t you see you have to do something to show you still got some guts? Don’t you see you can’t let her take over completely? Look at you here: you say the Chief is scared of his own shadow, but I never saw a scareder-looking bunch in my life than you guys” (Kesey 64). In this moment, he attempts to arouse the simmering vexation among the inmates in order to bring down the Nurse’s power. He continues to actively oppose the Nurse, mocking her about items such as her large breasts and organizing forbidden group events such as a secret midnight party with excessive alcohol and two prostitutes.
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Harry Jain
8/28/2015 12:04:57 pm
through inherent differences between the two men.
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Arianna Manino
8/28/2015 01:09:39 pm
In Tennessee William's A Streetct Car Named Desire, two characters, Blanche Dubois and Stanley Kowalski, stand off against one another as they both fight for the attention of Stella. Throughout the play they try to deprecate each other but only succeed in showing how parallel they actually are. As the reader we didn't learn much about Stanley in the beginning, but through his actions we gained the knowledge that Stanley is a man of aggression and dominance. He likes to have the power and the control. He also doesn't like change. When Blanche comes into the picture, problems begin to arise. Stella starts to become a little more independent and orders Stanley around and now no longer feeling like the "man of the house", he worries that Stella's view of him has changed. He's the dominate one so she shouldn't be ordering him around. For example, when the three are all eating dinner Stella orders him to clean up because he is greasy and then tells him to help her clear the table. Stanley does not respond well to this and responds back with aggression by throwing a plate to the floor and replies "That's how I'll clear the table! (seizes her arm) Don't ever talk that way to me! 'Pig--Polack--disgusting--vulgar--greasy!-them kind of words have been on your tongue and your sister's too much around here! What do you two think you are? A pair of queens?...I am the king around here and don't forget it! (He hurls a cup and a saucer to the floor) My place is cleared! You want me to clear your places?" (Williams 107). Blanche is a really conflicted character, like Stanley. She really just lives in her own imagination and just imagines a better life for herself. She's the type of her person who tells lies to keep up the appearance, but it was a dangerous game for her to play because she ends up believing them. Though she is a pitiful character, Blanche can also be a snob and does act like a queen. She lives off Stanley and has Stella do her errands. She lies about her drinking problems and occupies the bathroom while others are waiting to use it. But her feud with Stanley is what really causes tension in the household. Blanche loves to act superior to him and degrade him. "He acts like an animal, has an animal's habits! Eats like one, moves like one, talks like one! There's something even sub-human-something not quite to the stage of humanity yet! Yes, something - ape-like about him.....Thousands and thousands of years have passed him right by, and there he is - Stanley Kowalksi - survivor of the stone age!...And you - you here - waiting for him! Maybe he'll strike you or maybe grunt and kiss you! That is, if kisses have been discovered yet!" (Williams 72) She is comparing Stanley to animal who will only show Stella violence. Stanley and Stella are both conflicted characters and thats where I feel they compare. They both react to the animalistic urges they have throughout the play. Blanche tries to seek power by using her appearance and sex, while Stanley tries to gain power by his gender and aggression. But, Stanley shows he really is the "King" by assaulting Blanche.
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Kathleen Patterson
8/28/2015 01:13:17 pm
In “A Streetcar Named Desire”, a play by Tennessee Williams, a power struggle erupts between owner of the apartment, Stanley and his visiting sister in law, Blanche. Both want their alpha position accepted and known in the minuscule two room apartment, with wife and sister Stella stuck somewhere in the middle. When the battle began, it seemed to be an even match. However, as the battle went on, it seemed that Stanley ended up with a slight upper hand because Blanche was too busy fighting with herself. However, regardless of the end, the means always had a consistent pattern, in that both characters approached the clash in a different way, classically brain against brawn. While Stanley would display his physical prowess, Blanche would go about it in a mental way. Thus, since her mindset scattered more as the play progressed, she began to lose the power struggle. The difference in their approaches is displayed when Blanche turns on the radio, and Stanley is in the next room playing poker with the guys. He does not want the music playing, and after her refusing to turn it off at his asking, he “jump[ed] up and, crossing to the radio, turns it off. He stops short at the sight of Blanche in the chair. She returns his look without flinching. Then he sits again at the poker table” (Williams 51). Actions speak louder than words and while Stanley is known for his physicality, Blanche's mental decision to have a complete lack of physical reaction to his outburst matched, or even depleted, his act of dominance. Further on, when the radio is once again playing against his orders, Stanley crosses to the small white radio and snatches it off the table. With a shouted oath, he tosses the instrument out the window” (Williams 57). Since his previous display of brawns was matched with brains, Stanley "amped up" his outburst in a more desperate attempt. As formerly mentioned, while Blanche knew how to use her intellect to manipulate others and go toe-to-toe with Stanley, it ended up being her own weakness, allowing Stanley`s physical attempts to go as far as assaulting her, scrambling her mind even more. This lead to her leaving the house, leaving Stanley as the alpha.
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Anthony Buonantuono
8/28/2015 01:32:17 pm
In Ken Kesey's novel, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", there is an obvious divide in the hospital thanks to the doing of Big Nurse. The staff has control over the weaker but numerous patients. However, there are rebels among these patients such as Chief Bromden and Randle McMurphy. McMurphy is the obnoxious big mouth while Chief is the "mute deaf man".Though these two patients are polar opposites of each other and their tactics for gaining power are different, their goals are the same...escape from the hospital.
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Marie Davidson
8/28/2015 01:32:46 pm
The award winning play, "A Streetcar Named Desire" by Tennessee Williams focuses largely on the power struggle between several of the characters. The three main characters in this situation are Stella and Stanley Kowalski and Blanche DuBois. Blanche and Stanley specifically are always at each other's throats for control and superiority in the household, catching Stella in the middle. Blanche and Stella want to keep everything controlled in a calm and peaceful way, and often pretend nothing is wrong and tell off others to do the same. They were brought up in a high class society where everything had to be this way constantly so they brought it into their own lives, even if it was subconsciously. Blanche wanted to show her superiority through her elegance as shown on page 88 when she began speaking in French to show off how well rounded and travelled she was (Williams 88). Stella exhibited her need for control in smaller ways such as saying simple things that a wife would. For example Stella says to Stanley, "Your face and fingers are disgustingly greasy. Go and wash up and then help me clear the table." (Williams 107) to which Stanley reacted by blowing up and throwing his plate on the ground. Stanley's reaction was his form of displaying control. He continued his rage by saying, "I am the king around here, so don't forget it!" (Williams 107) He has the idea, which was popular at the time, that men are superior to women. Stanley's need for superiority is shown throughout the book as he intimidates Blanche and continues to insist how he knows something is going on with her and goes out of his way to find out what it is. Though Stella and Blanche want to be in control and superior to the others in the apartment, Stanley ends up always being the most dominant and tyrannical of the three and happy with himself while Stella and Blanche may not have been. It did not matter to him as long as he was the king.
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Cammi Plage
8/28/2015 01:45:36 pm
Power. The ability to influence the lives of others is a gift that can be used in many ways. While some people thrive under power and use it to do good things, others become crazy from the control that they have and are unable to restrain themselves from taking advantage. McMurphy and the Nurse Ratched from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest demonstrate two different types of power. The Nurse uses her authority to manage the patients tightly and gain complete control, while McMurphy uses the respect that he gains from his fellow patients to give him power to try to help them and himself. McMurphy and Nurse Ratched go back and forth throughout the book, with each of them trying to break the other’s spirit. “Buddy, don’t give me that tender little mother crap. She may be a mother, but she’s big as a damn barn and tough as knife metal. She fooled me with that kindly little old mother bit for maybe three minutes when I came in this morning, but no longer.” (Kesey 57) McMurphy sees right through Nurse Ratched’s act from the beginning and knows that the way she treats the patients isn’t right. So McMurphy rebels against her and makes it his goal to “break” her. On the other hand, the other patients do not see Nurse for who she truly is because she had been manipulating them until McMurphy shows them who she is under her sweet “mother figure” exterior. When he first gets to the asylum he talks to one of the other patients about Nurse. “Our Nurse Ratched is a veritable angel of mercy and why just everyone knows it. She’s unselfish as the wind, toiling thanklessly for the good of all, day after day, five long days a week.”(Kesey 58) This is the way that the nurse has trained her patients to feel in a way of obtaining total control. This novel shows the struggle for power between two very different people; McMurphy, who uses the respect gained over others for power, and Nurse Ratched, who requires complete control over everyone and needs everything to go her way.
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Olivia Winberry
8/28/2015 01:45:51 pm
The play "A Streetcar Named Desire" written by Tennessee Williams takes place the Kowalski's apartment in New Orleans. There is one dominant character named Stanley Kowalski. Stanley is constantly trying to oppress his wife Stella and her sister Blanche verbally and physically. The way in which the sisters deal with Stanley's dominant behavior is very different. When Stanley does something that Stella doesn't like she stands up to him even while knowing that the situation could very well end badly. An example of this is when she is telling Stanley to be nice to Blanche. "When she comes in be sure to say something nice about her appearance" (Williams 33). This line is one of the many where Stella attempts to take control of the situation and Stanley. Stella refuses to be oppressed unlike her sister Blanche. Blanche is always verbally and physically oppressed by Stanley. When Stanley is dominant over Blanche she lets it happen. An example of this is when Stanley verbally abuses Blanche and she does nothing about it. In the play it is when he tells her to take a look at herself and is putting her down. "And look at yourself in that worn out Mardi Gras outfit, rented for fifty cents from some rag picker! And with the crazy crown on! What queen do you think you are?"(Williams 127). Stanley keeps on attacking her and she does nothing back. In the end Stanley wins the power struggle by getting everything he wants. Blanche is taken to a mental hospital and Stella is with him.
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Paul Schoening
8/28/2015 01:51:05 pm
The effect of power on an individual is a very complex phenomenon; how one chooses to deal with the power they possess is almost as individual to one as his fingerprint. Tennessee Williams illustrates this idea beautifully in his play, “A Streetcar Named Desire.” With a dominating character like Stanley who abuses his power to manipulate and intimidate weaker characters like Blanche, who often finds herself cracking under pressure, it quickly becomes evident the divergent paths said characters take to accomplish their goals. When Stanley wants something, he doesn't care who he hurts as long as he gets it. For example, when Stanley realizes what a threat Blanche is to his marriage with Blanche’s sister Stella, he proudly presents Blanche with a gift stating, “Ticket! Back to Laurel! On the Greyhound! Tuesday!” (Williams 111). In this moment, Stanley could not possibly care less that it is Blanche’s birthday or have the decency to take into account that he is speaking to his very own sister-in-law. Stanley only cares about getting Blanche on a bus and never having to see her again. The only concern on his mind is that his plan works and gets Blanche out fast, no matter how crude or rude. This all seems to perfectly spotlight Stanley’s insane lack of empathy and his cruel methods of psychological intimidation. Blanche, as I mentioned before, takes a completely different approach to getting what she wants. Blanche is the type of girl who cracks under pressure, so she takes a more subtle and seemingly harmless way of getting her way. Instead of having to endure the pressure and uneasiness of confrontation, Blanche chooses to vent about him with those she trusts. This can be seen clearly when she says to Mitch, “that’s why I have to put up with my sister’s husband. And he has to put up against me, apparently so much against his wishes….Surely he must have told you how much he hates me!” (Williams 93). After having ranted to Mitch about living there with awful Stanley, she ends with this, revealing the scared, insecure part of herself that Stanley has brought out. When she asks Mitch if Stanley has talked badly about her, it is a clear indication that Blanche is just too intimidated by Stanley to ask the man himself. She convinces herself that if Stanley doesn’t know the awful things she says about him, she can’t be punished by him, blinded by the theory of “no harm, no foul.” Blanche is leading a silly and pathetic ruse here, for, sooner or later, confrontation is always necessary and will happen. In this case, Stanley becomes the bigger man when he hands Blanche the bus ticket, nailing the coffin of their little fake friendship and revealing his true self. In the end, Stanley, with his crude but upfront tactics of degradation and intimidation trumps Blanche with her silly strategy of talking behind Stanley’s back and waiting for a miracle to happen.
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Emily Clarke
8/28/2015 01:53:44 pm
Two characters in the novels A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey are Stanley and the Big Nurse. The Big Nurse and Stanley both figure out ways to physically and psychologically intimidate the people around them. The Big Nurse will physically put people in their place. Stanley psychologically tries to intimidate Blanche by doing little things that get under her skin. Another difference between the two is that Stanley will straight up tell Blanche how much he hates her whereas the Big Nurse is much more indirect. Throughout the novel, the Big Nurse makes kind sounding side comments to patients that know the wrath that must be coming to them. "But the Big Nurse has come up quietly, locked her hand on his arm, paralyzes him all the way to the shoulder. “That’s all right, Miss Flinn,” she says. “If Mr. Taber chooses to act like a child, he may have to be treated as such." (Kesey 109). On the contrary, Stanley will make rude and blunt remarks to Blanche much different from those of the Big Nurse. “BLANCHE [quickly]:
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Davis Bush
8/28/2015 01:59:13 pm
In Ken Kesey's "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," Randle McMurphy and Nurse Ratched go about struggling for power on the ward due to their given circumstances, with McMurphy striving to insinuate a democracy among the patients on the ward which would have the power to change rules and make decisions, and Nurse Ratched manipulating both the rules and system to take power away from the men and have control over their lives. In this novel, Nurse Ratched is one of the most influencial staff members in the ward. Because of this, she plays a major part in determining what rules should be set on the ward. This makes it easy for her to establish rules that benefit her in her mission to have power in the ward and control over the patients and still justify her actions by claiming that they have "therapeutic value" for the men. Every time McMurphy brings up an idea or request for a change in the system at the ward, the nurse denies him that freedom by bringing up a rule prohibiting his idea. Every challenge or revolt to this system is quickly countered by her as she reminds the patients of the power she has over them, causing them to do what she wants. At one point, when Nurse Ratched denies McMurphy's request to change the schedule so the patients can watch the World Series on TV, McMurphy spites her by sitting in front of a blank TV scrren and acting as if he were watching a ball game. The nurse then tries to get him to stop and return to his normal schedule. Kensey depicts Nurse Ratched manipulating the system on the ward through her statement, "You're committed, you realize. You are...under the jurisdiction of me...the staff," (Kensey 127). Nurse Ratched uses the system of the ward to try to convince McMurphy to obey her. In this case, McMurphy is committed, meaning he gets off the ward only when the staff lets him. She reminds him of this so he'll remember the power she has over him and go back to the normal schedule. The nurse realizes that if she takes away his freedom and gets more control over his life by convincing him to stop, then it will take power away from McMurphy and give more to her. She essentially uses the system to convince him to relinquish his power and freedom to her. On the other hand, McMurphy's method of gaining power on the ward is a "strength in numbers" type approach. Alone, McMurphy can't change the ward and take power from the nurse since he is a patient and doesn't has as much of a say in how the ward is run as the staff members. So, he tries to get other people on his side so that they can join together to challenge Nurse Ratched and the rules and system of the ward. For example, when McMurphy wants to watch the World Series on TV, he tries to convince the other patients beforehand to vote with him to change the schedule so they can watch TV while the Series is playing. Then, during the meeting, Kensey demonstrates McMurphy's approach on gaining power at the ward when McMurphy comments, "You can go back to the bloody schedule next week, when the Series is over. What do you say, buddies? Let's take a vote on watching the TV during the afternoon instead of at night. All those in favor?" (Kesey 105). McMurphy knows he can't change the schedule alone, but together, with a majority of votes, they can. He uses this to his advantage to get power in the ward because as a group, they have the power to make changes on the ward and give themselves more freedom. When they join together, they can take away Nurse Ratched's power to deny their request. Because Nurse Ratched and McMurphy are in two completely different positions on the ward, the former a major part of the staff, and the latter a patient with not much say in what happens, their approaches to the struggle for power are naturally unique. Although Nurse Ratched already has a lot of power on the ward, she takes it further by setting rules and manipulating them to use them as a method of persuasion. She wants to convince the patients to obey her by using the system on the ward to make them want to relinquish their power and freedom to her, making them feel powerless over changing anything. However, a confident, charismatic man like McMurphy not only continued to disobey her, but convinced the other patients to do the same. And as long as he could get others to side and vote with him, he would have the power to change rules and Nurse Ratched would lose the power to manipulate them.
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Andrew Costa
8/28/2015 01:59:35 pm
In Ken Kesey's novel, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," the struggle for gaining and maintaining power is a constant struggle within the hospital. Two characters that seemed to differ when it comes to how they approached gaining their power is McMurphy and Big Nurse. Big Nurse gains her power through strict oppression and fear, while McMurphy tries to be an outspoken revolting leader. They both represent 2 different sides of power, oppression and revolution. One quote I found interesting that McMurphy makes is when he is making the analogy to chickens. He says, "And you wanna know something else buddy? You want to know who pecks that first peck? It's that old nurse, that's who" (Kesey 58). He is saying, the one starting this whole 'pecking party' is that old nurse, putting a blame on her for creating the hostile environment that the hospital seems to always have. McMurphy is one of my personal favorite characters in this novel, because he speaks the truth, and he says what he wants, which is a great quality. On the other side of things, Big Nurse has a different perspective as to what having power truly is, and what it means. Big Nurse says, "... and we have quite a number of appointments this morning, so perhaps, if your standing here in a group talking it isn't too urgent..." (Kesey 5) I like this quote because it shows straight in the beginning of the novel what Big Nurse wants to do with her power. She wants order and discipline. She wants to run the show and she wants the patients to know that. Although they have very different takes on the meaning of power, it is 2 valid arguments as to what power is and really means
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Andrew Hall
8/28/2015 01:59:48 pm
In the classic play, A Street Car named Desire, by Tennessee Williams, certain characters struggle to control power. People always aim for the greater power, weather it's a country, or a small household with Stanley Kowalski and his wife, Stella. For example, Stella tries to take control of their household for a moment, by kicking Stanley's friends out of their home from a poker game but Stanley flips out. Stella is calmer than Stanley and can have him have the power for a short amount of time. In scene three, during poker, Blanche Dubois turns on the radio and Stanley throws it out the window because he was drunk. Stella says, "Drunk-Drunk-animal thing, you! All of you please go home! (Williams 57)" In this quote, Stella takes control over Stanley. He then reacted in a violent way. "Stanley charges after Stella" (Williams 57). He tries to reclaim the power that Stella had taken from him. There is a fight for power even when they are a couple.
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Katherine Neff
8/28/2015 02:12:13 pm
No matter where one might go or what one may do, they will usually find themselves in a situation that is ruled by someone else. In the play "A Streetcar Named Desire" by Tennessee Williams, Stanley, is viewed as the dominant figure. However, when Blanche Dubois makes an appearance, the reader is able to see a conflict rise between Blanche and Stanley over whom is superior in terms of power and mindset. Blanche carries herself in a way that suggests she has been living her life lavishly. She wears silk clothes, studded tiaras, and fine furs. She creates lies about her past to make herself sound even more collected and in control of her life than she truly is. Blanche's lying is a form of psychological manipulation. She wants Stanley to believe that because of her past "experiences" she is more knowledgable than he is, therefore making her the leader in her mind. One time that she tried to manipulate Stanley psychologically was when she was describing how she lost Belle Reve and how much of a struggle it was. She never actually said how it was lost. She just simply stated that it wore her out and exhausted her, but it was not her fault. Stanley did not believe her when she said that she had "lost" Belle Reve. When Blanche handed Stanley papers to prove that her home was really gone, she said "the four letter word deprived us of our plantation, till finally all that was left-and Stella can verify that!-was the house itself and about twenty acres of ground, including a graveyard, to which now all but Stella and I have retreated (Williams, 43)." Stanley does not believe this is true and claims that he will have a lawyer review her papers. He saw straight through every lie that Blanche had ever told. Stanley uses different tactics to prove his spot as top dog. Instead of using psychological manipulation, he uses physical manipulation. Not only has he abused Blanche, but he has also abused his own wife, Stella. Any time that Blanche or Stella tried to tell Stanley that his actions were crude, he would get visibly angry. His actions while he was angry only proved that he would do anything to have all power and all say in his household. He would not let any one take that right from him. One time that he showed his aggression against his own wife was when she tried to simply tell him to wash his hands. She said "your face and your fingers are disgustingly greasy. go and wash up and then help me clear the table (Williams, 107)." He then proceeded to smash his dish on the floor. He yelled at his wife and told her to never tell him what to do. Toward the end of the play, Blanche was terrified of Stanley. Even Stella had her second thoughts about him. Therefore, Stanley had proved himself as the "leader" of the house, and a terrible and cruel one at that.
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Alia Baron
8/28/2015 03:05:08 pm
In the book “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” by Ken Kesey it talks about how Randle McMurphy and the Nurse struggle for power. In the hospital both Randle and the Nurse try to gain power two very different ways. For example the nurse tries to use her powers to control her patients and gain some control. Murphy tries to gain power by being respectful to his patients, and hoping that they will give equal respect to Murphy as well. Right when Murphy entered the hospital we had a huge sense of power and he says "Who's the head bull-goose around here," (Kesey 24). This shows how even though Murphy was new he thinks he has the authority over everyone and isn't afraid to say what's on his mind. The big Nurse thinks that she is in charge of everyone, and when McMurphy showed up thinking that he owned the place the Nurse wasn't too happy about it. In the story no one is a huge fan of the nurse. She knows that not many people like her in the hospital and that's why she once stated “don't bother not talking out loud about their hate secrets when I'm nearby because they think I'm deaf and dumb” (Kesey 7). After reading the story it shows that you need to have a personality that is more like McMurphy. This is because people usually respond better to kinder, more carefree type personalities unlike the charisma of The Nurse.
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Caroline Pearce
8/28/2015 10:49:41 pm
Everyone struggles for power in his or her own way and for his or her own reasons. The novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, by Ken Kesey, depicts the struggle for power between a manipulative nurse and a confident patient in an Oregon mental hospital. The fight for control between Nurse Ratched (better known as the Big Nurse) and Randle Patrick McMurphy is illustrated throughout the novel; Big Nurse looking for power through fear from the patients and McMurphy looking for power using humor and rebellion to gain respect from the other patients. Big Nurse and McMurphy go about gaining power in complete different ways; one-way McMurphy attempts to obtain power while using his classic method of defiance is when Big Nurse does not allow the patients to shift the cleaning/TV schedules around to be able to watch the World Series. Believing that the nurse’s initial answer of “no” was insufficient, McMurphy proposed a vote where he lost twice. Because the votes were made unfair by Big Nurse’s manipulation of the other patients and deceiving McMurphy in the amount of votes he needed, McMurphy disregarded the schedule and started watching the World Series, as he wanted to. When Big Nurse went and turned the TV off it didn’t rattle McMurphy at all, he just stayed seated and ignored Nurse Ratched. By staying calm and defying Big Nurse, McMurphy drew a crowd and all of the Acutes (less disturbed patients) watched the blank TV screen with McMurphy, while Big Nurse blew up in anger, “Mr. McMurphy, I’m warning you!”… “You’re committed, you realize. You are … under the jurisdiction of me… the staff,” (Kesey 127). In this scene of the book, McMurphy gained power not through what he said, but what he didn’t say, while Big Nurse attempted to gain power trough her threats. McMurphy and Nurse Ratched are two complete different characters trying to obtain the same goal; each using an equally incorrect method to achieve power, therefor neither of them actually wins the struggle for power.
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Allie Talavera
8/29/2015 01:23:44 am
When it comes to power, there is the powerful and the powerless. The powerful decide and control everything while the others with no power can choose to resist or obey. In "A Streetcar Named Desire" by Tennessee Williams, their is a power struggle between Stanley and Blanche. In the beginning the fight is pretty equal. Stanley's demanding attitude gives him power while Blanche uses her higher social status for power. Blanche tries to seem more powerful in comparison to Stanley by referring to him as the lower class, "Oh I guess he's just not the type that goes for jasmine perfume, but maybe he's what we need to mix with our blood now that we've lost Belle Reve" (Williams 44). She suggests that he is normally not fit to be socializing with her and her family but since they lost Belle Reve they lost the luxury of what they once had so she has to lower down to his living standards. Although Blanche is seen as high on the social pyramid, Stanley can easily overpower Blanche with his demanding attitude, "Remember what Huey Long said, 'Every man is a king' and I am the only king around here so don't forget it" (Williams 107). As the story continues, Stanley had gained more power and he knows it. At this point Blanche is at her breaking point. When she first came to live with Stanley and Blanche she was able to resist Stanley but Stanley's constant intimidation has caused Blanche to crack under pressure. Unlike Blanche, Stella has accepted that Stanley is more powerful and knows to be cooperative with him. After Stanley rapes Blanche, proving he is more powerful, Stella refuses to believe it, "I couldn't believe her story and go on living with Stanley" (Williams 133). The fight for power was very long for Stanley and Blanche seeing as Blanche was not wanting to give up power, but in the end, Stanley ended up with the all the power while Blanche was left with none.
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Kaitlyn Viola
8/29/2015 04:31:24 am
In the novel, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" there is an ongoing battle for power between the patients of the mental hospital and those who run the mental hospital. McMurphy constantly tries to challenge Big Nurse's power and authority. Though McMurphy often possesses the advantage of other patients on his side, Big Nurse's power of authority overrides McMurphy's strategy. Power of authority wins over large numbers. An example of this is shown when the patients vote on their afternoon television time, and Big Nurse completely takes control of the situation. "You're committed, you realize . . . Under jurisdiction and control-" (Kesey 144) Even though a fix to the problem was in action with the entirely fair use of voting among the patients, an authoritative figure (Big Nurse) has taken control. McMurphy attempts to oppose this power by fighting against the ideas of Big Nurse, though he already lost the vote. Big Nurse constantly uses power of authority to manipulate and control things. McMurphy attempts to rebel using the strategy of voting to win by outnumbering. Overall, the novel "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" demonstrates the theme of power struggle between the patients and the authorities.
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Kaushik Kallam
8/29/2015 06:50:21 am
In Ken Kesey’s novel “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” there is a constant struggle for power between the patients in a mental hospital and the higher-ups. The main character Randle McMurphy repeatedly challenges Big Nurse and her authority. Big Nurse gains her “power” through the fear of patients while McMurphy uses humor and rebellious actions to gain the patients respect. Big Nurse assesses that Randle could pose a threat to her authority and control over the environment. She breaks down others verbally through denying them a decision or authority. For example there was a vote on the patients TV time in the afternoon and Big Nurse gives them no choice and basically took charge of the entire scenario. The fix to that problem was to vote. Even with numbers authority still wins. During the beginning of his stay at the mental hospital in Oregon, he made bets to see if he can get on Big Nurse’s nerves. Another example of this struggle is when Randle steps out of the shower and only has a towel on. At that moment McMurphy asserts dominance over her because she shrinks in “size.” Harding says that he just caught her off guard but for Randle it counts as a victory because the Nurse was unable to get angry with him even though he created the problem. The chief says” just as she’s rolling along at her biggest and meanest, McMurphy steps out of the latrine door right in front of her, holding that towel around his hips stops her dead!” (Kesey 86-87) Big Nurse keeps using authority to maintain a tight grip on the way she runs things. Randle tries to rebel against voting by trying to outnumber. Randle does things throughout this book to try to tick her off and every little thing works. This novel demonstrates the theme of a clear power struggle between McMurphy and Big Nurse.
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Brycen Greco
8/29/2015 11:13:24 am
In Ken Kesey’s novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Nurse Ratched rules with an iron fist over her patients on the ward. Everything changed the day Randle Patrick McMurphy was committed to the ward. McMurphy or Mack as he is called encourages the rest of the patients to stop being rabbits. Mack inspires a fellow patient named Charles Cheswick to stand up for himself. Though these two individuals had similar goals, their outcomes were very different. Mack is the first person to offer much of a resistance to Nurse Ratched and Cheswick is the first person to support him in his efforts. However, the difference between McMurphy and Cheswick is that, McMurphy can fight against Nurse Ratched and the entire ward without so much as a comment from the other patients. Yet, Cheswick is a different story as he says “I ain’t no little kid to have cigarettes kept from me like cookies! We want something done about it, ain’t that right, Mack?”(Kesley 149). Cheswick may want change and freedom the same as McMurphy however he fears Nurse Ratched and knows he can not challenge her on his own. Cheswick is talk with little action if he has no one supporting him while McMurphy is lots of talk with just as much action. Cheswick starts out as a scared rabbit who is easily put down when he shouts something out or tries to fuss. Yet, he becomes someone who feels as if Nurse Ratched has no control over him anymore. McMurphy, on the other hand comes into the ward expecting more freedom than he had at the working camp he was previously incarcerated in. This freedom is hard to come by, yet slowly he challenges Nurse Ratched and manages to weaken her hold that she has on the ward. “Tell me why. You gripe, you bitch for weeks on end about how you can’t stand this place, can’t stand the nurse or anything about her, and all the time you ain’t committed”(Kesley 167). McMurphy shows his intolerance for the others complaining about the nurse because they fear her, even though they are not committed and could leave at anytime. Both characters free themselves from the fear and power of Nurse Ratched, yet they both succumb to the final outcome of life in which death is the ultimate and final power. Neither escape nor go out in a peaceful manner. Cheswick commits suicide after Mack does not support him when he takes a stand against Nurse Ratched. Mack however, is suffocated by a fellow patient, Chief Bromden, after McMurphy gets a lobotomy, that left Mack in a vegetative state.
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Hanorah McAtasney
8/29/2015 01:27:55 pm
Throughout A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams, Stanley and Blanche both express their struggle for power in multiple ways. It was obvious that Stanley didn't like Blanche from the start. She came into his house and right away started making tweeks that fit her needs. Blanche is different from Stanley because she constantly needs to feel like she's better than everyone. "I can't stand a naked light bulb, any more than I can a rude remark or a vulgar action" (Williams 55). This quote plays a small part in the text but a large part in the overall play. This is the first sign of Blanche showing her power. She then thinks she can drink Stanley's liquor, adjust the studio to whatever she wants, and more. Stanley is different from Blanche because he doesn't like anything in his house to be tampered with. " I've been on to you from the start, and not once did you pull the wool over this boy's eyes? You come in here and you sprinkle the place with powder and you spray perfume and you stick a paper lantern over the light bulb - and, lo and behold, the place has turned to Egypt and you are the Queen of the Nile, sitting on your throne, swilling down my liquor." (Williams 127). This quote is Stanley finally snapping on Blanche for everything. Its seems like he had no control over his actions at the end of this scene. A man take pride in his house and his belonggings. Stanley is used to only living with Stella, so he isn't prepared for her sister. This is where Blanche and Stanley's personalities collide. Blanche is used to being spoiled and always feeling like she is better than others. Stanley is the type of person to lead more of a a simple life. Power plays and important role in both of these lifestyles, it's all about control.
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Bridget Kelly
8/29/2015 04:10:53 pm
In the two novels "A Streetcar Named Desire" by Tennessee Williams and "One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest" by Ken Kesey, there are characters that show similar characteristics. These characters are Stanley (from Streetcar) and Miss Ratched, or Big Nurse (from Cuckoos). Both of these characters show that they want to be in control. They both are very powerful and intimidating to the characters around them. Both Big Nurse and Stanley plan to dominant to the ones around them but they have different approaches towards it. Stanley is very straight forward about it, He doesn't care if people think he's being rude or unfair about his power. Big Nurse keeps it more to herself and tries to keep people from thinking that shes's selfish for all the power. She wants them to think that she's acting for her patients and not for herself. In Streetcar, Stanely takes a lot of advantage of Stella. He treats her unfairly and often yells at her. He even becomes violent with her. For example, one time when Stanley and Stella are eating dinner, Stella makes a comment to him he's quite dirty and that he should wash up before clearing the table. Stanley responds by throwing a plate saying "Now that's how I'm going to clear the table. Don't you ever talk that way to me. 'Pig,' 'Pollack,' 'greasy.' Those kinds of words have been on your tongue just too much around here. What do you think you are? A pair of queens? Remember what Huey Long said - "Every Man is a King!" And I am the king around here, so don't forget it! [He hurls a cup and saucer to the floor] My place is cleared! You want me to clear your places?" (Williams 107-108). This quote is showing that Stanley is easily irritated by someone else giving him orders. He feels that he should be the one giving people the orders and if it's the other way around, he loses it. Meanwhile, with Big Nurse, she doesn't earn her dominance in this approach. She tricks the employees and patients into giving her certain rights that she really doesn't deserve to have. She says to the patients, “Please understand….you wanted to be dealt with, needed it, but the punishment did not come. I tell you this hoping you will understand that this is entirely for your own good that we enforce discipline and order” (Kessey, 171). This quote makes it seem like Big Nurse feels bad for having to treat them a certain way because of policy, but she actually doesn't feel bad at all. She enjoys being able to do things like that because she is given the power she wants while everyone believes it's part of her job. Big Nurse and Stanley were both very similar characters. They were able to have power and dominance over other characters, just in different ways. Stanley will be straight up and show that he demands power and certainly isn't afraid to prove it. If he needs to yell, he'll yell. If he needs to fight, he'll fight.. Big Nurse tricks and pretends certain things are "right" for patients to earn her power. She also isn't violent with her power, she just wants to make sure everything is her way and ran the way she wants it. These two characters have their selfishly have their power that they use incorrectly around people they should be protecting, but instead, use it to their own advantage.
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victoria o'connor
8/30/2015 08:57:52 am
The battle and struggle over power in this world happens in all living things. Power is a natural instinct for survival and in the play written by Tennessee Williams, “ A Streetcar Named Desire” two characters Blanche and Stanley both compete over the will of control and power but soon as always, one must win the crown. Blanche, once a southern belle, soon after moving in with her sister, with a much different lifestyle, was faced with Stanley, Stella’s husband, constantly trying to dig up her past and show her he is the man in charge.He did this in a very aggressive and intimidating way. Both have a very different way of battling this for example Stanley shows his power through violence. For example, when him and his wife Stella had a dispute Stanley overacted when the scene explains, “ He advances and disappears. There is a sound of a blow. Stella cries out. Blanche screams and runs into the kitchen. The men run forward and there is a grappling and cursing. Something is overturned with a crash” ( Williams 57). Even though Stella and Stanley's relationship is very unhealthy and overpowered by him, Stella makes it seem acceptable for him to act this way towards her; resulting in his actions becoming worse and giving him the power he strives for. Meanwhile, Blanche has a very different approach to gaining power. Coming into this new lifestyle of poverty and diversity, decides that in order to seem superior and more powerful dresses in fancy clothes, uses high end fragrances, and is constantly lying about her not very classy past ending up eventually for the truth to come out. Blanche explains that, “Oh, I guess he’s just not the type that goes for jasmine perfume, but maybe he’s what we need to mix with our blood now that we’ve lost Belle Reve” ( Williams 44). Blanche thinks that lying about her past will hide what had happened before in Belle Reve, and give her the power because she is tricking people into thinking she is something she is not. Stanley soon shoots Blanche down and finds out her past; taking away any power she had possessed. This caused Stanley to become overpowering and in one final instance shows Blanche who takes the crown by violating her which eventually sent her to a mental institution.
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Roshni Tyler
8/30/2015 12:38:37 pm
Everyone likes to desire power. The story " A StreetCar Named Desire" by Tennessee Williams is all about power and who holds it. The main two characters that are part of this battle are Stanley and Blanche. Blanche is the sister of Stanley's wife Stella. Blanche came to live with them for a while, and her reason wasn't as believable, at least to Stanley. When Blanche arrives Stanley has a automatic feeling of treat. But of course Blanche being Stella's sister once he challenges his theory about Blanche he is shut down. " Then wheres the money if the place was sold"(Williams 35) Stella responds with a frustrated answer, " Not sold-lost, lost!" (Williams 35) Stanley not being heard out is what starts the fire. Blanche tries to show her power by lying about her past and making herself seem bigger and more important than others. " Honey, would I be here if the man weren't married?" (Williams 67) The way Blanche said this about her old rich friend was as if he was to be single he would fall in love with her and want to marry her and no other girl because she is the one to have. As if her being her and having her name and her power any guy would want to be with her. In the end Stanley ends up overpowering Blanche by digging up dirt from her past and convincing Stella that she needs professional help. At the end of the book Blanche ends up getting taken out by doctors of the place she tried to take over to end up being placed in a mental hospital. When power ends up overpowering the person you are, it can lead to a dark future.
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Tyhler Harty
8/30/2015 02:02:26 pm
In the world of “A Streetcar Named Desire”, by Tennesee Williams, there are two characters that are imposing control over the Kowalski apartment. These two characters that are mentioned are Stanley Kowalski and Blanche DuBois. The way that Stanley tries to impose his power onto Stella (his wife) and the apartment is through the fear of physical violence. A quote from the play shows how Stanley does this, “ Stella:Drunk- drunk- animal thin you! [ She rushes through to the poker table] All of you-please go home! If any of you have one spark of decency in you-. Blanche: Stella watch out he’s- [Stanley charges after Stella.] Men: Take it easy, Stanley. Easy, fellow.-Let’s all-. Stella: You lay your hands on me and I’ll-[ She backs out of sight. He advances and disappears. There is the sound of a blow. Stella cries out. Blanche screams and runs into the kitchen. The men rush forward and there is grappling and cursing. Something is overturned with a crash]” (Williams Scene 3, 57). Now the way Blanche tries to control the apartment is by undermining Stanley in her own way. Then also calls Stella her little sister even though Stella is older than Blanche. One part from the play that shows her undermine Stanley is when she says to Stanley that the women aren’t invited and Stanley says yes, woman aren’t invited. Then in the next scene this happens,” [. The sisters appear around the corner of the building] Stella: the game is still going on. Blanche: How do I look., [Stella opens the door and they enter.]’’, (Williams Scene 3 47). Stanley and Blanche are both different people who want to control the Kowalski apartment.
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Lily Woodrow
8/31/2015 03:02:28 am
The struggle for power between McMurphy and Nurse Ratched in the novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is apparent from McMurphy's admittance to the institution. Nurse Ratched, a former military nurse, keeps strict order among those in the asylum. This is until McMurphy joins the hospital. He challenges Nurse Ratched in numerous ways, and he becomes the leader of a rebellion. The patients protest against the hospital's harsh rules. They do this in various ways, by sitting in front of the television, throwing a party, and sticking up for each other. Nurse Ratched explains that McMurphy's stunts go "completely against ward policy and every one of you who dealt with him knew it" (Kensey, 228). Power titters back and forth between McMurphy and Ratched, but ultimately she is the one in charge. She sends McMurphy to receive electric shocks after having enough of his outbursts. McMurphy tries to remain strong, or at least appear to, for the sake of the other patients. However, Ratched uses her power over him again, by showing the patients McMurphy in his weakened state. McMurphy's followers urge him to try and escape the institution, but he refuses. In one last effort to stand against Ratched, McMurphy throws a party for the patients. The following day Ratched finds McMurphy and the party's remains. This is when she orders to have him lobotomized. McMurphy ultimately becomes a symbol of Ratched's power. I believe this goes to show, you can challenge authority, but most often they will come out on top. The position of authority Ratched held before McMurphy even arrived at the hospital, gave her the obvious upper hand. Although he weakened her dictatorial power, she had control over the patients and McMurphy. They could rebel against her, but she could put things back in order, like how she did at the end of the novel with McMurphy. She used her position of dominance to obtain power. McMurphy used his leadership over the patients, and confidence to speak out. He asks them "you're gonna sit back and let some old blue-haired woman talk you into being a rabbit?" (Kensey,58). However, once again we see confidence can only go so far. McMurphy's power dies, as Ratched takes full control. Although by the end of the book Ratched's leadership over the hospital is crippled, she still remains the dominate figure over the patients.
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Stephen Zacks
8/31/2015 04:46:01 am
In A Streetcar Named Desire, by Tennessee Williams, multiple characters are caught up in a struggle for power over the Kowalski’s apartment. The main two characters in this battle for power are Stanley Kowalski and Blanche DuBois. They both use their own unique approach to asserting their dominance in the apartment. In the end however, how they each handle the pressure is the deciding factor in their struggle. Stanley uses mostly physical, but also psychological intimidation to gain power. Stanley displays his physical dominance during Blanche’s birthday dinner. Towards the end of dinner, Stella tells Stanley that he is disgustingly greasy. She tells him to wash up and then clear the table. These words throw Stanley into a fit of rage. He smashes a plate, and he says, “What do you two think you are? A pair of queens? Remember what Huey Long said- ‘Every Man is a King!’ And I am the king around here, so don’t forget it” (Williams 107). He does not hurt anyone in this scene, but he displays that he is able to if need be. He uses this physical intimidation to keep his position of power in the apartment. He also uses psychological intimidation. He displays this when he exposes Blanche. Blanche is telling Stanley about how she will be going on a cruise with a man and how Mitch tried to win her back. Stanley knows she is lying, and he says, “There isn’t a goddam thing but imagination! And lies and conceit and tricks” (Williams 127). Stanley’s ability to see through her ruse shocks Blanche and drives her to insanity. Through all of this, Blanche has her own strategy for attaining power. She uses deceit and lies. Blanche says, “I know I fib a good deal. After all, a woman’s charm is fifty percent illusion” (Williams 41). Blanche lies about her status to make herself seem like an upper class woman. This makes her seem superior to others. This is how she attempts to gain power, however, it does not work in the end. She is able to fool some people, but Stanley sees through her lies and exposes them. Blanche cracks under the pressure of Stanley’s intimidation, and she goes insane. Their ability to stay strong while they are under attack is where they differ. Stanley’s approach to gaining power over others was too strong for Blanche to handle. At the same time, Blanche’s lies were not enough to fool Stanley. Stanley is able to stay strong and keep the upper hand, and this is why Stanley retains power over the apartment in the end.
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Jackelyn Rosad
8/31/2015 07:52:16 am
Blanche and Stanly
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Melissa Velazquez
8/31/2015 10:46:33 am
There are dominate figures in Tennessee Williams', A Street Car Named Desire. In the Kowalski household, Stanley's wife Stella has her sister Blanche come over to stay. Everyone would think that a male runs the house, although it is always the female that keeps the house together. The term "man of the house" is portrayed in this play. Blanche is constantly lying about her past encounters to seem more dominate against Stanley. She has had many sexual partners and is manipulative towards them. In return she receives materials. Blanche boasts about her lifestyle. In the book it states, "And what do we have here? The treasure chest of a pirate! Pearls! What is that sister of yours, a deep sea diver? Bracelets of solid gold too! And diamonds!" (Stanley, 36 ) Stanley looks in Blanches belongings. Another quote that analyzes this is, "Now the cat's out of the bag! I found out some things! Lie number one: All this squeamishness she puts on! you should know the line she's been feeding to Mitch. He thought she had never been more than kissed by a fellow! Laurel couldn't put up with her act anymore! They got wised up after two or three dates with her and she goes to another, the same old line, the same old hooey!" (Stanley, 98-100) Stanley is clearly not fond of Blanche. He wants to be in control. On to Stanley, his way of showing dominance is physical and verbal. On page 57, Stanley frustrated at Stella and Blanche for being loud at his poker game and physically hurt Stella. "Stella: You lay your hands on me and I'll-{there is a sound of a blow. Stella cries out.]" (Stella, 57) Stanley's action made Blanche lose her strong guard. Whenever Stanley's friend Mitch is over, Stanley is verbally abusive." {he jumps up and jerks roughly at curtains to close them} Now deal the hand over again and let's play cards or quit. Some people get ants when they win. {Mitch rises as Stanley returns to his seat} Sit down!" (Stanley, 52). To conclude, Stanley and Blanche have different ways of showing dominance when they are involved with group situations.
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Josh Goldsmith
8/31/2015 01:28:09 pm
The Big Nurse is a ruler who is ruthless but appears nice to anyone looking from the outside. Most people are blinded by the “fog,” as Bromden calls it. Looking through the fog you can only see a regular mental ward with patients that get by due to the tireless work and dedication of the Big Nurse. Try as she might to keep them from looking, people peek through the fog. What they see is a nurse who is trying to control them all. Most patients see it and ignore it because they know that “[they] can slip back in [the fog] and be safe in it.” (pg. 114) The Nurse herself is a character that is exhibiting all the features of the dark tetrad. She is machiavellian, narcissistic, sadistic, and is a psychopath. The fog is her psychopathic way of making herself appear nice to the outsider. She does everything she can to convince people of the idea that “Everything done here is for the patient’s good,” (pg. 163) which is how Harding describes it to McMurphy. Harding also explains that “[EST] isn’t pure sadism on the staff’s part.” He goes on to justify this statement by bringing up that it has worked on patients before, nonetheless the staff of this hospital seem to use it unnecessarily. It isn’t pure sadism, but it’s some form of it. It fits in with her narcissistic idea that she could make herself into a sort of god among the ward. It is almost as if she is passing divine judgement. No one is there that she doesn’t want there. She handpicked the aides, doctors, and other nurses. Patients that disobey her get EST and lobotomized. She wants to be the authority figure that everyone looks to, no one else should have power but her. If anyone challenges that power, then she does what she can to remove the challenger. She clearly is attempting a power play when she says to Nurse Flinn, “He is what we call a manipulator, Miss Flinn, a man who will use everyone and everything to his own ends.” (pg. 29) The irony here is that by discrediting McMurphy in this manner, she is embodying the machiavellianism that she is accusing him of. McMurphy isn’t very different from her except for one key detail. He doesn’t fit into the dark tetrad, but does fit into the dark triad. He is manipulative, a psychopath, and narcissistic, but not sadistic. When McMurphy is getting the other patients to gamble with him it isn’t because he wants them to lose money, but because he wants money. He seems to be trying very hard to make the patients like him. The other patients suspect he could have an ulterior motive only after The Big Nurse suggests it. She exploits this fear and gets everyone paranoid as she tells the patients “[McMurphy isn’t] a saint or a martyr.” (pg. 222) Harding quickly makes the other patients realize that “[McMurphy] doesn’t make any pretense about his motives, does he? Why should we?” (pg. 223) He may care only about what is good to himself, but he doesn’t do bad things to them because he enjoys their pain. These characters are similar enough to give each other a good fight, but also just different enough that they can stand for opposite ends of a spectrum. McMurphy stands for freedom, but is eventually forced into submission by Ratched, who represents order. A good society needs a good balance of these two. Too much freedom will become too chaotic, while too much order will be too gloomy. Ratched tried to tip the scale in her favor by lobotomizing McMurphy, but Chief Bromden turned him into a martyr for freedom instead of a symbol of the power of the saint, “Miss Angel of Mercy Ratched.” (pg. 223) In the end the scales are balanced. The Martyr of Freedom, and the Saint of Order are in harmony.
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Jay Izzo
9/1/2015 11:05:09 am
Throughout Ken Kesey's novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, many characters struggle in varying ways from one another under the oppression of the power hungry nurse, Miss Ratched. Two of these characters are the quiet Dr. Spivey and the infamous black boys, both having positions of power beneath the nurse, but both using their power to interact with the patients differently. Dr. Spivey, in the early pages of the novel, before McMurphy's arrival, is best described as mild-mannered, uninspired, and generally spineless. In the meetings between the nurse and the patients, Dr. Spivey usually keeps quiet only to agree with the word of the nurse, doing his best to keep out of the affairs of the committed. This is expressed in a very simple interaction he has when addressing McMurphy for the first time. Despite holding McMurphy's record in his hand, he pays no attention to the name on it and calls McMurphy by a different name, only to utilize the fact that the nurse had done the same beforehand as an excuse when corrected."'You've-it seems- no other psychiatric history, Mr. McMurry?… Oh? But I thought-the nurse was saying-'" (Kesey 45). This quote clearly demonstrates the doctors blatant disregard and lack of interest for patients, showing how he wants nothing to do with them. The black boys, on the other hand, are the opposite. The black boys are Nurse Ratched's brutes that go around, keeping patients in check. One pleasure, the boys reap from their assignments, is abusing their power to constantly intimidate and oppress those they must watch over, making their lives more miserable than necessary. While the boys don't speak often in the novel, a perfect example of their unnecessary cruelty in its raw form is when Bromen is describing the process of a new admission where, after a new patient arrives, the black boys are assigned with checking his temperature in a most invasive fashion. Their enjoyment at making the newest member's life as uncomfortable as possible is shown when they run up to the nurse before carrying out their task, "'We need that vaseline. For the thermometer'" (Kesey 15). All three of them grinning as they are looking foward to the torment. Both of these quotes, from Dr. Spivey and the black boys, show the opposite roles they play in the game of interacting with patients. If the black boys were in the meeting instead of the doctor, they may have messed up McMurphy's name, but only for the sake of tormenting him, not simply because they don't care to talk to or about McMurphy like Dr. Spivey. And, if Dr. Spivey was tasked with the job of taking the new admission's temperature, he would most likely ask the nurse for a different task, not for something to make the admission's life more uncomfortable just for his own enjoyment, like the black boys do. It is little encounters like these that show the contrast between the character. It is these encounters that show how the characters function differently under the rule of Nurse Ratched.
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Lili Krupinski
9/2/2015 10:41:50 am
In the book A Street Car Named Desire by Tennessee Williams, it is clear which characters are dominant over the others. It is also clear which characters give into their power and control. In the play, Stella and Stanley Kowalski live together happily in their New Orleans apartment. That is, until Stella's sister Blanche DuBois comes and "visits" them. Up until then, Stanley as the "man of the house" had been in charge and Stella did as he said. For example, even when Stanley hurt Stella after a night of drinking and playing poker on page 57, when he calls for her to come back home, she obeys him on page 59. So it's clear that at this point, Stella listens to what Stanley tells her. But things start to change after the arrival of Blanche. It seems that Blanche and Stanley are fighting each other for control. Although, Blanche has different ways of being controlling. Blanche tries to take charge over Stella with her words. She tries to manipulate Stella into doing what SHE wants and what SHE thinks is right by putting ideas into her head. For example, one of the things Blanche feels strongly about is Stella being married to Stanley. On page 72, Blanche has a monologue and goes on to say, "...Thousands and thousands of years have passed him right by, yet there he is--Stanley Kowalski--survivor of the stone age! Bearing the raw meat home from the kill in the jungle! And you- YOU here- waiting for him! Maybe he'll strike you or maybe grunt and kiss you!" Here she tries to make Stella do what she wants and see her point that Stanley isn't good enough for her. But her way of bossing Stella around is by arguing her point. As for Stanley, his way of controlling Stella is by using force. So basically, Blanche is more verbal and Stanley is more physical yet the both try to be dominant over Stella.
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Dixie O'Connell
9/2/2015 12:31:16 pm
Power is an ability that many people strive for. They could want power in their employment place, power in relationships, or power in really any environment. In "A Streetcar Named Desire" by Tennessee Williams two characters, Stanley Kowalski and Blanche DuBois seem to battle over power in their household. Stanley seems to take pride in his masculinity. His awareness of the social construct of roles of women compared to the roles of men in a household is evident in the way he treats his wife, Stella. Stanley believes that this is fully his house and everything in it is for his disposal. Stanley often preaches to Stella what he believes as if it were fact and nothing were wrong with it. Stanley does not listen to Stella. When Stella suggests they go outside after an argument over Blanche Stanley says "since when do you give orders?" meaning that she is the one who follows Stanley's direction not the other way around (Williams 87). When Stanley does not have power over the situation he becomes violent because he feels like he needs to restore his dominance. Blanche is different from Stanley in the way she handles her desire for power. Blanche is not from New Orleans and it is apparent upon her arrival that she is the opposite of impressed. Her surroundings give her a sense of entitlement. Blanche wears nicer things and feels more educated by the people she is surrounded by. This makes her feel dominant and also makes her feel like she should be catered to. Blanche is often found drinking or taking long baths and asking Stella to do things for her. She is usually talking about herself and demands to be treated as if she were royal. If Blanche does not get her way she becomes emotional. She acts very innocent but demands to be heard. With this she usually exaggerates emotions and situations. When discussing Stella's situation with Stanley Blanche becomes distressed with Stella's honest love and declares "I tremble for you! I just- tremble for you!" sounding very over dramatic to win over her sister (Williams 71). These examples have something important in common. That something is Stella. Both Blanche and Stanley seem to use Stella as a pawn. Blanche and Stanley openly dislike each other and with this they have competition especially over Stella who for the most part remains neutral. When Stella defends Blanche or Stanley to the other it makes them upset because they do not have power over Stella to shift her opinion. Blanche and Stanley do have different techniques of how they try to rise up in power but they both try to win Stella over in their rise.
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