Your job for this post is to identify two opposing forces in one of the summer reading books that is NOT Fahrenheit 451, and explain how the contradiction between the forces is resolved. To give an example, you might see a conflict between Lenina's happiness with the Brave New World versus Bernard's misery. How does that conflict play out in the novel, and how does it ? You need two quotations for this. One should show the conflict, and the other the "synthesis," meaning resolution or outcome - in other words, what changes?
This is inspired by something called the Dialectic, which is a method of argument. One person puts forth a thesis, and the person arguing against them responds with the anti-thesis, i.e. the opposite of that thesis. So if I said, "Cuckoo's Nest is between than Brave New World," and someone said, "No, it's the other way around," we'd be engaged in the Dialectic. However, since there is no "right answer" here, the only way to resolve the argument is with a synthesis that integrates elements of both views: "Ok, let's agree that both are great novels." But if one person argued better, the final synthesis might be more like, "Ok, fine, Cuckoo's Nest is better in a lot of ways, but BNW has a lot of value as well."
77 Comments
Lola
8/12/2014 07:26:03 am
In A Streetcar Named Desire, a play by Tenessee Williams, leading male Stanley has distrusted his sister-in-law Blanche since the day she moved in with him and his wife Stella. After she "lost" the land shared between her and her sister and is unable to produce any paperwork, Stanley confronts Stella. "Where's the money if the place was sold - Open your eyes to this stuff! You think she got this out of a teacher's pay?" As he notices her belongings, Stanley is concerned that Blanche made money on the land that was used to buy clothing. This angers him, as, under the Napoleonic Code, he is entitled to whatever his wife is entitled to.
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Ryan Humelsine
8/13/2014 08:43:49 am
An important, recurring contradiction in Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s nest is the idea of whether the nurse is treating or punishing the patients. In the novel, Nurse Ratched believes that she is doing what is best for the patients by restricting them to certain behaviors and activities at certain times. She is strongly against them stepping out of her boundaries. However, doesn’t everybody, even patients in a mental hospital, need some of their own space and freedom? It’s similar to an overprotective parent watching over their children all the time, trying to find the equilibrium between keeping their children safe, but not sheltering them at the same time. McMurphy is constantly trying to throw the nurse off balance and is encouraging the men to rebel, but Nurse Ratched is constantly resisting. “‘What is it you are proposing, Mr. McMurphy?’ ‘I’m proposing a revote on watching the TV in the afternoon.’’You're certain one more vote will satisfy you? We have more important things-’”(Kesey 124). The nurse is against McMurphy’s idea of watching the World Series games with the other patients because it would mess up the daily schedule, but doesn’t that take away a potential source of enjoyment to try something different? Throughout the novel, the nurse’s idea of keeping the patients safe is fighting McMurphy’s idea of making the patients free. When the nurse thinks McMurphy has taken things too far, she has him undergo a lobotomy, a harsh brain procedure which turns him into a vegetable. “We stood at the foot of the gurney, reading the chart, then looked up to the other end at the head dented into the pillow, a swirl of red hair over a face milk-white except for the heavy purple bruises around the eyes. After a minute of silence Scanlon turned and spat on the floor. ‘Aaah, what’s the old bitch tryin’ to put over on us anyhow, for crap sakes. That ain’t him.’”(Kesey 269) . From the nurse’s point of view, she turned an out-of-control patient into an easy-to-handle patient, although she sucked the personality right out of him, which is one of the worst things you can do to a person. Unarguably, it’s safe to say that the nurse’s actions are a kind of punishment.
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Kelly Gagliano
8/15/2014 02:23:50 am
Within one society, there are differences in perspective between groups. In One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest by Ken Kesey, there is a large difference in the way outsiders view the ward verse how the patients view it. Chief explains "the ward is a factory for the Combine. It's for fixing up mistakes made in the neighborhoods and in the schools and in the churches" (Kesey 40). Outsiders view the ward as a place to take the people who are different out of their utopia and to make them no longer their responsibility. On the other hand, patients view the ward in a different light. Chief reveals his fear of the ward when he is being taken for treatment "I hide in the mop closet and listen, my heart beating in the dark, and I try to keep from getting scared, try to get my thoughts off somewhere else" (Kesey 12). Through this, Chief reveals that the patients live in fear and view it as more of a prison fed by the fear of its prisoners rather than a treatment center built to assist in their journey to return to society. All in all, the ward is undeniably a torture center rather than a treatment center.
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Kelsey Ballard
8/15/2014 04:27:28 am
In the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey, there is a striking difference in views between those in the mental hospital and those outside of it. The people in the mental hospital view the ward as a terrifying, horrible place filled with an unimaginable amount of terrors. This is shown in the beginning of the novel when Chief describes, " I hide in the mop closet and listen, my heart beating in the dark, and I try to keep from getting scared" ( Kesey 12). This quote describes the every day fear that the Chief deals with. One the contrary, the people outside the mental ward view it as a place to put those who are imperfect or different. " It's for fixing up mistakes made in the neighborhoods and in the schools and in the churches" ( Kesey 40), as said by the Chief. This quote emphasizes the fact that the ward may not be the shiny treatment center it is believed to be, but is, in fact, a sadistic, menacing place.
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Kent Hottmann
8/15/2014 08:42:21 am
In Aldous Huxley’s novel Brave New World, the “civilized” people clash with the “savages”. The civilized people think that the savages’ way of life is wrong, because they live in huts and have kids viviparously. When Lenina and Bernard visit the reservation, the savages there think they are strange, because they make kids in laboratories and all do the same things. When John (the Savage) visits England with Bernard and Lenina, he hates it. Everyone there uses soma and has forgotten about all the old books he loved. Mustapha Mond tells him, “You've got to choose between happiness and what people used to call high art. We've sacrificed the high art.” (Huxley 226). This quote shows that civilized people chose to be “happy” over keeping old things, which makes the Savage hate them more.
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Ellie Farrington
8/15/2014 10:42:58 am
In the novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, by Ken Kesey, Nurse Ratched and McMurphy struggle with each other for power over the psych ward. McMurphy, a cunning, arrogant man comes into the mental hospital with a carefree attitude. It is clear he is used to doing whatever he pleases, which doesn't sit well with Nurse Ratched (Big Nurse). She is a controlling, manipulative person who tries to keep everything perfectly in order. They're opposing mindsets immediately cause conflict. McMurphy constantly tries to bend/change the rules and push her buttons, while Big Nurse does her best to keep her nice act going. For example, McMurphy asks Big Nurse about the music in the day room, "Can't you even ease down the volume?" (Kesey 95). To this she replies that he is being selfish. " 'Mr. McMurphy' -she waits and lets her calm school-teacher tone sink in before she goes on... 'There are old men here who couldn't hear the radio at all if it were lower," (Kesey 95). These little back-and-forths go on throughout the novel because McMurphy made a bet with the other patients that he could break down or unravel Nurse Ratched in one week. However, they both have to stay cool and it becomes clear that neither will back down.
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Emily Bynoe
8/15/2014 01:31:03 pm
In the novel Brave New World written by Aldous Huxley freedom is perceived differently that what we believe it is. Humans are limited with what they can do because they are stuck in an “un-escapable destiny” as the Director put it. “Hot tunnels altered with cool tunnels. Coolness was wedded to discomfort in the form of hard X-rays. By the time they were decanted the embryos had a horror of cold. They were predestined to emigrate to the tropics, to be miners and acetate silk spinners and steel workers,” (Huxley 16). As an embryo they are genetically changed to fit certain climates and be suited for their one specific job. They might see freedom as being upgraded in their field of employment but that is not how we see it. We are not limited to a specific field. Freedom is having the ability to escape the restrictions life puts on us. We are not being controlled by other people. “Watch carefully, he said, lifting his hand, he gave the signal,” (Huxley 20). The people who lived in the Brave New World were being controlled by others since they were one single cell. They never had a chance to say what they wanted to do and they will never have the chance to explore other things.
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Chase Hintelmann
8/17/2014 07:50:43 am
In Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, the government controls every aspect of its citizens lives, including their emotions. In order to control the emotions of society, the government produces a drug called soma, which gives the taker a sense of false happiness and euphoria. By distributing this enticing drug to the public, people no longer wanted to feel anything but happiness, so whenever they felt down, they would just take a gramme of soma. "A gramme is better than a damn." (Huxley, 116) Lenina said this many times throughout the book. Whenever someone around her, particularly Bernard, was angry or upset, she would always insist that they take soma. This drug ended up running the lives of many people, making them dependent on it. An example of someone who was overly addicted to soma was Linda, a civilized person turned savage turned civilized again. When she returned to the "civilized" world, her daily activity was to overdose on soma, and have her mind be carried off to what was known as a holiday. This addiction led to her death. Later in the book, the savage, son of Linda, named John, who had returned with Lenina and Bernard to civilization, confronted the leader of Western Europe, stating, "But the tears are necessary. Don't you remember what Othello said? 'If after every tempest came such calms, may the winds blow till they have wakened death."(Huxley, 238) By confronting the Controller this way, John showed how he preferred the savage live over that of the civilized life, because people were free to feel and be whoever they chose to be. Soon afterwards, John decided to escape the civilized world, but was soon found again, living in an abandoned lighthouse. After being found, the constant pressure from this society to do certain things, savage things, for example the whip stunt, caused him to end his own life. By ending his life, he showed how constant control and pressure from society to be a certain person can push an individual past their breaking point. In the end, does happiness truly come from a drug, or does it come from the ups and downs in life as well as the simple things, such as a smile in someone's direction, or a friendly wave. The people of civilization were never able to comprehend this version of happiness, for they were always clouded from pain and suffering by those only interested in a stable community.
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Cecilia McCormick
8/18/2014 05:38:46 am
In the novel Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley the savage life and civilized life have many differences. One reoccurring conflict is the different thoughts on relationships. When Lenina realized she "liked" John(the savage), all she could think about was getting with him like she does with every other guy. "Still wearing her shoes and socks, and her rakishly tilted round white cap, she advanced towards him," (Huxley 193), without listening to John she had just assumed that was what he wanted. But John had different beliefs and was very shocked with Lenina for doing this. John wanted love from Lenina, but she had never known such thing. He tried telling her when he said,"Listen, Lenina; in Malpais people get married," (Huxley 191). Lenina just didn't understand why John had wanted to make a promise to live with someone forever and continued to try and seduce him. John got very upset at this and began to call her names such as an "impudent strumpet". She believed she did nothing wrong because that was what she was encouraged to do her whole life. In fact staying with one person(marriage), would just not be right according to the civilized people. So there was no solution to the opposing beliefs. Only John believed in marriage and that promiscuity was not a good thing and everyone else believed otherwise. "Everyone belongs to everyone else" is how they lived; no one had a partner to live their life with, they had whoever they wanted whenever they wanted. So to end these crazy beliefs, John decided to commit suicide and be done with it all.
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Debra Tuberion
8/18/2014 07:15:42 am
In One Who Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, Nurse Ratched (Big Nurse) and Randle McMurphy seem to clash and have completely different views on how the ward should be run. McMursphy is very cocky, conceited, and care free and Nurse Ratched does not agree with his attitude at all. She is very controlling and everything needs to go her way and in order. She takes advantage of the patients in the ward and makes it clear that she is in charge. McMurphy explains her controlling as "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" (Kesey 55). Their different attitudes and mindsets are what cause conflict between them.The battle for power and authority in the ward is a constant theme throughout the book.
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Lauren Kirk
8/19/2014 04:27:21 am
In the novel Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, it is clear that Lenina and John have feelings for each other; however, due to their opposite upbringing, their affection is shown in two very different ways which ultimately creates a conflict.
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Ella Brockway
8/19/2014 05:02:27 am
In the novel Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, citizens of futuristic London heavily rely on a drug called soma that alters their perception and changes their state of mind. Soma is used to control the people so they do not realize that they are living as slaves of the government. While most citizens in the novel take soma, there is one character, John, who does not and differs drastically in his mindset and his personality. In the scene on page 215 we can see how soma so easily affects the people of modern society. John starts a fight with the citizens that is soon stopped by the government and the power of the drug, as everyone in the crowd begins to be happy again when soma is produced on the spot. The personalities of the fighting people are immediately transformed, and were “kissing and hugging one another—half a dozen twins at a time in a comprehensive embrace” (Huxley 215). When John’s mother Linda, who had previously gone a lifetime without living in the control of the city, is dying in Chapter 14, the effect that soma has had on her is shown. She stops believing that John is her son, as a reflection of the government’s beliefs against families and emotion. Instead, she believes she is “spending her soma-holiday with Popé” and starts reciting one of the government’s mottos, “ ‘Every one belongs to every…’” (Huxley 205). While the resolution of this conflict between normal perception and the altered perception of the government, is not the citizens stopping and fighting against the drug, John realizes that he cannot live in a society where freedom is non-existent, and therefore kills himself. Soma was created to keep the people calm, complacent, and under the impression that they were happy instead of what they actually were—enslaved. The soma did exactly what the government wanted it to do, and when John woke up before he killed himself, he remembered that he had slipped into the trap and used the soma at the previous night’s orgy, as it says he was “stupefied by soma, and exhausted by a long-drawn frenzy of sensuality” (Huxley 258). In conclusion, the individual using the soma drug acts according to the government’s standards rather than following their own feelings.
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Andrew Schembor
8/19/2014 06:06:18 am
In Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, the two main opposing forces are the drug induced feelings and real emotions. A drug called soma dictates their lives and controls them almost as robots. A quote on page 215 shows how the vapor of soma changes the people's attitude. At first the Voice says "Why aren't you all being happy and good together?"(Huxley 215) , then "Two minutes later the Voice and the soma vapour had produced their effect. In tears, the Deltas were kissing and hugging one another"(Huxley 215). The drug altered them in thinking they were happy, when actually it wasn't true. A savage was speaking against the drug and said "But I don't want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness. I want sin." (Huxley 240). He wants the freedom to be unhappy and feel all the emotions in life not just the good ones. He wanted to actually experience the entirety of what life had to offer.
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Alex Sosa
8/20/2014 03:57:04 am
In Prisons We Choose To Live Inside By Doris Lessing, we take a look at the simple contradiction between the right and the wrong. In the book, Doris shows us different views on the world. There are many things in the past we could have done differently by creating small and simple solutions. She shows us how to look through many different eyes. For example, the soldiers in Zimbabwe.
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Annabel Martin
8/20/2014 09:10:03 am
From very early on in Ken Kesey’s novel, One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, the division between the Chronics and Acutes is clearly established… the Chronics are stuck in the psych ward for life, whereas the Acutes have a chance of escaping Miss. Ratched’s tight reigns and making it into the real world. The nurses have given up on the Chronics, and Bromden explains how the “Chronics are in for good, the staff concedes,” (Kesey 19). The primary reason that they are kept in the ward is to keep them off of the streets. On the other hand, even though the Acutes are a little hurt and unstable, they still manage to socialize. “The Acutes move around a lot. They tell jokes to each other and snicker in their fists,” (Kesey 19). Although they live together 24/7 in confined spaces, the Chronics and Acutes rarely socialize, similar to the elderly and youth today. There is no resolution that brings the two groups together, however Bromden breaks the Chronic stereotype of living out the rest of his years in the hospital when he escapes at the end of the book.
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Kyle Neary
8/21/2014 01:22:48 am
In her collection of essays Prisons We Choose to Live Inside, Doris Lessing points out two important opposing forces that we have all experienced ourselves. These opposing forces are individual power and group power. Another way to think of these are “I think as an individual” and “I think along with my group.”
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Kyle Neary
8/21/2014 01:25:37 am
The first quote should be this:
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Jack Mangold
8/21/2014 01:33:17 am
In One Flew Over the Cuckoo Nest by Ken Kesey, McMurphy's defiance goes against Nurse Ratched's obedience as opposing forces. McMurphy is a mental patient that goes to the ward where Nurse Ratched (Big Nurse) was in control. They have many conflicts throughout the novel that lead to an unfriendly and harsh relationship. McMurphy doesn't listen and goes against many of the rules at the ward which causes many problems for other patients and all of the nurses, but he also ends up helping many of his friends in the ward. "All I know is this: nobody's very big in the first place, and it looks to me like everybody spends their whole life tearing everybody else down," (Kesey 159). This quote describes what actually happens, that McMurphy and Nurse Ratched always try to tear each other down and thats their relationship. By the end of the book there is a change in the novel. McMurphy was winning the fight against Big Nurse and she eventually grew tired of him. She took him to get a lobotomy so Chief Bromden killed McMurphy to put him out of his misery. “There’s no doubt in my mind that McMurphy won, but I’m not sure what.”, (Kesey). This quote shows that after all of the arguing and fighting between Nurse Ratched and McMurphy, McMurphy won. Even though he was killed, he influenced many people, and everybody checked out besides two patients. McMurphy changed their lives and got them out of the ward.
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Matt Santos
8/21/2014 03:56:42 am
In the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, by Ken Kesey, two opposing forces are illusion and realization. An example of illusion is the fog that Chief says that constantly surrounds him. As we get to realize, the fog isn't really real. It may be medically induced, which means that the fog is in Chief's mind, and not actually there. "So clear it's like looking inside them" (Kesey 96) Here, he is describing the fog when he was in the military and they used it for protection. He is getting flashbacks of when this happened and is describing when you saw someone in the fog. An example of realization is how Chief Bromden describes people as their true size, not necessarily how they look. For example, Bromden describes Nurse Ratched as being “big as a tractor.” The reason is because she is powerful and and strong willed, like a tractor. Even though Chief is much taller than Nurse Ratched, he feels smaller and weaker. “I used to be big, but not anymore,” (Kesey 112). Here, Chief is saying to McMurphy that he used to be in control, but since he is basically ruled by Big Nurse, he feels small and not important.
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Jack Stamer
8/21/2014 06:00:52 am
Major differences in Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World are the views of love by Lenina and John. Lenina lives in a civilized state in futuristic London. She is constantly in “love”. In the civilized state, there are no long-term relationships, so Lenina and others have “one-night stands”. Also, recreational sex is very common: it is like a hobby. Lenina’s longest relationship was around one month! Lenina will talk about how nice a guy is and that one of her friends should try him. On the other hand, John is more of a romantic lover. John is from the Savage Reservation where humans are bred and there are actually long-term relationships. John wants to be in love with someone, marry them, and eventually have children. In the novel, Lenina starts liking John and tries to seduce him. Lenina starts seducing John when she says, “kiss me till I’m in a coma. Hug me, honey, snuggly…” Then, John “caught her by his wrist, tore her hands from his shoulders, {and} thrust her roughly away at arm’s length,” (Huxley 194). John doesn’t want to participate in recreational sex; he actually wants a solid relationship with Lenina. After this incident with Lenina, John never shares the same feelings towards her as he did when he first met her. Later in the novel, John is living by himself in a lighthouse. Then, Lenina and numerous others encounter him because he is the Crazy Savage. When Lenina tried to get back together with John, he “rushed at her like a madman… Like a madman, he was slashing at her with his whip of small cords,” (Huxley 257). John gives Lenina a whipping. This is the result of Lenina’s attempt to seduce John because John wanted to fall in love with Lenina, not have a one-night stand. John ended his pursuit of true love with Lenina because he loathes her so much now. All in all, John’s view on love is a more romantic and realistic image of love in today’s world than Lenina’s view.
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Jake Lane
8/21/2014 06:28:59 am
In Ken Kesey One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest two opposing forces are the perspectives that of the ward. People on the outside of the ward view it as a place for misfits to get help while the patients view it as a scary place that you don’t want to go to. Here Chief explains "the ward is a factory for the Combine. It's for fixing up mistakes made in the neighborhoods and in the schools and in the churches" (Kesey 40). This shows that while the people on the outside of the ward may be happy that these people are getting helped the inmates view the treatment on the inside as punishment. "I hide in the mop closet and listen, my heart beating in the dark, and I try to keep from getting scared, try to get my thoughts off somewhere else" (Kesey 12) Here it shows that the patients are scared to be in the ward and it is moore tortures rather being given treatment.
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Jake McIntyre
8/21/2014 06:38:45 am
In One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey, two opposing forces are the views of Nurse Ratched and McMurphy on how the ward should be run. Nurse Ratched likes to run a very tight shift. She makes the patients do what she wants when she wants it. They follow all of her rules, and don’t really get a choice of what they want to do. When McMurphy arrives at the ward, he instantly tries to make changes. He does his best to get the other patients to do what they want, and not always what Nurse Ratched wants. An example of McMurphy trying to change things up around the ward is when he wants the patients to take a vote so that they can watch the World Series game. Nurse Ratched says “What is it you propose Mr. McMurphy?” He says “I’m proposing a revote on watching the TV in the afternoon.” She responds “Your sure one more vote will satisfy you?” (Kesey 124) McMurphy continues to rebel against the Nurse. Unfortunately, Nurse Ratched becomes so frustrated with McMurphy that she makes him go through a lobotomy that completely changes him. He has turned into a vegetable, and Chief cannot stand to see him this way, so he kills McMurphy. All but two patients leave the ward after McMurphy’s lobotomy. Kesey says “There is no doubt in my mind that McMurphy won, but I’m not sure what.” This displays that maybe McMurphy’s style of running the ward could have been more successful than Nurse Ratched’s way.
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Grace Dengler
8/21/2014 06:41:16 am
In the novel, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley the characters examine a difference in
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Grace Dengler
8/21/2014 06:52:09 am
i worked with hannah and tori on this in the workshop.
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Victoria Sullivan
8/21/2014 07:26:57 am
In the novel Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, the genetically made people are opposed to humans who are naturally made. Humans who are genetically made are chosen for which traits they will have. The government chooses which traits are needed most in society, and they give those traits to different offspring. Parents also do things to their children to have them know things they want them to know. For example, two parents played a tape to their kid while they were sleeping one night, about the Nile River, and when he woke up they asked him if he knew what the longest river in the world was, and he still didn’t know. He didn’t actually understand what he was hearing during the tape, he was just mentally memorizing a quick statement of the tape. They didn’t understand why he didn’t know; “which is the longest river in Africa?” I don’t know” he said (Huxley 26). Naturally made humans do not have a say in what traits they have. It’s all in mother nature’s hands. There are lots of genetically created people surrounded by naturally made people, and a lot of them are confused by how they are created. They explain to them that they have parents that “create” them and their traits are not hand picked. Their parents care for them and their “children [are] brought up by [them] and not in State Conditioning Centres”(Huxley 24). They are brought up in very unusual ways. Naturally made and genetically created humans are very different than one another.
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Victoria Sullivan
8/21/2014 07:28:22 am
I worked on this in the workshop with hannah and grace.
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Skyler Post
8/21/2014 07:55:47 am
In A Streetcar Named Desire, there is a conflict throughout the play between Blanche and Stanley. While Blanche is emotionally unstable, Stanley is too stable, and often gets drunk. The two characters are the main opposing forces. My interpretation led me to believe that they also symbolized decision making. Thought the play, Stella is torn between her sister's side and her husband's side. Towards the end of the book, Stanley rapes Blanche, and it becomes clear that Blanche's side should've been taken. However, Stella chooses to send Blanche to a mental hospital, and stay with Stanley. This resembles making decisions because they are claimed to be the right one by other people. Stella does not choose Stanley out of trust or faith in him, but because she has been taught that the man of the house is in control. Eunice tells her, "Don't ever believe it. Life has got to go on. No matter what happens you've got to keep on going." (Williams 133).
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Kathleen Murray
8/21/2014 08:10:19 am
In the novel Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, “freedom” is perceived differently than what our society believes it is. To the characters in the book, their freedom is depicted as more structured and stricter. The society is limited on what they can do according to their traits they have and jobs they possess. To illustrate, the nurses control what the babies like and dislike by shocking their mindset to change their views. This in effect controls what the babies like and dislike later in life, so they don’t have real freedom. Even by a single movement, they can change the actions of babies later in life. The director can change their view by a push of a button, by saying “watch carefully... (he gave the signal),” (Bradbury 20). The nurses then switch a lever and now the children’s lives are altered. In addition, to our society, freedom is able to say or do what you want. When one has freedom they have rights. They are able to do many things that are not restricted much. However, this conflict of “freedom” vs freedom is really not resolved but there is evidence that supports that freedom before Ford had occurred. Henry Ford suggests that when he says “the records survive[ed]… speeches about liberty of the subject,” (Bradbury 46). This demonstrates that real liberty did exist before their time and they say it was miserable and terrible when really our society knows it is not. This idea of “freedom” may mean something different to each person but it will always mean liberty.
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Kathleen Murray
8/21/2014 08:11:03 am
I worked on this with Emily Bynoe in the english workshop.
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Bobby Villaluz
8/21/2014 09:16:35 am
A prominent contradiction in Aldous Huxley’s novel, Brave New World exists between John’s values of struggle and genuine emotion, and the importance the World Controller places on stability and contentment. John, a character who is an outcast of the outcasts of society, disagrees with the Resident World Controller of Western Europe, Mustapha Mond, who represents the values of future Earth’s unified society. He believes that in order for a stable society to exist where all citizens live happily, things like art, science, literature, and religion must be controlled, if not, eliminated. They all possess the ability to introduce new ideas and change which threaten their society’s precious stability and happiness. This contradicts the uppermost value that John places on these very things: Shakespeare, God, danger, love, and the ability to simply do something wrong. Where Mond represents the values of the world’s current society, John represents what it lacks since he was able to experience it on the “Savage Reservation”, a Native American reservation in America. Bernard, a high-ranking Alpha member of their society, experiences this awareness of an absence at the end of his regular Solidarity Service, a gathering which aims to make the participants feel emotionally connected to their community. After an exciting, intense night with the other participants, Bernard feels, “...as miserably isolated now as he had been when the service began - more isolated by reason of his unreplenished emptiness, his dead satiety” (Huxley 86). This demonstrates how Bernard feels an emotional emptiness. Rather than the service’s soma, screaming, and loud noise that generates artificial excitement and joy, Bernard felt a lack of authentic pleasure and fulfillment. Bernard’s experience at the Solidarity Service exhibits how even in Mond’s world of bliss and security, citizens still sense an absence of what John wants in society.
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Emily Fitzgerald
8/21/2014 12:52:25 pm
In the novel Brave New World, Aldous Huxley portrays Lenina and John to share strong, intense feelings toward one another. However because the two were brought up in two completely different "worlds" (Lenina in the futuristic "Brave New World" and John in the traditional "Savage World") they disagreed on how to approach the relationship. "Zip, Zip. Her answer was wordless. She stepped out of her bell-bottomed trousers." (Huxley 193), Lenina grew up thinking that the natural start of families was strictly prohibited and could potentially interfere with the development and continuation of a "perfect society"; so she allowed herself to be treated like an object by men. John was raised being told that marriage is a great thing and that when you fall in love with somebody you should show your affection by being loyal and loving to them. When Lenina acted the promiscuous the way she did, John felt deeply disrespected and completely disagreed with her. "Safely locked into the bathroom, she has leisure to take stock of her injuries." (Huxley 195). John was so infuriated with Lenina's lack of self respect that he acted out violently toward her. Although they John and Lenina shared the same feelings for each other, they couldn't get anywhere because of their dissimilar ways of showing them.
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Victoria White
8/21/2014 11:42:59 pm
In the novel One Who Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey, there are two very strong opposing forces. These would be the outlooks and views on the mental hospital of those inside and outside of the facility. It is clear that most patients live in constant fear, pain, and/or depression, while those who are not patients think of it as a helpful and positive place. Proof of these elements comes from a very striking phrase said by Chief, a long time patient, after he has been called upon by the orderlies that he fears so much. He says, and I quote, " I hide in the mop closet and listen, my heart beating in the dark, and I try to keep from getting scared, try to get my thoughts off someplace else--" (Kesey 12). This quote clearly shows the feelings of the patients as I can assure you they are mutual among them. On the other hand civilians, and even some staff, feel as though it is a place of good deeds. A place where broken people can be fixed up into better human beings and thrown back out into society, or "the combine" as Chief commonly refers to it. When discussing the outside worlds’ feelings towards the ward it is stated that, "The ward is a factory for the combine. It's for fixing up mistakes made in the neighborhoods and in the schools and in the churches, the hospital is. When a completed product goes back into society, all fixed up good as new..." (Kesey 40). This clearly illustrates multiple things including how "wonderful" it is that the hospital can "fix" someone in such a manner. It is clear to see that this clash of views is a very big element throughout the novel, and is in fact a very debatable topic. In conclusion, I feel it is safe to say that a resolution can be found in those patients, if any, who have successfully completed treatment but, the great flaws and detriments revealed by the many lives lost and ruined forever by the failed treatment which ultimately reigns heavily in favor of the views of those imprisoned inside.
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Paige Whittle
8/22/2014 01:38:31 am
In the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey, the struggle for power between Nurse Ratched, also referred to as the Big Nurse, and Randle McMurphy is evident from the moment McMurphy set foot on the ward. After McMurphy attends the ward meeting, he notices how the Big Nurse manipulates the men into telling each others secrets that may get them in trouble in the future. McMurphy pulls one of the patients, Harding, aside after the meeting to share his observations and tries to get Harding to see the evil in Nurse Ratched. McMurphy’s analogy of the meeting is that it is a “pecking party,” where one chicken in a flock is injured and the rest of the flock picks and pecks at the wound making it deeper and deeper until the chicken is dead. McMurphy asks Harding if he knows who takes the first peck in the pecking party. He answers his own question by saying “‘it’s that old nurse, that’s who”’ (Kesey 55). This is the beginning of McMurphy’s plan to overthrow Nurse Ratched on the ward.
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Bailey Smith
8/22/2014 03:17:55 am
In Brave New World by Aldous Huxley the government controls every aspect of the people’s lives; including emotions. The government produced a drug called soma, which calms and distracts people from reality. Lenina takes soma when she first gets to the Reservation. While Warden is talking Lenina takes half a gramme of soma. Soma controls her responses and makes her agree with everything the Warden says. Lenina says “You don’t say so,” (Huxley 101) to everything the Warden tells her. Some people, like Bernard, fight against the use of soma. When coming back from a wrestling match, he wants to fly by the ocean, but Lenina doesn’t want to and insists that he take some. Bernard says no. He would rather feel free and have legitimate feelings, and not be forced to feel happy and distracted from his natural feelings. Once John realizes that soma is controlling its users, he throws the soma out the window and gets rid of it. John eventually hangs himself because he realizes how disturbing and controlled the world is, and how there is no way to break free from the controlled feelings.
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Jordan Swartz
8/22/2014 04:22:15 am
In the book, One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, by Ken Kesey, there is a deliberate form of torture happening in the ward. For example, before McMurphy arrived, everything was how the Big Nurse wanted it to be, nice and clean where if anyone stepped out of line they would be tortured. But with the arrival of McMurphy, everything changed. There was gambling, and women were brought in and an overall end to the torture for a few people, This then triggered what seemed to me like an all out war on the Big Nurse." I hide in the mop closet and listen, my heart beating in the dark, and I try to keep from getting scared" ( Kesey 12), explaining how Chief tries to evade the nurse and her torture. But, all of their actions are futile because of one thing the nurse does, she waits until they are weak and then tortures them. Towards the end of the book, Chief tells about how he and McMurphy were electrocuted multiple times until it got to the point where it didn't even hurt them. Too me, that is horrible. Treating mental patients like they are some type of animals. No wonder they are so different from the rest of the world, because they were tortured and beat down until they are dumbed down for the nurse to shape them. Easily, it could be argued that the patients are being tortured while they stay at the ward.
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Bryce Barnes
8/22/2014 04:32:43 am
In One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey, the struggle for control over the ward begins between Randle McMurphy and Nurse Ratched (Big Nurse) begins when McMurphy first enters the ward. McMurphy gains control of the ward by being load, joyful, and caring to the other patients, unlike Big Nurse who uses fear and manipulation to control them. McMurphy does not back down and even makes a bet that he will break her control, "...five bucks thats says that I can get the best of that woman -before week's up- without her getting the best of me?"(Kesey 68). Since then, McMurphy openly gambles, defies rules, and challenges every comment made by Big Nurse. Eventually, this tactic works and Miss Ratched looses control. McMurphy goes to far and after one Billy Bibbit commits suicide McMurphy chokes Big Nurse. "The Big Nurse was in Medical for a week..."(Pesey 268). In the end, McMurphy is no longer able to continue these acts of defiance but the other patients keep it up and the Big Nurse will never have control over the ward again.
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Zoe Kralyevich
8/22/2014 05:47:22 am
In One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey, the separation between the Acutes and the Chronics are very prominent .The younger patients are called Acutes because “the doctors figure them still sick enough to be fixed” (Ken Kesey 19) while the older patients are called Chronics because they are “machines with flaws inside that can’t be repaired, flaws born in, or flaws beat in over so many years of the guy running head-on into solid things that by the time the hospital found him he was bleeding rust in some vacant lot” (Ken Kesey 19). The separation between the two groups is caused by age and hope. Age is a bit of obvious because as humans, we naturally interact with other people out own age. But hope is a whole other issue. The Acutes can live every daydreaming about the life outside the walls of the hospital and their future. They can have a whole plan set out for them for when they leave, but the Chronics can’t. They know that they are stuck in the hospital for the rest of their life. They have no hope whatsoever of ever leaving the hospital. This has been going on forever in the hospital, so it had become a sense of normality. By the end of the book, no one officially solves the problem. The segregation of the Acutes and the Chronics will remain until someone is willing to change it. In the beginning of the book, I thought that McMurphy would be the one who changed the way things ran around the hospital, including the separation of the Acutes and the Chronics, but he was unsuccessful.
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Krista Dalton
8/22/2014 07:10:26 am
In the novel Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, Lenina and John have strong feelings for each other. Although they have these feelings, there is a conflict throughout the novel. This conflict is the difference of how Lenina and John express their feelings towards each other. Lenina is one who expresses her feelings in a care-free and pleasurable way. John, on the other hand actually cares about real relationships and feels he has to prove himself. John states, "Why? But for you, for you. Just to show that I..." (Huxley 191). When John is saying this, he means that he wants to do something for Lenina to prove his love. Lenina thinks John is silly for actually "caring" so much about their relationship. As Lenina attempts to seduce John, he screams, "Whore! Impudent strumpet!" (Huxley 194). John then violently pushes her away. It is quite clear that John is disgusted with her "way" of showing that she cares for him. In conclusion, the relationship between Lenina and John fades away because they express their love so differently.
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Ryan Garley
8/22/2014 07:12:37 am
Prisoners We Choose to Live Inside by Doris Lessing, shows several contradictions throughout the five essays. The contradiction between an original person and social person is present. It is shown in Lessing's essay “You are Damned, We are Saved.” Being an original person means you may go along with the group, but think for yourself and don’t constantly act with and or for the group. In oppose to being a social person who goes with the group and acts for the groups’ decisions. Lessing shows us an example of the conflict in, “we can stand in a room full of dear friends, knowing that nine-tenths of them, if the pack demands it, will become our enemies” (Lessing 18). This quote shows the characteristics of a social person when the group demands something.
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Emma Wright
8/22/2014 07:25:48 am
From the very beginning of the play A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams, Stanley and Blanche have been opposing forces. Stanley sees through Blanche’s lies about her proclaimed wealth and doesn’t believe her when she says she fought hard to keep the Bella Reve family estate. He tells Stella, “it looks to me like you have been swindled,” (35). Stanley is hardworking and brutish, while Blanche is aristocratic and untrustworthy. On the other hand, Blanche hates Stanley as well. After he hits Stella, Blanche refers to him as “subhuman” and “ape-like,” (72). He is rude and aggressive toward Blanche and his machoism is intimidating.
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Brenna Bonner
8/22/2014 07:33:59 am
In One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey, two opposing forces are McMurphy and Big Nurse. McMurphy is a patient at the mental hospital which Big Nurse works at. However, Big Nurse does not tell McMurphy and the other patients what medicine she is giving the patients, and this causes a huge conflict in the novel. McMurphy and the other patients do not feel as if they are being told the truth and consider this being totally unfair. McMurphy and the other patients, however, think that Big Nurse is superior when she says that “everyone...must follow the rules” (Kesey 28). McMurphy along with the other struggling patients think of this as injustice and feel as if they are not treated like they should be
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Claire McEvoy
8/22/2014 07:38:54 am
Aldous Huxley's novel "Brave New World" shows an obvious clash between the types of people living in their futuristic world. The savages, humans living off the land without technology and practicing spiritual rituals, are seen as disgusting and abnormal by the humans living in the 'Other Place'. These civilians have different perspectives on many topics compared to the savages; sometimes, their viewpoints are even complete opposites. Where John lived on the Restervation, his mother was hated because of the way she practiced her old ways. She grew up believing that everyone belongs to everyone else and so when she slept with people's husbands without thinking twice, she became hated. When Lenina comes to talk to Linda, she tells her that "nobody's supposed to belong to more than one person. And if you have people in the ordinary way the others think you're wicked and anti-social. They hate and despise you"(Huxley 121). Because of this, it is not a surprise that the civilians and the savages are so opposed. When John comes to the Other Place with his mother, he is held in astonishment because he was not born out of tubes and machinery. When he first reveals himself to his father, the word is described as "merely gross" however significantly more appropriate than mother, which is described as "a pornographic impropriety"(Huxley 151). Where John grew up, words like mother and father were never lowered to that standard. Similar to the world today, mother and father are words of everyday life, and do not cause people to laugh uncomfortably or be disgusted by its mention. The clash between the civilians and the savages is evident in their opinions on different matters. There is not a clear solution to their opposition in this book. I have concluded that after John hung himself at the end, that the civilians and the savages went on living, separated not only by distance but by moral standards as well.
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Jade Glab
8/22/2014 07:41:32 am
In One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey, two opposing forces throughout the book are Nurse Ratched and Randle McMurphy. Nurse Ratched is an evil dictator who is a very strict, cruel and controlling individual. On the contrary, McMurphy is very confident, boisterous and carefree. It is quite obvious that prior to his stay in the mental ward, he had lots of freedom, which definitely did not work well with Nurse Ratched. During McMurphy's stay at the hospital, he was always attempting to irritate the Nurse, which caused an enormous amount of conflict. "Stop! don't you dare. You get back in that dorm and get you're clothes on this instant!" (Kesey 87). This was Nurse Ratched's reaction to McMurphy trying to antagonize her by violating the rules. This, along with many other attempts is what really made both Nurse Ratched and McMurphy oppose each other even more.
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Charlie Weisman
8/22/2014 07:45:31 am
In the novel "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" by Ken Kesey, there are overbearing themes of oppression and defiance. The Big Nurse, Nurse Ratched, and Randle McMurphy clash throughout the novel from the moment McMurphy enters the hospital. Before his arrival, Nurse Ratched had total control over the patients, and anyone who stepped out of line was punished. In my opinion this represents how society oppresses individuals, and how anyone who goes against the norm is given a slap on the wrist. Mcmurphy comes in and stirs things up for Nurse Ratched, by teaching the patients how to fight back and challenge what the Nurse says or does, and bringing in things like gambling. Nurse Ratched, who likes her patients submissive and silent, is visibly shaken by what McMurphy does, while he tries to get a rise out of her whenever he is given the oppurtunity. He even tells the patients " any of you sharpies here willing to take my five bucks that says that I can get the best of that woman -before week's up- without her getting the best of me?"(Kesey 68). McMurphy is the poster boy for revolution and defiance in the novel. In the end, McMurphy is lobotomized for going against Nurse Ratched, and later killed by Chief, who can not stand to see his friend in this decrepit state. Chief smothers McMurphy with a pillow, holding it to McMurphy's face "Until the thrashing stopped."(Kesey 270). In death, McMurphy becomes a martyr to the other patients, giving them hope and reason to live, and inspiring everyone, including Chief, who escapes the asylum after killing McMurphy. This is evidence that even in death, Randle McMurphy won control of the hospital, and that his death was not in vain.
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Emma Westgate
8/22/2014 11:41:03 am
Throughout Ken Kesey’s novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, a reoccurring contradiction is the Big Nurse’s superiority complex and the patients inferiority complex. Harding, one of the patients, makes a point about these two forces. He says, “the rabbits accept their role in the ritual and recognize the wolf as the strong. In defense, the rabbit becomes sly and frightened and elusive and he digs holes and hides when the wolf is about. And he endures, he goes on. He knows his place. He most certainly doesn't challenge the wolf to combat. Now, would that be wise?" (Kesey 60). Harding perfectly describes the ward’s inner workings because the patients feel that they were born to be weaker than Nurse Ratched. They cannot challenge the “wolf” because she is too strong and controls them with machines and medicine. Timid and shy, the patients are the rabbits as they hide from Nurse Ratched. Meanwhile, the Big Nurse deems herself superior to the patients and controls everyone with her acclaimed power. These two contradictions are resolved when the patients realize that their sense of inferiority was mostly in their heads. Many start to stand up to the Big Nurse and “everything [changes]. Selfet and Fredrickson signed out together, and two days later another three Acutes left” (Kesey 263). The patients finally realize that they have the power to leave. Likewise, the nurse’s superiority diminishes when she no longer has control over the patients. The false power that she once obtained diminishes because she can’t bully the inmates at the ward. The contradicting forces are no longer an issue because Big Nurse and the patients can be called “equals.”
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Will Grant
8/22/2014 12:00:16 pm
In the novel"Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley, there are lots of characters with differing views and opinions. However, one that stands out to me is the differences in the way Lenina views life and how John who is an outsider views life. John bases all of his values off the works and beliefs of William Shakespeare. For example, John believes that relationships should be long lasting whereas the World State and Lenina believes that relationships should only be "one night stands". Also, Lenina believes that the best form of getting to know somebody is having sex with them whereas John believes that having a deep conversation with somebody is the best way to get to know the person. This has made John an outcast in the state. Furthermore, Henry Foster, Lenina's main lover so to speak tells John,"I really do advise you to try her"(Huxley 46). This shows how the World State feels about love compared to John. John feels that love is sacred and should be treasured and that cheating is wrong. After this, Lenina starts to seduce John, and attempts to have a one night stand with him. This does not sit well with John as he was "slashing her with his whip of chords"(Huxley 257). John does this because he wanted to have a long lasting relationship with Lenina; however, Lenina wanted to have just a one night stand which is very common in that society.
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Connor McCarthy
8/22/2014 12:14:11 pm
In the novel A Brave New World written by Aldous Huxley citizens struggle with the compatibility of the truth and happiness. Most citizens run from the truth to hide in their bubble of happiness. Soma helps the people achieve the happy hallucinations. “You've got to choose between happiness and what people used to call high art. We've sacrificed the high art.” (Huxley 226). This quote exemplifies that many people choose happiness over the truth of life. Although in this quote a higher art means literature i felt as though it could have also been perceived as the truth. the truth that most of the world chooses to neglect in everyday life. The truth that has to come with the chance of disappointment and pain. The truth that comes with real emotion and not drug induced reactions. The situation may never be resolved because as long as happiness can be achieved without any chance of pain people will take it. Although a person needs to feed of off pain and turn it into something good the sadness that it may bring could be too unappealing so some people would choose not to feel it. in the book the same happens and the situation doesn't have a complete solution and it may never come.
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Aidan Smith
8/22/2014 12:15:42 pm
In the novel, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, John and Mustapha Mond have different visions on what the world should be. Mustapha Mond sees the world as a “brave new world” that uses science to breed children and create stability. Mustapha Mond says ”you can only be independent of God while you’ve got youth and prosperity; independence won’t take you safely to the end” (Huxley 223). Mustapha means that the brave new world will take you to the end and being a savage will get you nowhere.On the other hand, John views the world with emotion and remembers history fondly. John rebels against the “new world” in which he lives and is at odds with Mustapha’s belief’s. John soon realizes that the older world and the brave new world can not coexist. This realization causes John to give up and hang himself. He can’t accept the unacceptable (brave new world) and there “just under the crown of the arch dangled a pair of feet” (Huxley 259).
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Kevin Laughlin
8/22/2014 01:12:36 pm
In the play, "A Streetcar Named Desire" by Tennessee Williams, the main opposing forces are Blanche and Stanley. Stanley is very skeptical of Blanche once he hears that Blanche has given up Bella Reve, for his own selfish reasons. After no paper work is present from what is believed to be a sale of Bella Reve by Blanche, Stan becomes angry and critical of her saying, "Open your eyes to this stuff! You think she got them out of a teacher's pay?" (Williams 35) Stanley believes Blanche is using all the money earned from selling the Bella Reve for herself. Blanche's presence angers Stanley and it begins to affect Stan and Stella's relationship. Stanley really dislikes Blanche for not sharing what was earned from the Bella Reve sale. His dislike for not only Blanche but also his wife is shown when Blanche asks to join Stan and he responds, "You could not. Why don't you women go up and sit with Eunice?" (Williams 48) Later in the play, Stanley becomes so frustrated with Blanche and Stella, physically abusing both. Stanley seemed a little unreasonable and selfish after not receiving money when Blanche sold the Bella Reve.
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Max Lane
8/22/2014 01:21:57 pm
In Brave new world by Aldous Huxley, the futuristic civilized people and the uncivilized people live different lives compared to one another. Unlike the civilized people who are genetically born into labs, the uncivilized people are born normally and have families. After visiting a savage reservation, Lenina finds how they have babies and is disgusted. This shows that the civilized people live differently and look down upon the uncivilized people. When they take a savage back to where they live the savage is confused because he thought that the way he lived was better than it actually was. After finding out how each other live the two groups realize that they live very different lives compared to each other.
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Isabella Ramos
8/22/2014 01:37:34 pm
In Aldous Huxley's novel Brave New World, it has become apparent that the castes represent 'opposing figures' in some ways. In the futuristic society in which this novel takes place, there are five castes. The castes are very similar to what we would call social classes. People are grouped together based on their caste and separated accordingly.
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Connor McLoone
8/22/2014 01:40:25 pm
In Ken Keseys novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo Nest, two of the opposing forces, McMurphy and Nurse Ratched could not be more different. McMurphy is a loud, outgoing, insane man while Nurse Ratched is a stickler for the rules and doesn't take any nonsense. Therefore, the two of them butt heads constantly throughout the novel. Right off the bat you can see McMurphy is very outgoing"My name is McMurphy, buddies,R.P. McMurphy, and I'm a gambling fool" (Kesey 16) and this is just the start of it. Throughout the novel he is constantly pushing everybodys buttons, but mostly Nurse Ratched. They go back in forth constantly in this book but eventually it all comes t an end. Nurse Ratched grows tired of McMurphy. He is taken to get a lobotomy and ends up being put out of his misery because Chief Bromden kills him. Even though McMurphy is dead he has definitely impacted everyone in the mental hospital including Nurse Ratched. This is shown in the quote "There’s no doubt in my mind that McMurphy won, but I’m not sure what" (kesey).I found the ending extremely unfortunate but it really impacts the reader.
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Connor McLoone
8/22/2014 01:41:03 pm
I worked with Jack Mangold on this
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Tierney Baldwin
8/23/2014 11:51:18 pm
Throughout Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, McMurphy and the Big Nurse compete to boost their egos and gain authority, and at various points, they appear to be evenly matched. When Miss Ratched attempts to intimidate McMurphy in the beginning of the novel by towering over him, “eyes whirring while she tries to gauge this new man” (Kesey 27), McMurphy simply “looks up at her with one eye for a moment, … grins [while t]hey smile back and forth at each other, sizing each other up,” (Kesey 28) and refuses to do what she says. Unfortunately, this is only the beginning of their feud; their battle rages on for the entire novel, ultimately appearing to end in Miss Ratched’s favor when she turns McMurphy into a vegetable, nothing more than a “head dented into [a] pillow, [with] a swirl of red hair over a face milk-white except for the heavy purple bruises around the eyes” (Kesey 269). However, one could also validly argue that McMurphy won the war between them. To clarify, despite how McMurphy is unable to express himself at all now, his “presence still tromp[s] up and down the halls laughing out loud in the meetings and singing in the latrines” (Kesey 269), and he is actually stronger than ever. On the other hand, the Big Nurse has to live with and experience the consequences. “She couldn’t rule with her old power any more … [and] was losing her patients one after the other. After Harding signed out and was picked up by his wife, and George transferred to a different ward, just three of [them] were left out of the group that had been on the fishing crew” (Kesey 269). She has become a mere shadow of who she was before, flinching from patients, and scared of every movement. So, even though McMurphy lost his life, his ‘punishment’ is actually better than Miss Ratched’s, for he will never be able to register and experience it, whereas she is consciously aware of the effects and must live with them.
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Hannah Noglows
8/24/2014 03:39:51 am
In Brave New World written by Aldous Huxley, the characters realize a difference in naturally made humans and genetically made people. In the novel, there are offspring who are made between two adults; however, there are also offspring made genetically in labs as well. Genetically made people are made to be more fit for the environment. The government decides what kinds of jobs are needed and then create offspring to complete those jobs. The employees at the hatchery, where genetically made offsprings are formulated, create “ninety-six identical twins working ninety-six identical machines” (Huxley 7). Genetically made people are all identical. On the other hand, natural made people are created between two adults. The offspring has characteristics from both parents, and no two children are the same. All naturally made people are born into families and not into a factory. Children that are made naturally and between two people “[are] brought up by [them] and not in State Conditioning Centres”(Huxley 24). As the novel progresses the differences between naturally made people and genetically made people is vastly shown.
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Hannah Noglows
8/24/2014 03:40:39 am
I worked on this with Grace Dengler and Victoria Sullivan in the workshop.
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Emilie Weiner
8/25/2014 11:05:46 am
In Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, one of the primary conflicts is how Bernard initially sees the society in which he lives and the way the others see it and utilize it. "[He] absolutely refused to take the half-gramme raspberry sundae which she pressed upon him. 'I'd rather be myself,' he said. 'Myself and nasty. Not somebody else, however jolly.'" At the beginning of the novel, Bernard was one of the Brave New World that craved to feel and be more than what he was in the confines of the society. But by the time fame and attention got to his head, he too was reduced to succumbing to the soma and its affects on him. "[Bernard] was ashamed of his jealousy and alternately made efforts of will and took soma to keep himself from feeling it. But the efforts were not successful; and between the soma-holidays were, of necessity, intervals. The odious sentiment kept on returning."
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Abigail Joyce
8/25/2014 12:19:49 pm
In the novel Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, we are immediately thrown into a dystopian society called the World State in which rigid control of reproduction through technological and medical intervention, otherwise known as the Bokanovsky Process, is cast upon the individuals who inhabit it. The Bokanovsky process is, to put it simply, an organizational method in which identical human embryos are separated into 5 different castes: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, and Epsilon. Each caste is conditioned by different means to lead different lives and fill different positions in the World State, Alphas being the ones destined to become leaders and thinkers of the World State and Epsilons destined to perform meaningless labor for the entirety of their lives. One man in particular by the name of Hemholtz Watson, a member of the Alpha caste, exemplifies everything the World State intended him to be. Hemholtz is incredibly handsome, strikingly intelligent, and strong to boot. That being said, the contradiction I wish to expand upon is the fact that, although Hemholtz exemplifies every aspect of the perfect World State member, he is dissatisfied and resents the World State for making him "too smart" and giving him an ability to see through most things, metaphorically that is. "Helmholtz Watson had also become aware of his difference from the people who surrounded him. This Escalator-Squash champion, this indefatigable lover (it was said that he had had six hundred and forty different girls in under four years), this admirable committee man and best mixer had realized quite suddenly that sport, women, communal activities were only, so far as he was concerned, second bests."(Huxley 59). Despite this mental excess gifted to Hemholtz, as we begin to explore the novel further this separation most people see within Hemholtz becomes more and more grey. Upon meeting John, the protagonist, Hemholtz is introduced to the work of Shakespeare. Despite his ability to see the genius in Shakespeare's poetry, he is unable to grasp the concepts set forth. Concepts such as mothers, fathers, and marriage are all vulgar to Mr. Watson whereas John, being raised outside of the World State, romanticizes these very same themes. "Mother, monogamy, romance. High spurts the fountain; fierce and foamy the wild jet. The urge has but a single outlet. My love, my baby. No wonder those poor pre-moderns were mad and wicked and miserable." (Huxley 214). From this we can conclude that, although it is a tangible notion that one could potentially be set above a predestined caste, one can never escape the culture which one has been raised in. For example, Mr. Hemholtz Watson.
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Dannielle Wolf
8/26/2014 02:30:01 am
In Doris Lessing's Prisons We Choose to Live Inside, there is a constant battle between resorting to instinctual barbarism every human has or looking to ourselves to view our errors, and then correct them. When humans are faced with a problem, there are three ways it can be dealt with. The first two are known as the fight or flight responses. One can resort to barbaric war, or one can turn around and flee without giving the problem a second thought. There is, however, one more response that people often forget because no one likes to admit fault. As a species, humans do not like to view and observe themselves and see their wrongdoings. Lessing says that when we look to the past people love to see how far we have come, the improvements we've made on ourselves. Yet in present day, immediate improvement of ourselves is almost never considered. Humans do not like to see faults in themselves. "Our left hand does not know-does not want to know-what our right hand does." (Lessing 5) So instead, we go to war, blame other countries, and kill each other, searching for answers. Or we ignore the problem and pretend that it will go away if we turn a blind eye to it long enough. These solutions are often not permanent and quite useless as time continues. When we look at ourselves as a part of the problem rather than the end, these issues will become more clear and easier to find a synthesis for any problem that comes in to the light. "By using our freedoms, I do not mean just joining demonstrations, political parties, and so on and so forth, which is only part of the democratic process, but examining ideas, from whatever source they come, to see how they may usefully contribute to our lives and to the societies we live in." (Lessing 78) Here she says that we must learn to come into ourselves. We must learn that we have individual freedoms, that blindly nodding along with a group won't make a difference. We must develop our free-thinking minds to form our own opinions, to try and change our own corners of the world for the better. We can either resort to barbarism or ignorance, or we can look to ourselves for the conflict and understand that even though we are part of the problem, we can also be the ones to fix it.
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Sean Murphy
8/26/2014 01:02:19 pm
Two apposing forces in Ken Kesey's novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest includes Big Nurse and McMurphy. Big Nurse is a creature of habit, who has complete control over everyone in the mental institution and makes them follows a day to day schedule. McMurphy, however, is a force of pure chaos who attempts to replace the nurse as the top dog. It is McMuphy's goal to cause as much havoc and distress to the nurse's system as much as possible. One example of this is when McMurphy wants to watch the world series. The nurse, unwilling to let McMurphy change her ways responds by saying "the schedule has been set up for a delicately balanced reason that would be thrown into turmoil by the switch of routines" (Kesey 104-105). In one of the meetings however, McMurphy convinces Nurse Ratchet to put watching the world series up to a vote. The whole thing blows up in McMurphy's face however, because almost everyone else is afraid to vote with McMurphy and against the Nurse. This minor setback does not deter McMurphy, as he attempts to initiate another vote at the next meeting. This time, twenty people voted to watch baseball, but there were forty people in the ward, and since it was not a majority, the nurse calls the vote closed. McMurphy desperatly goes through the chronic patients asking them to vote, and he finally got chief to vote. "Twenty-One! The Chief's vote makes it twenty one! And by God if that ain't a majority I'll eat my hat!" (Kesey 126). The nurse refuses to accept the last vote however, stating that the vote was already closed. McMurphy retaliates by watching the blank TV pretending the world series is on with all the other patients while the nurse screams at them to get back to cleaning. McMurphy may have won that battle, and many others against the nurse, Miss Ratchet won the war. After the mental warfare between McMurphy and the Nurse became physical in the end of the book, Nurse Ratchet ordered that McMurphy receive a lobotomy, turning him into a vegetable.Poor McMurphy's vegetative state leads his friend Chief to put him out of his misery by smoothering him, leaving the Big Nurse to be the winner of a conflict between pure chaos and cruel order.
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Elijah Nishiura
8/27/2014 01:21:21 am
In the novel "A Streetcar named Desire", two characters have extremely different opinions on the relationship between and couple. Stanley is simply a man who feels that he needs to show his authority. He is tough and when drunk can become aggressive. Blanche, Stanley's sister in-law, is a strong woman who looks to the best of people but will also stand up for what she believes. As Stanley violently beats his wife after a card game, Blanche makes sure Stanley knows that she does not think that he is a good husband and feels her sister Stella should leave him. After Blanche repeatedly tells Stella that she is not being treated right and that it is no home to raise children, Stanley feels completely tormented by Blanche. After Stanley feels it is the last straw, he brutally rapes Blanche. This is simply the kind of man he is, the kind of person who will get physical if he doesn't get what he wants. That is why him and Blanche just don't go together because she is not satisfied until she get what she feels is right. They both feel that what they believe in is right and refuse to listen to eachother. “Some things are not forgiveable. Deliberate cruelty is not forgiveable. It is the most unforgiveable thing in my opinion, and the one thing in which I have never, ever been guilty.” Blanche says in reply to Stanley's mistreat of his wife. Unfortunately, the overall issue is never resolved, Blanche just removes herself from the situation and Stanley simply doesn't change.
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James Latimer
8/30/2014 10:24:25 am
Two opposing forces that cause conflict are Blanche DuBios and Stanley Kowalski in "A Streetcar Named Desire", by Tennessee Williams. Blanche moves in with Stanley and Stella due to "losing" her property in Mississippi. Stanley does not believe that Blanche could have just "lost" her property, and becomes suspicious of her. "All right. I'll wait till she gets through soaking in a hot tub and then I'll inquire if she is acquainted with the Napoleonic code. It looks to me like you have been swindled, baby, and when you're swindled under the Napoleonic code I'm swindled too. And I don't like to be swindled." (Williams 35). Stanley also snoops through Blanche's belongings, finding jewelry and expensive items, and suspects that she would not have been able to purchase them through the teaching job's salary she is provided. He suspects that Blanche actually sold the property and is lying to both of them. Throughout the novel, Stanley investigates each lie that Blanche tells them, including resigning from her teaching job. He finds out that she was actually fired from her job as a result of a "situation" with a 17 year old student. He then finds out that Blanche had been asked to leave the Flamingo Hotel, (one of her old residences) permanently, due to her lifestyle as a prostitute. "Things I already suspected. But now i got proof from the most reliable sources--which I have checked on!" (Williams 98). The clash between these two characters is resolved when Blanche is taken into a mental hospital due to her recent illusions of Shep Huntleigh.
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Mikayla Byron
8/31/2014 11:41:40 am
Two opposing forces in the novel Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley, are the civilized citizens and the savages. The savages way of living is strange and humorous to the civilized people and vice versa. For example, they didn't understand why the savages participated in monogamy if "everyone belongs to everyone else". In return, a savage, John, could not understand why his mother Linda was intimate with many men. The clash between the two societies is shown when savage men walked past Lenina while at the New Mexico reservation. "The men came nearer and nearer; their dark eyes looked at her, but without giving any sign of recognition...The men passed." She reacted by saying "I don't like it," said Lenina. "I don't like it" (Huxley 109). The savages did not pay any attention to Lenina, however she still felt a strong disgust for them. As the novel progresses, the conflict between the two societies was not officially resolved. However, when John entered into the civilized society of London, he became overwhelmed that it eventually led to his suicide. "Just under the crow of the arch dangled a pair of feet" (Huxley 259). Ultimately the conflict is ended in this way.
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Jack McNally
8/31/2014 02:38:17 pm
Is McMurphy in the wrong for trying to bring an exciting and rebellious lifestyle to the mental hospital? Or is Nurse Ratched wrong for trying to keep everybody doing exactly what she says? In “One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest”, by Ken Kesey, R.P. McMurphy and Nurse Ratched are in a constant power struggle over the patients in the mental hospital that Nurse Ratched runs. McMurphy arrived at the mental hospital towards the begging of the book, and immediately began to question and break the rules Nurse Ratched had created. This is something none of the other patients at the mental hospital were ever brave enough to do. For example he “asked if it would be okay if [the patients] did the cleaning work at night, during TV time, and watched the [the World Series] during the afternoon.” (104) Big Nurse wouldn’t allow this, so McMurphy tries to sneak out of the mental hospital. Some might say that McMurphy is wrong for disrupting a system of order in the mental hospital. This system works well in the eyes of Nurse Ratched, so it would make sense to say that McMurphy defying her rules is a wrong thing to do. However this could be argued against, because one could say that the system Nurse Ratched has put in place doesn’t work, and that she is treating the patients poorly, and changing who they are through shock therapy, which is wrong. In my opinion, they are both wrong for doing what they did. McMurphy is a rabble-rouser who looks to cause trouble where there is none. He went to mental hospital pretending to be mentally ill, so he could avoid going to jail for raping a girl. Nurse Ratched is in the wrong for trying to control the patients in the mental hospital more than they need to be controlled. She doesn’t give them any freedom or rights, and she humiliates them in front of the other patients so they don’t have any confidence to stand up for themselves. The only way this conflict is solved is by Nurse Ratched giving electroshock therapy to McMurphy, so much so, he can no longer function normally and he stops causing problems. She left him to “sit there in the day room with his name tacked on for twenty or thirty years so [she] could use him as an example of what can happen if you buck the system” (270).
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Alma Sanchez
9/1/2014 01:57:15 am
In Aldous Huxley's a Brave New World, two opposing forces are the form of love of which Lenina and John believe in. John definition of love comes the books he has read, where chastity is very important, and that marriage is sacred. He believes that a man must always be noble towards the woman that he loves, "I'd like to undergo something nobly. Don't you see?" ( page 190) John believes that love must be earned, and that Lenin deserves something great for him to be able to earn her love. However, Lenina's idea of love is the opposite of chastity. Lenina does not believe in being attached to someone emotionally. She only knows the physical side of relationships, "I wanted you so much. And if you wanted me too, why didn't you?..." (page 192) Lenina does not understand restraining yourself from your desires. However, John not only understand restraining yourself, but he believes that is the only path. These two characters, while both have feeling towards one another, can not express themselves in way the other one understands. These two forms of love are the result of the society they have come from, and therefore show us the different points of view from their society, regarding love. Throughout the whole novel, love is a two sided idea, in Lenina's case, where it is almost nonexistent. In John's case, it is was ultimately his downfall.
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Sierra Lopez
9/1/2014 11:49:04 am
In Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley, John deals with his emotions differently than the others in London. John deals with his emotions, while everyone else drinks soma whenever they feel the least bit unhappy. They even have sayings, such as "A gramme is better than a damn," (55) which is said quite often, and "One cubic centimetre cures ten gloomy...," (60), and although that phrase was never finished, it was still talking about using soma to maintain a constant feeling of euphoric happiness. However, John expresses his emotions, like on page 192, where he says "I love you more than anything in the world," to Lenina, telling her that he loves her instead of drinking soma to get rid of his emotions, although she doesn't understand love. Ultimately, John choosing to deal with his emotions leads to him dealing with his guilt by ending his life, while everyone drinking soma lives on, still quite happy in their lives.
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Shaye Gilmartin
9/1/2014 01:18:34 pm
In the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey we see early on two opposing forces, Nurse Ratched and Randle McMurphy. The two struggle for power and have different ideas of how the ward should be run. McMurphy, a mental patient, is a very arrogant man who doesn’t listen to the rules and always argues with Nurse Ratched. On the other hand, Nurse Ratched is a vey controlling, stubborn woman who needs everything to go her way. She likes to have a very tight and strict schedule for all the patients. McMurphy, however tries to change her schedule she has set for them when he asks to have the TV time changed to the afternoon so he can watch the World Series game. Nurse Ratched allows him to take a poll when she says, “Everyone in favor of changing the television time to the afternoon, raise his hand” (Kesey 124). However everyone knows Nurse Ratched will not allow the TV time to be changed, because that would mean she’s letting McMurphy win. McMurphy though continues on arguing with her. Further into the story McMurphy began to win against Nurse Ratched, but she grew tired of him and had him sent to get a lobotomy. The lobotomy completely changed McMurphy, turning him into a vegetable. Chief can’t stand seeing the strongest man turn into the weakest, so to put McMurphy out of his misery he kills him. “There is no doubt in my mind that McMurphy won, but I’m not sure what” (Kesey). In that quote Kesey is saying that McMurphy sure did win because he impacted all the patients and influenced them, however he in the end did end up dead. McMurphy and Nurse Ratched’s little feud was never fully resolved, but it did come to an end.
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Tyler Lewis
9/2/2014 06:37:26 am
In every story each character and important object projects a certain morality. Sometimes it’s left up to the reader to decide whether or not that object or character is good, evil, or neutral. In the case of Brave New World soma is portrayed by everyone except our protagonists John, Helmholtz, and Bernard as one of the greatest things since sliced bread. John, Bernard, and Helmholtz all see soma for what it truly is a drug. Both the average people and our protagonists have different statements about how useful it is.
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Emma Keegan
9/2/2014 01:40:15 pm
In the early parts of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" by Ken Kesey, readers can detect opposing feelings on the ways the ward should be run. Randle P. McMurphy believes in freedom, fun and games, gambling, and excitement which contrasts from Nurse Ratched who believes in her strict, nonsensical ways. Before Randle the ward ran smoothly and patients kept their opinions to themselves. The two opposing forces clash heads multiple times throughout the book. In the first Group Meeting for McMurphy tests the limits of Nurse Ratched. She goes off on her own and reads through his envelope of information. Afterwards Randle speaks with Harding and says " Is this the usual pro-cedure for these group Thre'py shindigs? Bunch of chickens at a peckin' party ( Kesey 55) ?" Harding becomes defensive and explains the Ratched- controlled lifestyle of the ward and how she can ask one mere question to a patient and they struggle to answer and give her reasons to write down things about them, that she can use against the patients. She intimidates all the patients, "the rabbits" who "need a good strong wolf like the nurse to teach us our place" (Kesey 61). As time goes on during the novel, McMurphy turns the gears in the patients’ heads and makes them think about how things are run. He takes the men on field trips, causes ward votes when things aren’t going right, brings in prostitutes for a ward party. After his ward party Randle attacks Big Nurse and beats her because she causes Billy to commit suicide. This attack shakes the nurse up so she sends him to undergo a lobotomy. This procedure turned Randle into a "vegetable” and he is now expressionless and unable to cause trouble. But it was still too late for Nurse Ratched, she had lost her edge. She has to live with the fact that she is scared of her patients and can’t solve all her problems by writing on a piece of paper. “She tried to get her ward back into shape, but it was difficult with McMurphy’s presence still tromping up and down the halls and laughing out loud in the meetings and singing in the latrine. She couldn’t rule with her old power anymore, not by writing things on pieces of paper. She was losing her patients one after the other” (Kesey 269). In conclusion, the real resolution to the battle between Big Nurse is Randle he had eventually caused her to crack and she realized she could not be the authority anymore, and McMurphy changed the way things were run and brought confidence and freedom to the patients.
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Shannon O'Donnell
9/3/2014 04:08:47 am
In the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, by Ken Kesey, a central contradiction is how the patients are inferior to the superior Big Nurse. Harding, one of the main patients in the novel, says, “The rabbits accept their role in the ritual and recognize the wolf as the strong. In defense, the rabbit becomes sly and frightened and elusive and he digs holes and hides when the wolf is about. And he endures, he goes on. He knows his place. He most certainly doesn't challenge the wolf to combat" (60). This shows how the patients feel like they are meant to be inferior to Big Nurse. The patients act as the rabbits in that they hide from Big Nurse. As the intimidating wolf, Big Nurse controls the patients by drugging them and using machines on them, making her superior. The contradictions are finally resolved when the patients see that their inferiority was all in their minds. They realize that they are human beings, just like Big Nurse. Some of them begin to stand up to her. Big Nurse’s superiority ceases to exist once she cannot control her patients. Some of the patients’ inferiority disappears when they realize that they can leave the mental hospital. Chief Bromden, the narrater, writes, “Everything is changing. Sefelt and Fredrickson signed out together Against Medical Advice, and two days later another three Acutes left …” (268). The contradicting forces are somewhat eliminated because the Big Nurse and the patients now have the same amount of power.
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Madison Ciccone
9/3/2014 07:24:39 am
In the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kessey, it is clear there is contradiction between the two forces, Nurse Ratched and McMurphy. Nurse Ratched is superior to everyone else in the ward. However, McMurphy and Nurse Ratched tend to clash heads. They have two completely different ideas of how the ward should be run. Nurse Ratched feels the ward should be treated as a dictatorship, where she is in control of everything and anything that goes on. Whereas McMurphy runs it in a way of a democracy, feeling that everyone should have a say. McMurphy even feels taking votes is an equitable way to find the overall opinion. McMurphy states "Everyone in favor of changing the television time to the afternoon raise his hand" (Kessey 124). McMurphy also brought entertainment into the ward like gambling and prostitutes , which was frowned upon by Nurse Ratched. Nurse Ratched is not too fond of this idea because she feels that what she says goes and no one els's opinions matter. Her way of running the ward was by writing things on a piece of paper, she felt this way could defeat all people opposed against her. This resolves when McMurphy passes away because people took what McMurphy said and acted upon it.They felt his way of doing things was right and therefore stood up for what they believed in. With McMurphy's guidance, the patients felt that they hold an importance in the ward. Nurse Ratched took a steep down, feeling scared of the patients. "She couldn't rule with her old power anymore, not by writing things on pieces of paper. She was losing her patients one after the other." (Kessey 269). In the end, the problem is resolved when everyone had to come to the realization that with confidence and poise in one self all can be in your favor.
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Griffin Perry
9/3/2014 11:02:47 am
In Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, humans are scientifically bred by other humans to specific traits then controlled through their whole lives by a drug. In this dystopian future, the drug "soma" allows humans to escape everyday stress and worries while keeping them young and alive. Everyone in the city takes this drug to keep them young and all the same, believing that "a gramme [of soma] is always better than a damn" (Huxley 90). John, the savage, doesn't believe in the medicine making everyone the same and believes in free thought and being an individual. He contrasts with the vast majority of society which makes him an outcast. He butts heads with Mond, one of the leaders of The World State where the Savage believes humans should live life naturally, reading books and taking time to enjoy their surroundings. Mond believes this creates war and fights and that's the last thing they want in the World State. If "anything unpleasant should somehow happen, why, there’s always soma to give you a holiday from the facts", creating a level playing field for all of the citizens in the city (Huxley 237). This quarrel results in John separating himself from the World State in a lighthouse in the woods. After thinking angrily for long hours and confronting citizens, he takes his own life to escape from the terrifying world he lives in. This synthesis not only ends Mond's and John's disagreement, it kills off any belief that humans should speak for themselves on behalf of John's death.
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Alexandra LeLand
9/3/2014 11:31:57 am
In One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey, Nurse Ratched and Randle McMurphy are constantly fighting with each other for power in the ward. Upon admittance, McMurphy immediately ignores all of the nurse's rules and shows that he doesn't fear her, like everyone else. He is responsible for changing the dim atmosphere for the patients, while she tries to keep everything; including him, under control. An example is when McMurphy and the guys try to watch a game on television that is not on during their viewing time. To annoy Nurse Ratched, the patients sit in front of the blank screen and narrate the game, as if it were on. Another example is when McMurphy asks if the volume of the music can be lowered. "Can't you even ease down the volume?" (Kesey, page 95) McMurphy makes a bet with with the guys that by the end of the week, he will make Nurse Ratched loose her cool. By getting under her skin, he believes he can take over power in the ward. After being strangled by McMurphy, the nurse orders that he have a lobotomy. Afterwards, Chief Bromden suffocates him in his sleep, so that he doesn't have to be miserable anymore. In my opinion, although it seems that Nurse Ratched had complete control, I feel she was defeated by McMurphy. "She tried to get her ward back into shape, but it was difficult with McMurphy's presence still tromping up and down the halls and laughing out loud in the meetings and singing in the latrines," (Kesey page 268). In One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, McMurphy had a lasting effect on the ward, the patients and Nurse Ratched. ( I worked on this with Ellie Farrington in the workshop)
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Phoebe Carr
9/3/2014 11:48:59 am
In Ken Kesey's One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, two opposing forces seem to be Chief's prosperity and McMurphy's prosperity. Throughout the book, McMurphy continues to help Bromden, encourage him to talk and to reach his full potential. With Randle's help, Bromden becomes "bigger" and "bigger" of a person, more confident and physically stronger (though that is debatable). As he continues to mentor Chief, McMurphy gets farther in trouble with the Big Nurse. Bromden is starting to see past his fog when McMurphy is sent to disturbed for electroshock therapy. For example, Chief says, barely prompted and in front of Harding and some other men, "I figure I'm all right. I just don't know where I want to go yet..." (Kesey, 257). Mere pages later McMurphy attacks Nurse Ratched and is sent to disturbed. When things start to get better for Bromden, they get worse for McMurphy. In the end, Bromden is a new man, ready to break out of the hospital with his friend, while McMurphy is barely a man at all, unable to communicate or think for himself. "The big, hard body had a tough grip on life. It fought a long time against having it taken away" (Kesey, 270). The use of the phrase "the body" here shows how the man wasn't McMurphy any longer, just a shell of himself. Just after this, Bromden musters up the strength to break out of the hospital; where McMurphy's strength fails, Chief's performs.
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Edith torres
9/3/2014 11:49:40 am
What is the real meaning behind the books that the firemen burn? Is it the knowledge received from them or is it the emotions that the firemen have lost their grip on? As Guy montag's story progresses it is hinted about just what could be the messages these symbols, books, bring. For the emotions, think back to the time montag read the poetry book. "Mrs. Phelps was crying. the others in the middle of the desert watched her crying grow very loud as her face squeezed itself out of shape. they sat, not touching her, bewildered with her display. She sobbed uncontrollably. montag himself was stunned and shaken."(Bradbury, 100) the part about them being in a desert showed how they weren't used to emotions that break into lively tears, and how refreshing it could be like water. there's also the example of when Beatty tells montag his dream he was hinting to him how he knows montag was reading books. "'Knowledge is power!' and 'A dwarf on a giant's shoulder sees the farthest of the two!'"(Bradbury, 107) Beatty read books as well and it was obvious that he saw the power in knowing things no matter how much he was against the written word. Leave your thoughts on this idea,to show how you perceived Bradbury's point of view, on books.
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Edith torres
9/3/2014 12:58:49 pm
i didn't mean to post this here so this is the real blog:
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Kristen Wimmer
9/4/2014 10:45:39 am
Two opposing forces present in the novel "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" by Ken Kesey are R.P. McMurphy, and Harding. It's a less obvious rivalry that takes place between the tough, brawling alpha, and the more reserved, quick-to-anger, individual. The opposition began at about the time that McMurphy set foot on the ward and immediately challenged his leadership of the ward. They fought over who was crazier, not in a boisterous, fist-fighting way, but it is evident for one to see that tensions were very high. McMurphy also challenged the authority of the ward very quickly, which Harding disagreed with. For example, in the beginning of the novel makes the remark that the Big Nurse is "pecking...at your balls buddy, your everlovin' balls". (57) What he means by this is that Big Nurse, rather than helping the patients is simply hurting them by making them fear her, and never questioning her methods. Harding rebuttals by stating "our Miss Ratched is a veritable angel of mercy, and just everybody knows it."(58) However shortly after he admits that McMurphy is right, and that is when the two become somewhat of a team, leading the ward to question and challenge the things they had been brainwashed to believe for such a long time. By the end of the novel, when Big Nurse tries to get the patients to turn on McMurphy, Harding defends him by saying he was a good guy, even if he did take their money. All in all, McMurphy inflicted a positive change on Harding by helping him open his eyes to the faults and atrocities of the ward, even if it it started with them disagreeing.
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