For your final blog assignment, you will compare and contrast the way two characters in any of the three works (F451, Cuckoo's, Streetcar) use language to gain power over others. This will be due by midnight on Friday, 8/26. To complete this task you'll need to know a little bit about how power works, so start out by watching this animated TED video with theorist/activist Eric Liu: How to Understand Power As you watch, think about how you might apply this to the way characters try to exert power over each other through their speech. Do they use particular words, explain particular ideas, or talk in certain ways that let them wield power over overs as Liu describes? If you need a little more guidance, check out the slides below, which explain how another theorist, Norman Fairclough, connects language and power in analyzing conversations:
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Brendan Loftus
8/24/2016 02:16:42 pm
When comparing the books, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and A Streetcar Named Desire, you begin to notice similar patterns characters interact with each other. Nurse Ratched and Stanley Kowalski both use language to oppress all those around them into submission. Nurse Ratched specifically uses her personal knowledge of the patients to crush resistance in her ward, while Stanley uses his animal sexuality to destroy Blanche and subjugate Stella. The Nurse will hint and allude to the patient's destruction; the most notable being the case of Billy Bibbit. Ratched neither directly threatened Billy or challenged him directly. She informed the poor man that she would tell his mother of his indiscretion with Candy (the prostitute who had oh-so recently taken Billy’s virginity), something Billy found so horrifying that he killed himself. Stanley takes a different, more direct approach; after he exposes and verbally wrecks Blanche, he rapes her, destroying her happiness. He utilizes physical force in order to cement his power. Nurse Ratched has a more subtle hand, granted, but although their methods are different, the results are equally disturbing and horrible. They use their power-by-language to punish those they see fit to punish, and both actively destroy those who try to challenge it. Nurse Ratched’s emasculation and vegetation of McMurphy and Stanley’s rape of Blanche are both villains crowning achievements. The power they gained turned them into greater monsters than they already were, lending to the phrase "power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
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Renee Mercereau
8/24/2016 05:30:14 pm
Clarisse from Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 and Blanche from Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire are two characters who use language to gain power over others in unexpected ways. Eric Liu's video explains that power is simply a part of life and that by gaining power in different ways, one can have an impact on those around them. Clarisse and Blanche are two characters who seem to have gentle personalities because of the way they speak to other characters and how they react to the events in each story. However, both of their stories teach that even people with the most gentle personalities can imprint on the lives of others. For example, when Montag meets Clarisse in the beginning of Fahrenheit 451, it is easy for him (and the reader) to see her as merely a curious and innocent young girl. She asks Montag about his job as a fireman and why he starts fires instead of putting them out, making it clear that she is dangerously curious for a young girl in her society. But what makes Clarisse such a powerful voice in Monatg's life is the simple question she asks him: "'Are you happy?'" (Bradbury 10). When she leaves him with these three words to echo in his mind and send him running from the answer, Clarisse is using her language as power. As softly as she says it, this question burns in Montag's mind throughout the whole book and overpowers the screaming, of the smoke and the sirens and the firemen and even the roar of that untamable feeling of power he gets when he burns. Her words lead him out of the smoke and into the real power that everyone has forgotten about: happiness. By using her language as power, Clarisse helps Montag to reevaluate his purpose in life.
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Tamia Waddy
8/24/2016 08:05:41 pm
When I compared “Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury and “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest” by Ken Kesey, many characters used language to show power. Clarisse and McMurphy were two people that easily used language as power. McMurphy uses language to encourage the other patients at the hospital to rise up against Miss Ratched. He didn’t do much of anything except speak, and his words inspired people. “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 sing in the lantrines.”(Kesey, 277) When Miss Ratched attempted to silence him by subjecting him to a lobotomy, his legacy still remained. She cut off the source of the words, but she couldn’t make him take back the words that had been spoken. His words held power and changed people for the better. This is similar to Clarisse, who only talked with Montag for a very short time, but she was the catalyst for the entire book. She was always questioning things and wondering about life. This affected Montag in a very deep way. “Bet I know something you don’t. There’s dew on the grass in the morning.” (Bradbury, 7) Clarisse noticed very small things and talked about them, and her words held so much power over Montage that it led him to making choices that he formerly didn’t even believe in. Language holds a lot power over people, and McMurphy and Clarisse controlled people without even knowing.
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Murray Elinson
8/25/2016 05:09:09 am
Power can be achieved in many different ways using speech. Stanley from “A Streetcar Named Desire”, exerts power over others differently from Guy Montag in “Fahrenheit 451”. Stanley and Montag both use language to gain power over others but Stanley is aggressive compared to Montag. Stanley is a cruel character that uses commands and force to get his way, and he is straight forward with his control. This is shown when Stanley and Blanche have a conversation that quickly turns into an argument that Stanley tries to expose Blanche of her lies. Stanley tells her that there is only “lies and conceit and tricks” to Blanche and he commands her to look at herself in her “Mardi Gras outfit” thinking she is a queen but he makes it clear she is not(Williams 127). Stanley then uses force and rapes Blanche to stay in control. This example shows that Stanley is very rigid and commanding in his speech which gives him power. Montag is different from Stanley because he tries to gain power by asking questions and being skeptical about the way he lives. For example, Montag tried to convince his wife, Mildred, to make her think books are not all that bad. Mildred tells Montag to get rid of the Bible that he stole but Montag refuses to and asks, “Does your ‘family’ love you, love you very much, love you with all their heart and soul, Millie?”(Bradbury 77). As a result, Mildred does not know how to respond and this left her thinking. Montag tries to ask questions to make Mildred think that there is a problem with how things are run. He is not forceful but he tries work toward a positive goal while being thoughtful. Stanley and Montag both have similar means of gaining power because they are both authoritative and straightforward with what they want and they think that they are doing the right thing. Stanley uses more aggressive tone making others seem weaker than him and his commands and rigid nature allows him to be in control of others around him like Blanche and Stella. Montag is more suggesting and he tries to persuade others like Mildred through asking questions and being thoughtful about the other person. Overall, Stanley gains power through aggressive tone and commanding speech while Montag asks questions to make someone think differently in a more assertive way.
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Aidan Lyons
8/25/2016 07:05:15 am
"Power is a curious thing. Power resides where men believe it resides. It's a trick, a shadow on the wall. And, a very small man can cast a very large shadow." - George R.R. Martin
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Morgan Almasy
8/25/2016 07:44:38 am
Though they do not seem overly similar on the surface, the books Fahrenheit 451 and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest share corresponding topics and themes. An example of this is the theme of power that is relevant throughout the entirety of both books. Power is used by characters for their own benefit many times, however it can also be used without harmful intent or can be used by the character subconsciously. Power is largely displayed in both books.
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Ashleigh Lloyd
8/25/2016 09:29:56 am
Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire are both novels that display characters which use language to yield influence and dominance over others. Though these novels are both taking place in different times and locations, they have similar character comparisons. McMurphy from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Stanley from A Streetcar Named Desire both hold power over others because of their their aggressive nature and desire for power and control. Although Nurse Ratched was in charge of the ward, McMurphy throughout the novel tried to make her feel uneasy and gain influence over her. “They both smile back and forth at each other, sizing each other up” (Kesey 28). Stanley used the same tactic as McMurphy to gain power: make the person feel threatened. After Stella refers to Stanley as a pig and disgustingly greasy, he is enraged. He yells, "pig—Polak—disgusting—vulgar—greasy!—them kind of words have been on your [Stella's] tongue and your sister's too much around here! What do you two think you are? A pair of queens" (Williams 107)? When Stanley feels mistreated he becomes aggressive, hurls a plate to the floor, and shouts at Stella. Stanley is a married man that treats his wife like an object. Eric Liu’s TED talk describes that there are different types of power that come about in different ways, but there is always power. The power in these novels is determined by threats of physical force and aggressiveness. The words and actions McMurphy and Stanley use created the power they have over others in their surroundings.
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Morgan Sluka
8/25/2016 03:15:56 pm
Power can be used in many different ways through language. Power can come across as forceful, or power can be something that comes about without anyone realizing it. Stanley from "A Streetcar Named Desire” and Clarisse from "Fahrenheit 451" both show a form of power in their own ways. Clarisse shows a form of power that doesn't seem forceful and more of sharing her knowledge with Guy Montag, unlike Stanley who uses power that is brute and forceful. These two characters both made an impact or a serious change in characters they've shown their power and ideas towards, however, Stanley was more violent and caused negative impacts with his power while Clarisse was simply sharing her beliefs, and creating an over positive impact on Guy's beliefs and thoughts. Stanley uses power due to the fact that he feels challenged with Blanche in the story. It becomes problematic for him because he wants to feel like the man of the house, and stay within the gender roles he's used to. Blanche is challenging him and it seems he refuses to accept this type of change. He wants to feel like the male role, and the dominant one. When Stanley is started to be given demands by Stella he says things like "Since when do you give me orders?" and "Your sister's too much around here! What do you two think you are? A pair of queens?" This is the type of power that Stanley inflicts on people and because he is feeling he's losing his power he wants to gain it back by using the power he has. This results in the violence and negative things that Stanley uses to show his power on others for his own satisfaction. Clarisse on the other hand, uses her voice, not for bad, but to express her own views and ideas in a non harmful way. The power she shows in the story has a major impact on Guy in the smallest way by asking questions as simple as "Are you happy?" and "You're one of the few who put up with me. That's why I think it's so strange you're a fireman, it just doesn't seem right for you, somehow." Her form of power was subtle and it wasn’t in any way forceful, however it set the idea of this book. Clarisse started the small identity crisis Guy started to feel, and helped him open his mind up. Clarisse and Stanley are two characters that have power however they show them in two very different ways. They strongly impacted the people they were showing power against, how ever Stanley seemed to act more selfish through his actions and words, while Clarisse didn’t seem like she wanted to change his mind or was in anyway inflicting her ideas on Guy, but just opened up his ideas and set the story of the book.
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Aidan Dougherty
8/25/2016 05:50:01 pm
When comparing characters closely between One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and A Streetcar Named Desire, one will notice that Nurse Ratched and Stanley Kowalski similarly use language dominate others. These characters use their power to make others do what they want. For example, in Streetcar, Stanley uses his manliness and dominance to change Mitch's mind about marrying Blanche. Stanley stretches the truth of Blanche's past and successfully ruins the relationship between Mitch and Blanche. Stanley manipulates Mitch to create a reason why Blanche should leave his home, and more importantly leave him and his wife alone and undisturbed. Nurse Ratched uses a similar technique at the mental facility in Cuckoo's Nest. When Billy Bibbit, a mental patient with a severe nervous stutter emerges into a sly, confident man with a prostitute on his arm, Nurse Ratched uses his kryptonite (When reading about Bibbit the reader knows that his mother plays a dictating role in his life). She threatens to call his mother and tell her how naughty he has been. After hearing this, Bibbit immediately freaks out and returns to his anxious stuttering nature. He blames it on the other patients and begs the nurse to forgive him. He cries and weeps and begs for anything but his mother to find out. This is only one of the many times Nurse Ratched's evil, dictator-like way is used to get what she wants. The way that these two characters manipulate people to get what they desire is very similar but also different in some ways. Where Stanley just wants to use his dominance to get people where he wants them, Nurse Ratched wants to scare her patients into acting the way that she wants them to act.
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Steven White
8/25/2016 07:59:31 pm
When comparing the two novels "Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury, and "A Streetcar Named Desire" by Tennessee Williams, you can see that certain characters share similar traits that help them gain power over the people they are surrounded by. Clarisse and Blanche both use innocence to their advantage. For example, when talking to Montag, Clarisse asks him many seemingly harmless questions that eventually change Montag's entire perspective on life. Clarisse simply asks him, "Are you happy?" and then says nothing more. This is more effective than pressing him to answer because it plays to the idea that there is mystery within true happiness which helps Montag question himself willingly. The question comes off so innocently that Montag seriously considers his happiness, and in turn, changes the course of his life. Clarisse's purity and natural innocence makes her so convincing that she is able to (indirectly) make a man kill another man and run away from his wife. Blanche tries to use the same tactic as Clarisse to gain power over others. Blanche is able to convince Mitch that she is an innocent, ladylike woman who deserves his hand in marriage. Throughout the entire play Blanche puts on a mask of innocence to try to prove this, although she secretly has her own agenda (to finally get married and settle down after her old boyfriend passes and getting with a lot of other men). She could have easily gained trust in others by telling the truth but is instead shifty and fake to deceive others. This, on occasion, does not end well for her, like when Stanley (who feels the need to be powerful as well) notices her out of place tendencies and exposes her for her non-socially acceptable acts. Stanley's action ruin her plans to marry Mitch. In conclusion, both characters do not use force to gain power, but they gain power over others indirectly, through innocence. The main difference between Clarisse and Blanche is that Clarisse does not need to put on an act to persuade others, she is able to do it naturally which makes her more convincing than Blanche. Blanche tries too hard to cover up the truth, and so it's harder for her to successfully maintain power over other people.
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Gianna Pallante
8/25/2016 09:12:27 pm
In the play “A Streetcar Named Desire” by Tennessee Williams, Blanche uses her words to gain power over those around her. She talks high and mighty about herself, as if she is better than everyone else. She tells stories about the lavish life she lives, although, we find out that these stories are not true. She talks lowly of the life Stella leads, and she commands people around, convincing them she is used to that kind of treatment. In the novel “One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest” by Ken Kesey, Nurse Ratched holds a position in the ward where she has power. Although her title gives her power, she uses her words to instill fear into the patients, so they all see her as a higher power. In both stories, these women use their words to make them seem as if they are better than those around them. Nurse Ratched’s position as head nurse already gives her power over the patients because it is her job to be in charge of them. On the other hand, Blanche is not superior to those around her, but she uses her words to convince them that she is.
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Belinda Bohrman
8/26/2016 07:23:58 am
What is power? Is it simply the physical manifestation of intimidation? Or is it something else entirely? Although they don’t have a great many similarities, Fahrenheit 451 and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest both address the topic of “power”. Whether it being in the form of a book or in a person they both exhibit signs of modern day society. One of the most commonly used sayings in the world is “knowledge is power” which doubles as the main theme of Fahrenheit 451. In which Guy Montag spends his entire life believing that all of the ideas contained in literature are existentially toxic. Then, throughout a specific chain of events, he begins to unravel the truth about the world he is living in. As it turns out, the very same books he had enjoyed burning, soon led him to do great things in the name of defiance. And despite what the other characters believed, literature held a great deal of power over their own lives as well. They had been taught that books were so terrible that they learned to fear them. When Montag’s wife learned that he had been smuggling books to safety she “...backed away as if she were suddenly confronted by a pack if mice that had come up out of the floor. He could hear her breathing rapidly and her face was paled out and her eyes were fastened wide. She said his name over, twice, three times. Then, moaning, she ran forward, seized a book, and ran toward the kitchen incinerator.” (Bradbury 66) Literature holds power over them through influence and fear, though they do not know it.
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Hannah Nishiura
8/26/2016 07:52:24 am
Power is present in almost all aspects of daily life, and many people fail to notice that it's even there. In both Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and A Streetcar named Desire by Tennessee Williams, characters are very prominently more powerful, or weak. In Fahrenheit 451, Beatty uses his power and speaks to Montag as if he were unintelligent, and makes Montag feel as if he were weak and incoherent compared to Beatty. He makes it seem to Montag that there is nothing needed in the world he doesn't know when he says "You ask why to a lot of things and you wind up very unhappy indeed, if you keep at it." (Bradbury 61) Beatty is making the bigger picture unglamorous to Montag. In A Streetcar named Desire, Stanley also exhibits power, but in a more aggressive and rude way. He chooses to use violence and alcohol to express his needs and power. Stanley has a more volitile and upfront use with his power, when he states, "Eunice! I'll keep on ringing until I talk with my baby!"(Williams 59) Both characters use power to get others to do what they please, but Beatty is much more subtle about it. Beatty uses his knowledge to power over others, and Stanley uses fear. Both forms of power are wildly used today, and still cause abusive relationships, underpaid workers, and limited knowledge. Power can also be used for good, but both of these characters use it for their own benefit.
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Alexa Kirkpatrick
8/26/2016 08:02:35 am
The character Stanley from A Streetcar Named Desire and the character The Big Nurse from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s nest are alike and different at the same time. The are both in charge and often use force when angry or when they are not getting their way. The Big Nurse uses threats electroshock and torture to keep the patients in line while Stanley uses threats of leaving or hitting to get his way. The Big Nurse does not answer to anyone and doesn’t want or care if the patients like her but Stanley after every outburst with beg for forgiveness but will continue anyways. They both want their people to listen to them without question. Stella will stand up to Stanley but eventually run away when she doesn’t win, but the patients will stand up and stay standing until punished because they hate The Big Nurse with a passion whilst Stella was tricked into loving Stanley. The Big Nurse and Stanley both were used to getting their way but their tactics hurt them in the end.
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Ethan Christensen
8/26/2016 10:13:44 am
By definition power is "the capacity or ability to direct or influence the behavior of others or the course of events." Some may physical strength as their power, others use words. Nurse Ratched, a main character in the novel "One flew over the Cuckoo's Nest" by Ken Kessey. Uses both physical and her words to display her power. She wants her patients to fear her. Her intent is for the patients to see her as an all powerful, dictator-like being. On the other hand Guy Montag, a main character in Ray Bradbury's novel "Fahrenheit 451" is on the other end of power. He seems more clumsy and misguided than being a figure of power. However, he does end up showing some form of power when he attacks his supervisor by setting him on fire, which is inherently ironic. These two characters with very different roles and very different personalities both show displays of power at some point.
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Jack Davis
8/26/2016 10:23:43 am
In “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” and “Fahrenheit 451,” power is a concept so casually masked within everyday conversation, but at the same time it is the sole thing that dominates the character’s lives. In “Fahrenheit 451,” censorship is enforced upon all of the citizens, language is something that needs to be kept out of the everyman’s hands. So, while knowledge and language are kept out of the people’s hands, it is shown as the very thing that provides conflict in their lives. Montag is very tormented, partially because of the curiosity that is sparked in him. Two characters from the novels that we read who use language as power to benefit themselves as well as reign over others are Captain Beatty and Nurse Ratched. Nurse Ratched is unlike Beatty in the way that she blatantly intimidates people with her language, flaunting her power. Beatty likes to drop hints and assert his power calmly, like he did with Montag when he blew off work and when he found out about the books a lot earlier than when he attempts arresting Montag. Beatty would assert his power in a very slick and veiled manner, almost manipulatively. For example, when Montag is having his crisis about what he does, what’s right and what’s not, Beatty comes and tells him a story about the history of the world and fireman, and how he was correct in his earlier assumption that firemen would put out fires instead of making them. Beatty is a very smooth and beautiful talker, he uses his advanced language as a means to have his bidding done, to make sure that all the pieces are in the exact way he wants them. Obviously, his story was no bedtime story, he really wanted Montag to either come around or get caught, so he could eliminate the piece from the board in one way or another. Nurse Ratched does so, but in a much more painful, blatant way. She even encourages patients to tell on one another, the only end being they get in trouble. An excellent example of the way that Nurse Ratched demonstrates her power is through her verbal actions toward Billy Bibbit. After MacMurphy sneaks some ladies and drinks in to have a party at the ward, Billy meets a girl and eventually sleeps with her, with happy encouragement from MacMurphy. When Ratched finds the remains of what happened the night before, she sees Billy and what he has done. Presumably, one reason that Billy is in the ward is related to some deep issue with his mother, so the nurse says she is worried about what his mother would think. Billy unsuccessfully begs her not to tell, and is eventually driven to suicide. Both characters, nonetheless, use language to enforce control.
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Page Lootsma
8/26/2016 10:27:52 am
In both the novels Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, by Ken Kesey, certain characters use language to gain power over others. In Fahrenheit 451, the antagonist of the story, Captain Beatty, radiates power through his use of language, and Randle McMurphy does the same in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Although both of characters use language to gain power, how they gain their power and what they do with their power is very different. Captain Beatty uses his exceptional language skills to convince others to take his viewpoint when they disagree with him. For example, when Beatty suspects that Montag secretly read the book, Beatty tries to convince Montag that books are worthless by stating, “what traitors can books be! You think they’re backing you up, and then they turn on you” (Bradbury 107). Through this statement, Beatty positions himself as a knowledgeable critic through his masterful use of language. This gives Beatty power, because he is able to create doubt in Montag’s mind that books have valuable messages. In One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, McMurphy uses language to rouse a sense of independence and excitement among people. By asking the patients questions such as “don’t you see you have to do something to show you still got some guts?” and “don’t you see you can’t let her take over completely?” McMurphy is invigorating the patients, and convincing them to fight for what they desire (Kesey 65). McMurphy has the ability to influence the excitement and energy of the patients, so he is in a position of power, as he essentially controls the atmosphere of the hospital. However, McMurphy does not convince others to take his viewpoint through deceiving them like Beatty, so that he can have undisputed power over others. Rather, McMurphy gets others excited and uses that energy for both his and their benefit. While both characters do use their superior language skills to gain power in their respective novels, their means of acquiring power and using it are very different.
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Jackie Prestininzi
8/26/2016 10:31:02 am
Throughout One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and A Streetcar Named Desire many of the main characters use their words to gain power over the other characters. In One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, Nurse Ratched controls every aspect of her patients’. lives. She controls their lives because she gains more power than them trough her words. For example all of the patients wanted to change the television time to watch the baseball games but since she said “no” it didn't happen. They are all afraid to speak up because what she says could make their lives even worse. In A Streetcar Named Desire Stanley Kowalski uses his words to gain power over his wife Stella. Throughout the play, there are many scenes where Stanley feels that he has more power and is superior due to his gender. For example he says “Well, you can hear me and I said to hush up!” ( Williams 51). He constantly forces Stella to do things which gives him power over her. One of the ways Stanley gains power is by talking about gender roles constantly. He feels that he is more important and powerful than Stella because he is the “man of the house”.In the Ted Ed video “How To Understand Power”, theorist and activist Eric Liu discusses this struggle of how power plays a role in family, the workplace, and relationships. Just like in the video, their is a struggle in the distribution of power between Stanley and Stella which causes problems in their relationship. Stanley and Nurse Ratched both use their words to gain power over the people around them.
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Helayna Ibrahim
8/26/2016 10:54:51 am
Power can be demonstrated in several different ways. Whether power is used for good to produce positive outcomes or used for bad to produce negative, power influences the behavior and actions of people and their beliefs. When comparing and contrasting two novels heavily centered around power, one can see the different outcomes of different powers and how they impact people. In the novels, “Fahrenheit 451” by Ray Bradbury and “A Streetcar Named Desire” by Tennessee Williams, power is a prevalent theme and lingers among the characters in many ways. In “Fahrenheit 451,” the firemen obtain most of the power throughout the novel and in “A Streetcar Named Desire,” Stanley Kowalski is the most demanding and dominant character. These characters achieve power by violence and manipulation. The firemen from Bradbury’s novel control the people by burning the houses that conceal books which are forbidden in society. By burning the houses down, people know that the firemen are powerful because of their ability to take away someone’s everything just for possessing books. In Williams's novel, Stanley Kowalski demonstrates power physically by manipulating Blanche and raping her, to show his authority over her and his dominance. Verbal Power is also shown through ideas and words. From “Fahrenheit 451,” Clarisse has the ability to inspire Montag positively and causes him to ask questions of himself and society. From “A Streetcar Named Desire,” Stanley has the ability to lower Blanche’s self esteem and to chase her away and mark his territory, negatively. Throughout these two novels, one can conclude the effects that power has on civilization.
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Aidan Butler
8/26/2016 11:09:55 am
Power is defined as "The capacity or ability to direct or influence the behavior of others or the course of events" There are many ways to gain power, some involve force and others involve other people. In Ken Kesey's novel "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" we see the character Randle Patrick McMurphy exert power by gaining numbers of people to join his side. In Tennessee Williams' novel "A Streetcar Named Desire" we see the character Stanley gain power by using using force such as mean words or physical abuse. Both of these characters have power but they both gain it in different ways. McMurphy's tactic involves lots of people while Stanley's involves just himself because he can use force without numbers. Both characters use there tactics of power to gain the trust and authority of the people they have power over. Although both characters have power they use it quite differently. Stanley uses it to make his wife submissive while McMurphy uses his power to try and help his fellow acquaintances. McMurphy also doesn't treat his fellow patients as if he has power over them however we can see he does when they listen to what he says. Both characters demonstrate that you can obtain power in a variety of ways.
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Jordan Campanella
8/26/2016 12:33:27 pm
Power is "the capacity or ability to direct or influence the behavior of others or the course of events". Stanley Kowalski from A Streetcar Named Desire and Nurse Ratched from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest both use language and actions to show power. They both get angry when they don't get their way. In One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Nurse Ratched uses her power to intimate the patients. She threatens and tortures the patients to show them the power she has. In a Streetcar Named Desire, Stanley shows his power by being rude and violent. He feels that he is more important and powerful since he is the man of the house. Stanley uses action to show his power by raping Blanche after he verbally attacks her. Both of these characters took advantage of their power.
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Dean Hottmann
8/26/2016 12:35:28 pm
Eric Liu's video on power breaks down different ways that people gain power. A few ways were by numbers, physical force, and social norms. In "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," Randle McMurphy gains power over his fellow patients using his language. Similarly, Blanche DuBois from "A Streetcar Named Desire" challenges Stanley's power by spreading her different beliefs. In McMurphy's situation. Nurse Ratched gains power over the patients at the mental hospital by explaining that they do not fit the social norms and must be fixed. When McMurphy comes, he uses his voice to gain their trust and they challenge Nurse Ratched's authority through their numbers. In Blanche's case, Stanley Kowalski holds all the power. As Liu explains, power and powerlessness grow unless something acts on it. Before Blanche shows up, Stanley had complete dominance over his life. When Blanche tests his power, Stanley uses physical force by raping her in order to establish his dominance. Randle McMurphy and Blanche DuBois are similar in the ways they gain power. Rather than using force and intimidation to gain their power they use their voices and spread their beliefs to challenge an authority figure. In the end, they both lose their power because as Liu explains, power is never static.
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Donovan Turner
8/26/2016 01:28:01 pm
Power is defined as"The capacity or ability to direct or influence the behavior of others or the course of events". In Ken Kesey's novel "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" both McMurphy and Nurse Ratched use power through their words. McMurphy gains power by being outgoing and funny. He wants to help his fellow inmates. The inmates are drawn to him because of his humor. In this way he has power over them. Nurse Ratched gains power because she is mean, manipulative and uncaring. Nurse Ratched oppresses the inmates and behaves like a dictator. She punishes the inmates, convinces them to snitch on each other and openly discusses personal information about the inmates. She has power over the inmates because they fear her. An example of this is when she catches Billy Bibbit with a girl, she threatens to call his mother about it. She works him up so much that she drives him to kill himself. She then places the blame on everyone else. McMurphy, on the other hand, is more of a democratic leader. He listens to all of his friends and tries to help them. He tries to improve all the inmates lives and defies the oppressiveness of the Nurse. Both characters show power in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", but in different ways. Although they wield their power differently, they both fight for control of the ward. Ratched exercised power through physical action, words and threats. McMurphy used democracy, which in a softer way gains the majority of the inmates on his side. In the end Nurse Ratched wins because she has the full authority that the institution has given her.
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William Watson
8/26/2016 01:46:58 pm
McMurphy in the book “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” uses his words of defiance as an act of power over everyone, and Stanley uses his words of insult and unkindliness as an act of power over everyone. McMurphy takes act as a leader of the patients in the asylum that he is placed in just by standing up to nurse Retched and acting normal and not perfect just because he is a leader. Stanley acts like a leader but in a worse way, he expects everyone to listen to him, automatically pushes ideas into other people’s head so that they question themselves, and takes advantage of them just to show that he has power over them. An example of when Stanley shows his act of power is when he rapes Blanche. He does this not as an act of lust, but just to show Blanche, who has been questioning Stanley’s power all throughout the book, that he is in power and that she couldn’t stop it from happening. These two characters have both similarities and differences when it comes to the power over others. McMurphy doesn’t force the patients to follow him but does things that make them want to, while Stanley usually forces the people he is with to be under his control. McMurphy is more of a cool leader who respects the people that he leads while Stanley is more of a guy who doesn’t care how the people feel as long as he is in control of them. Overall these two men use different ways to control their power over other people and to keep that control.
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Hailey Chace
8/26/2016 01:50:43 pm
In both novels Montag and Stanley use language to gain power. Montag uses his power to change the point of view of his fellow citizens, regarding the use of books. Stanley uses his power to control Stella and harm Blanche. However, in the video Eric Liu teaches people how power works. Eric explains the 6 types of power and the 3 laws of power. This leads to people gaining power for their cause. Overall, both Montag and Stanley use language to gain power and control over others.
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Colleen Dougan
8/26/2016 02:15:16 pm
Power is used throughout stories to demonstrate how one character might have control over another through their speech. Within the two texts, Fahrenheit 451 and One Who Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, both authors address the way people use their power to manipulate others’ thoughts. In Ray Bradbury’s novel Fahrenheit 451, Clarisse McClellan uses questions to implant a type of self-doubt in Guy Montag’s mind about his previous ideas. By planting that doubt, it makes Montag reevaluate his ideas on what is the normal day of life for a person in that society. Clarisse’s main motive is to show Montag what he is missing in life in a positive way by showing him new ideas. Clarisse talks to Montag about grass and looking at scenery and asks “Are you happy?” (Montag 10) to enlighten him on other things in life. By leaving abruptly, she causes Montag to rethink everything she said previously and really think about it. Nurse Ratched, from Ken Kesey’s novel, One Who Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, uses a similar tactic to affect the characters in a negative way. During McMurphy’s first meeting in the asylum, Nurse Ratched asks him to touch upon the subject of Dale Harding’s problem with his wife. Even though she is asking a question, she is orchestrating a way for McMurphy to rethink his ideas and make him feel powerful. In all reality, Nurse Ratched uses the meetings to brainwash the patients that they are inferior to everyone else because they are not socially normal. She, unlike Clarisse, uses her power for negative effects. By making the patients say that they’re sick even though they may not be, causes them to continually be sick and untreatable. Nurse Ratched and Clarisse both use their power by asking questions to manipulate the thoughts of the other characters. These characters have a profound affect on how the main protagonists evolve throughout the readings.
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Amy Gardner
8/26/2016 02:33:26 pm
The characters Nurse Ratched and McMurphy in Ken Kesey’s “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” know how to use language to get what they envision; however the things they say evoke different emotions in the people they speak to. Nurse Ratched frightens her patients into being “socially acceptable.” An example of this is when she says, “What worries me, Billy,’ she said--I could hear the change in her voice--”is how your poor mother is going to take this” (Kesey 264). This makes Billy return to his stuttering self and follow Nurse Ratched. McMurphy brings an idea to the other patients, and he knows how to make them listen. He tells them, “And the best way to do this, to get you to knuckle under, is to weaken you by gettin’ you where it hurts the worst” (Kesey 57). He allows them to realize the heinous acts Nurse Ratched is committing. The two use their words to have their favorable outcomes realized. The outcomes that arise from those words are complete opposites. Nurse Ratched wants to take away the individuality of the patients, while McMurphy wants the patients to be treated fairly. They use similar language to get completely different results.
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Desiree Marshall
8/26/2016 02:39:57 pm
When comparing "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and "A Streetcar Named Desire", I noticed some similarities between two characters and the way the exert power over other people. The two characters who stood out the most in my mind were Stanley from "A Streetcar Named Desire" and Nurse Ratched from "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest". Both use language and other means to prove their powers over others. For example, Nurse Ratched uses her words to manipulate her patients-and sometimes even her workers- to do what she wants them to do. She seemingly has dirt on all her patients, and uses what she has on them to force them into submission. She pulls her "victims" (patients) in by the way she talks, and appears like an innocent woman, but in fact she is not innocent or kind. She preys on her patients weaknesses and greatest fears in order to get them to do whatever she asks of them. This can also be said for Stanley from "A Streetcar Named Desire". Stanley however doesn't use words as much as the Nurse. His approach and his power is maintained differently. Instead of manipulating people like Nurse Ratched does, Stanley uses his physicality to control others, seen especially when he rapes Blanche, which is the total way of saying "I'm more powerful than you" or "I control you". Stanley also uses his words to exert power over others. For example when there was a possible relationship blooming between Mitch and Blanche, Stanley used his words to ruin their chances. All in all, both Nurse Ratched and Stanley use the things they say to maintain their powerful role over others. While Nurse Ratched's protection of power is more hidden and reserved in a way, Stanley doesn't hold out at all. He is more blunt and obvious in the ways he goes about maintaining his control of others.Although at the end of the day they are actually more alike than they seem, both characters are driven by their need to control the people around them through their words and actions.
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Allie Cohen
8/26/2016 02:47:01 pm
Power is “the ability to make others do what you would have them do.” (TED) Both works of literature, A Streetcar Named Desire, and One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, exemplify power in the usage of manipulative language through the characters. Both Stanley, from Tennessee Williams's Book, and Mcmurphy, from Ken Kesey’s book, use power to influence the people involved in their lives. Stanley uses ideas, social norms, and even physical force towards Blanche, Stella, and even his male peers. Blanche and Stella, especially Blanche, would sometimes act or say something out of place, or even just go against his beliefs. Stanley would then, sometimes, use physical force to scare them into agreeing with him. Stanley would also use social norms and pitch ideas to his peers, as an act of defiance against Blanche. Mcmurphy, although in a very different situation, also uses manipulative language against the staff at the hospital, especially Mrs. Ratched (aka. The Big Nurse). Mcmurphy, voluntarily attended the medical hospital, and decided to mess around with the staff and to try and change the ways of how things were ran. Mcmurphy used ideas, social norms, and numbers to go against the Big Nurse and her co-workers. Mcmurphy’s arrival already set the tone that he would be troublesome, when he instantly refused to take a shower. Upon that, his outspoken personality and positivity attracted many of the patients. He even became friends with the so-called deaf Indian, Chief. As time passed on, he gained more popularity amongst the fellow patients and began to pitch ideas that the patients agreed were worth rebelling against. As more people joined, the more influential and significant Mcmurphy became. It is apparent that power shaped the way the characters acted, and as a result, the events that occurred.
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Aislinn Butler
8/26/2016 02:56:52 pm
Power is used by people to control others, and sometimes we use our words to obtain that power. In Tennessee Williams play A Streetcar named Desire, Blanche uses lies about fantastic trips and amazing men to gain power over her sister. Blanche’s need for power is clearly shown by how many lies she tells, and how far she’ll go to keep them. Half the time, she even believes her lies. She thinks that if she makes herself out to be this wealthy and privileged woman, that people will give her the respect she thinks she deserves. She also asserts power by demeaning Stella and her lifestyle. She doesn’t respect Stanley, and thinks that Stella’s life is a mess.
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Katherine Smith
8/26/2016 02:59:22 pm
In One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest an interesting character was the Indian. He pretended to be deaf and mute. The language he used to assert his power was nonverbal. He used body language, often just standing holding the mop looking enormous and threatening by his shear size alone. His facial expression was serious, as well. The mop could be seen as a weapon in his giant arms. His power was conveyed in his simple way of just standing or pushing the mop around the floor. His power over the other patients and staff was conveyed clearly, don't mess with him. In the end, of course, his physical and inner strength was used to escape. No words were necessary.
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Lauren Marcolus
8/26/2016 02:59:58 pm
Both Nurse Ratched, the antagonist of the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and Clarisse McClellan, a seventeen-year-old outcast in the novel Farenheit 451, use language to gain power over others. These characters influence the behaviors and thoughts of those around them through conversation.
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Sophie Pouso
8/26/2016 03:09:14 pm
The world we live in is built upon different forms of power. Some have it and others strive to obtain it. Clarisse from “Fahrenheit 451” displays the power thoughts and speech have over one another. Nurse Ratched from “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” demonstrates how her power of authority dictates the wellbeing of others in the novel. Clarisse had power over Guy Montag, her husband and firefighter. Clarisse would strongly share her opinions to Guy about her views of the changing world around them. Guy wanted to preserve literature, were as Clarisse was caught up in the new society. She would tell Guy and argue with him about how all of the books must be burned. She obviously has an effect on Guy because he always rethinks himself a bit and is made to feel like an outcast. Her verbal power is greatly exemplified when she calls the firefighters to their own house to burn the books. This one action shows the leverage she has over her husband, Guy. Nurse Ratched uses similar aspects of power over her mentally ill patients at the psychiatric hospital. She is the authority in the hospital. Whatever she says, gets done. When a patient is causing a hard time, she send them off and punishes them. Unlike Clarisse, Nurse Ratched does not just have the power of language and words. She has major mental and physical power. She can cause harm on other people and actually hurt them severely. For example, when McMurphy was disobeying her ideal way of conduct, she sent him for electroshock therapy. Nurse Ratched has major power over the other patient’s minds as well. Being the patients are mentally ill, she tries and conforms patients to behave and think how she wants them to. The types of language used by Clarisse and Nurse Ratched display their control over others in the two novels. They have extreme power and it is constantly shown throughout.
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Sinead Henderson
8/26/2016 03:21:47 pm
As I was comparing the two books "Fahrenheit 451" and "One Who Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest" I saw that the two characters that are most comparable are Montag and Chief Bromden. Montag and Bromden both live in a society where they can't be who they are/ who they want to be. They both know what's going on around them is wrong but can't say what they think out loud because of severe consequences, Montag could face death and Bromden would face electric therapy. Something that is definitely different are there situations, Montag is in a society where no one can ever read and Bromdens in a mental hospital. The power of these two characters definitely influences some of the other characters actions towards the end of the books.
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Alanah Ramos
8/26/2016 03:48:47 pm
Though some phrases portray language as simply a jumble of syllables and letters, there are more than enough examples prove otherwise. Language can either empower or suppress a single person or an entire nation. In the novel "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," authored by Ken Kesey, Randle McMurphy uses his speech to liberate the patients of an asylum. The Big Nurse, Miss Ratched, runs a dictatorship over the asylum's patients and knows that McMurphy, however, uses his words to cancel Miss Ratched's oppressive nature with an awe-inspiring speech, "The world . . . belongs to the strong, my friend! The ritual of our existance is based on the strong getting stronger by devouring the weak. We must face up to this." (Kesey, 60) He does not punish them for their differences, but instead offers them a concept: That they can be treated as kindly as normal people without changing. It is through McMurphy's empowering words that the people of the ward become not only a stronger unit of people, but stronger individually. Stanley, on the other hand, of Tennessee Williams' play "A Streetcar Named Desire," instead achieves power through means of threats and violence. Throughout the play, Stanley and Stella's relationship is portrayed as a rocky road of Stanley's ill temperament and Stella's submission, until Stella's sister, Blanche arrives and attempts to talk down to Stanley and knocking him down a few metaphorical pegs. Stanley feels threatened being questioned and verbally demeaned by Blanche and uses his knowledge of her to then ruin her "fresh start" with Mitch. He tells Mitch of her lack of moral behavior, causing Mitch to drop her as a potential date partner, "I called him a liar at first. And then I checked on the story. First I asked our supply man who travels through Laurel. And then I talked over long-distance to this merchant." (Williams, 117) In "A Streetcar Named Desire," Stanley is depicted as a "all brawn, no brains" type of man while on-screen, but the use of his knowledge off-screen insinuates that he is as cunning as the next man, by feeding his knowledge to those he knows will be affected by the news given. His words have power behind them and he is more than willing to use it in a malicious way. In "A Streetcar Named Desire" and "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," there are two paths to choose from when using one's words. Power lies as a much in one's mouth as much as their muscles and McMurphy and Stanley portray the way words can affect people in contrasting manners, but, nonetheless, effectively enough to see it crystal clear.
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Anna Moore
8/26/2016 04:12:54 pm
Manipulative language is the strongest way to control a person or group of people.For this reason, the most powerful people are the ones who rule others through their words. In One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, McMurphy uses his loud boisterous voice to influence the other patients and make them do what he wants. He would use rambunctious tones to dominate the others. This was shown when McMurphy makes up baseball commentary and gets the other patients to join him. As a result, he is able to accomplish his goal of annoying Nurse Ratched through his power.Similarity, Captain Beatty from Fahrenheit 451, uses a long speech to brainwash Montag into believing certain things.In the speech he uses ideas that he knows will interest Montag. Consequently, Beatty controls him through the ideas from books and suppresses him from disobeying. Although they both can control other characters by using their words, their methods are different. McMurphy uses the tone of his voice to excite other patients, whereas Captain Beatty focuses on the context in his speech. Either way, they both are able to impact the actions around them by using the strongest body ability, speech.
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kayleigh Murray
8/26/2016 04:14:08 pm
In the books, “A Streetcar Named Desire” and “One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest”, the two characters Stanley Kowalski and Nurse Ratched have many similarities and differences. One similarity that they have is that they both use language to power over others. In “A Streetcar Named Desire” Stanley Kowalski will try to take power by abusing other characters. Stanley constantly talks about gender roles and feels that he is better than everybody else, especially his wife Stella because he is the “king of the house”. The nurse from “One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest” would show power by mistreating her patients. She gains power when she says no to her patients because nobody would stand up to her, they know that she will punish them and make their lives miserable if they disobey her.
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Tyler Schwinn
8/26/2016 04:29:54 pm
Both the Big Nurse, featured in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" by Ken Kesey, and Blanche DuBois, featured in "A Streetcar Named Desire" by Tennessee Williams, are characters that use the power of language to secure their control over the people in their lives. The power of the Big Nurse has never been questioned by the inmates of the mental ward that she prowls in. But as the book unfolds, the secrets of the Nurse's power are slowly unraveled. The Big Nurse preys on the fears and worries of the inmates in order to make them succumb to her will. The Big Nurse uses language to turn the inmates against each other and make themselves look like the bad guys, which takes away any blame or hatred that might be pointed towards her. In turn, this allows the Big Nurse to continue to have absolute power and not have it questioned, as the men living in the hospital think that she is only trying to help them. The Big Nurse constantly talks in a nurturing tone, and uses nice, calm words in order to cast out any thoughts that might suggest that the Big Nurse abuses her power in a negative way. Due to these tactics, the Big Nurse is able to secure complete control over the patients almost all of the time.
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Sophie Navarro
8/26/2016 04:37:25 pm
In all three books, power is heavily used to influence and even control the other people in each story. However the main two characters that can be seen to really utilize their power to become oppressive is the Big Nurse, or Nurse Ratched, from "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" by Ken Kesey and Stanley Kowalski from "A Streetcar Named Desire" by Tennessee Williams. These two characters use their power with their language. They use their power in a similar way: they want to control their world in their way. They don't want any faults. Nurse Ratched makes the other people in the ward intimidated by her because of all the things she does to the people who step up against her. She uses her power, and tells the doctor and persuade others to make that person have to deal with punishments. She threatens the patients in the ward to things like shock therapy or making their stay longer. At first, McMurphy didn't know all the consequences that could come if someone opposed her. However, the others did, especially the narrator of the story, Chief Bromden. Through most of the story, he doesn't speak because he wants to be seen as deaf and dumb; he doesn't want any attention on him. Soon though he talks to McMurphy while the others are sleep to explain to him about how the ward and the Big Nurse is. He explains that "'if you fight they lock you someplace and make you stop'" (Kesey 188). Nurse Ratched even threatens to lengthen McMurphy's stay in the ward longer, which makes him stop acting up for a while. Plus that, she blackmails Billy about his night with Candy. She says she will tell his mother; this makes Billy panic and obey her. Stanley Kowalski also uses his power of language over the others in "A Streetcar Named Desire" by Tennessee Williams. The reader sees his power by dominating the conversation he has with Blanche. He is constantly asking questions while she is meant to answer them. Another way of his power being used is when he told his friend Mitch about Blanche's history with the men in her old town. Stanley is deceitful when it comes to when he wants things to go his way, and he uses his language to take down Blanche, his number one opposer. Although they are similar with their verbal powers, they are also different in a way. Nurse Ratched uses threats and blackmail. However Stanley uses his masculinity and cleverness.
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Liam Landree
8/26/2016 04:50:50 pm
In both the novels Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Hussey, the protagonists utilize various forms of language to assert their power. Hussey paints a vivid picture, drawing readers into the conflict between Nurse Ratched and McMurphy. Mcmurphy’s combination of his brute strength and blatant declaration of his rebellious plans speak to the Big Nurse in such a way he gains control of the ward. In a similar sense, Guy Montag announces his opposition society’s newfound habits. Determined to rid the world of society's distasteful ways Guy declares, “I'm going to do something, I don't know what but i'm going to do something big”(Bradbury 70). Both share similarities in the sense that they speak out against their superiors, striving to gain power for their cause. However, each speaks for a different cause. Mcmurphy uses his intellectual abilities and clever dialect in such a way he pushes Ratched to the limit. Guy Montag uses his actions to announce his opposition to the way society lives. His actions speak his mind and his beliefs within his suppressed dystopia. To conclude, through various forms of language, whether it be actions or words, each character gains power over their authority figures.
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Brylin Barnes
8/26/2016 04:56:11 pm
Power over people can change the way they behavior or who they are. Stanley from A Streetcar Named Desird and Nurse Ratched from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest both have extreme power over people. Stanley shows aggressive physical and mental power over his wife. While Nurse Ratched has the same power over her patients. That's now Stanley and Nurse are similar. In the end of each novel, it ends completely different for each character. Stanley not only abused his wife but also rapped sister-in-law. But all in the end he got away with everything. Meanwhile Nurse Ratched was brutally chocked and got not speak. Also her position as "top dog" with all the power was completely taken away from her and she was left with no power at all. Both these characters gained power over others and in the end it ended differently for each. Power is the ability to make others do what you would have them do, according to Liu. By definition both Stanley and Nurse are powerful people but they use their powers for the wrong reasons.
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Heather O'Donnell
8/26/2016 05:40:04 pm
Power is an everyday occurrence that affects us in ways we don't even realize. In Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury and A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams, the desire for power has a major impact on the characters' actions throughout the novel. Beatty from Fahrenheit 451 and Stanley from A Streetcar Named Desire use different tactics to gain power over other characters, but their motives are greatly similar. Captain Beatty becomes more powerful throughout the book by acting like he already has power. Under his command, the firemen obey every order, burning books and despising knowledge without questioning why they are doing the things they do. Beatty gains power by tricking the firemen to look up to him and trust his ideas, no matter how twisted they are. For example, in a conversation with fireman Montag, Beatty says, "You ask why to a lot of things and you wind up very unhappy indeed, if you keep at it" (Bradbury 60). Beatty makes Montag feel powerless with his seemingly wise words. Stanley, on the other hand, uses violence and threats to gain power over his wife, Stella. He takes advantage of Stella's sweet, forgiving nature by bossing her around, destroying things from his poker parties, and even hitting her. Every time he is cruel to Stella, Stanley begs for forgiveness, promising never to be aggressive or violent again. Each time Stella forgives him, she loses power that Stanley gains. Stella displays her lack of power when she says to Blanche, "People have got to tolerate each other's habits, I guess" (Williams 65). This quote demonstrates that Stanley has manipulated Stella into believing that this imbalance of power in a relationship is normal. She believes that it's okay to be treated horribly. Beatty and Stanley may be portrayed as the evil, power-hungry villains of their novels, but they are not all to blame for their actions. Both characters are controlled by social norms and are just acting how society expects them to. Beatty lives in a dystopian world where people burn books and don't have emotions. To fit in, his solution is to hold a position of authority. As for Stanley, much of his actions come from the stereotypical gender roles set by society. Since it's expected for a man to be dominant and aggressive, Stanley figures it's okay to treat his wife like a slave. The more power Beatty and Stanley seem to gain, the more power they actually lose because society has power over them. The truly powerful people are those who defy society's rules and change things for the better.
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Sima Vaidya
8/26/2016 05:58:07 pm
Power is a big part of everyday life. It controls what people do, say, and think. In One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and A Street Car Named Desire, characters from each book use a strong force of power when communicating with others. In One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Nurse Ratched controls the people in the ward with power. If something goes wrong, she has to fix it so that it is to her liking, as described, “The Big Nurse tends to get real put out if something keeps her outfit from running like a smooth, accurate, precision-made machine” (Kessey 30). To fix a problem, Nurse Ratched talks to everyone as if she has control on what they can/cannot do. She persuades them to do things her way and acts like a dictator. Another example is when the Nurse found out that Billy Bibbit slept with the girl. She persuaded him that he did the wrong thing by telling him about his mother, and she controlled his thoughts using power. If the nurse had not done that, Billy would have been able to stand up for himself and would not have killed himself.
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Jack Niesz
8/26/2016 06:05:55 pm
In the novels A Streetcar Named Desire and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, both main characters use language to have the upper hand above the rest of the characters. In A Streetcar Named Desire, Stanley is a very large man, and seduces his wife by talking about sex whenever they argue. This ultimately leads to Stanley thinking he is invincible with women, and he rapes his sister-in-law. Nurse Ratched from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a mentally stable person, in a hospital full of mentally unstable people. She gets inside many of the patients heads, making it seem as if she were better than everybody. Her dominance ultimately leads to one of the patients committing suicide. These two characters share many of the same characteristics. Most would consider these two dominant characters to be meanies.
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Isaiah Campos
8/26/2016 06:10:56 pm
Throughout “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” by Ken Kesey, we’ve seen a lot of character development and the shift of power in the ward. One of the major/influential characters called Big Nurse, also known as Nurse Ratched, seems to have the most power in the book and the most authority. She uses her “treatments” as punishments to show that she has the most power in the novel. This type of power is called physical force. Nurse Ratched tries to get her way with the kids in the ward by using her techniques and her negative attitude against them. Another character that acts this way is Stanley Kowalski in “A Streetcar Named Desire” by Tennessee Williams. He uses physical force, but in a different way than Nurse Ratched did. He sexually abuses Blanche and has this negative tone to people he meet, especially to his wife Stella. Stanley tries to make others do what he wants to do aggressively as a masculine figure. Both characters, Stanley Kowalski and Nurse Ratched have negative/bad influential attitudes to the rest of the characters to each other’s books, but they both used physical violence to get what they want.
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Michael Dandrea
8/26/2016 06:26:35 pm
Beatty from “Fahrenheit 451” and Stanley from “A Streetcar Named Desire” both use language to gain power over others. Even tough they use their power for different reasons; they both hold power over others.
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Joseph Campos
8/26/2016 06:30:43 pm
Two characters that I can think of that uses language to gain power is Stanley Kowalski from “ A Streetcar Named Desire” and Nurse Ratched from “ One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.” One of the ways that Nurse Ratched gains power was giving her patients “treatments”, basically these treatments were punishments that made these patients’ lives miserable in her ward. As a result, the patients started to become scared of her and would obey all of her demands so they won’t be put through those harmful punishments. In Stanley’s case, he used physical force as one of the ways to gain power. By doing so, throughout the book we discover that Stanley rapes Blanche which makes her afraid and anxious. Another way Stanley gains power is by using his aggressive behavior and attitude toward others. For example, there is a scene where everyone is in the kitchen and Stella tells Stanley to do something but he refuses and tells Stella to do it herself.
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Jacob Swartz
8/26/2016 06:39:16 pm
Power is a mighty force that can be assertive in a physical manor, however verbal power is equally as strong. For example in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" by Ken Kesey, McMurphy has a way with Nurse Ratched unlike any other patient. What McMurphy has is a sort of swagger within his language and actions. Throughout the Novel McMurphy challenges the Big Nurse and her overwhelming authority. While McMurphy would talk to the others around him, he would describe Nurse Ratched as Mother Ratched and or as a tender angel of mercy. These fake labels that McMurphy gave to her essentially summed up what he thought of the Nurse. In the novel "A Streetcar Named Desire" by Tennessee Williams, one of the main characters Stanley, had most of the power between he and his wife. Stanley did most of the little things like pay taxes as well as work a full time job. Although if he had some buddies over to play cars and drink, that is when Stella would get bullied by Stanley's drunken words. This would ultimately lead to a physical attack upon Stella. In conclusion, when a mind is altered, negative actions may occur, however physical retribution is not always how power is expressed.
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Kady Aguilar
8/26/2016 06:39:52 pm
In "Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury and "One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest" by Ken Kesey, I used these books because some of the characters use verbal action to show their power. For example, Clarisse and McMurphy were people who they used verbal language to show their power. McMurphy, he would use his language to try and encourage other patients, to be against Miss. Ratched. The only thing he did was just speak. Nothing else, just spoke and tried to inspire people. Miss Ratched, she once tried to silence McMurphy, by trying to take him to a lobotomy. He remained silent. His words still remained, he was the one that held power. It changed him and people for the better.
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Amira Ibrahim
8/26/2016 06:39:53 pm
Power. This one word can mean so many things. Power comes in different forms for different people. In a Ted talk “How to Understand Power” by Eric Liu there are six kinds. For example some people use money for power, while others use physical force. There are similar and different forms of power used in the books " Fahrenheit 451" and " A Streetcar Named Desire" . In " Fahrenheit 451" power is shown by the government. They used power to prevent people from using books and to encourage everyone to be like everyone else, like a robot and not have any of their own thoughts. Another form of power was shown by Beatty a fireman, who played mind games and in a way almost manipulates Montag; telling him what he is doing is what needs to be done and later in the book he shows up at Montag’s house and pushes Montag to burn down his house, which based on the Ted talk “How to understand power” by Eric Liu can be considered the power of ideas. This can also be seen by Blanche in “ A Streetcar Named Desire”. Blanche uses words to get what she wants and to “attack” or insult people and playing mind games like when she treats Stella like a child or tries to talk Stella into leaving Stanley. She also manipulates Mitch, by making him think she cares about him and tries using him to ruin bonds with Stella and Stanley. She also makes him believe she loves him, but really she just wants a husband with money.
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Mara Campolattaro
8/26/2016 06:40:00 pm
Power is something commonly acquired through speech. The concept of power comes up throughout each of the novels we've read over the summer. Two characters who use speech to gain power who really stick out to me are Blanche from A Streetcar Named Desire and Nurse Ratched from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Both of these characters use language to gain power over those around them. They do it in a similar fashion in the sense that they both distribute false information to take control. Blanche does this through her various anecdotes about her life. She tells her sister and her husband stories of her lavish lifestyle, all which are all over-exaggerations of the truth. She does this to manipulate them and gain power. She wants them to think that she is above them and does so through her language. Nurse Ratched uses language to achieve similar results, but uses a different method. She makes empty promises of bad endings for her patients in order to frighten them into yielding any power they have and giving it to her. She fabricates threats towards these patients in order to gain authority over them. These two women use language in different ways to create the same results and attain power over the people around them, something that's not only commonplace in literature but also in the real world.
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Seamus Fields
8/26/2016 06:46:08 pm
The novels "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", written by Ken Kesey, and "A Streetcar Named Desire", written by Tennessee Williams, are two examples of books who's main characters used language to bestow power upon the people they interacted with. In "One Flew Over the Cockoo's Nest", Randle McMuphy was a new addition to the mental institute, until he fit himself in the position to be the man right on top of the iron fist Nurse Ratched was ruling over her patients with. He made sure Nurse Ratched knew who she was dealing with by speaking out against her and trying to rally the patients to join him. Throughout the novel, "A Streetcar Named Desire", Stanley also uses his words to tear apart the minds of his wife, her sister, and all of his friends. Stanley uses orders to make sure people know he is the boss, and no one will get past him. Eventually Blanche breaks down completely and Stanley and Stella send her away.
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Lily Peña
8/26/2016 06:50:16 pm
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Catherine Tierney
8/26/2016 06:53:38 pm
Power is “the capacity or ability to direct or influence the behaviors of others or course of events”(TED Talk). An interesting aspect of both Tennessee Williams’s A Streetcar Named Desire and Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest is the ability of characters to illustrate this fact. Ironically one character uses this power to suppress and negatively manipulate, while the other uses words to push people out of comfort zones and collectively rise. One uses words for benefit of himself and the other benefits from helping others.
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Lisa-Marie Smith
8/26/2016 07:02:28 pm
While reading "One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest" and "A Streetcar Named Desire" I have noticed that specific characters used actions and language to over power other characters. Nurse Ratched and Stanly Kowalski are those two characters. Nurse Ratched manipulate her patients by using the knowledge and information known about each individual. She uses her power over these people to cause them pain, she abuses her abilities to harm the patients rather then "cure" the illness that these people think the patients have. Stanly also abuses his strength and power by physically harming others. He would also talk about the stereotypical gender roles making Stella feel as if standing up to him was wrong and that she must obtain and contain the role of a stereotypical woman. The fact that these people have the information and ability to make someone weak is horrible, they abuse their power and tear down others.
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Adeline Monfil
8/26/2016 07:08:31 pm
Both Tennessee Williams, author of “A Streetcar Named Desire”, and Ken Kesey, author of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”, created characters that transfer language into power. William’s character, Stanley Kowalski, uses words to get into other’s minds. Stanley acts very malicious towards Blanche and is determined to find out the truth about her. He is constantly bullying her and blaming her for everything her sister isn’t able to have. He uses harsh words and actions to gain power over her because he feels as the male thats only natural. In one scene, Stanley tells Stella that he got her sister a ticket for the streetcar to leave and he calls Blanche by saying, “Hey, canary bird! Toots! Get OUT of the BATHROOM!” (Williams 105). Kessey’s character, Nurse Ratched, also uses words, but to control people. In her hospital she knows everything about all of her patients and she uses this to her advantage. Nurse ratched sets up a notebook in which patients can write things about the other patients. She uses these as leverage against them to get them to do what she wants. To control them she downgrades them, like Stanley, so they’ll feel it’s only right to do whatever she says. Both Stanley and Nurse Ratched force themselves into dominance by forcing others into submission.
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Nicholas Principe
8/26/2016 07:08:48 pm
Language is used to write novels and communicate but it can be used to assert power over others. In the novel One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey, Nurse Ratchet is in charge of mental ward and knows the idiosyncrasies of each patient and what makes them tick. A prime example of this is a conversation that takes place between Nurse Ratchet and Billy. “Good morning Miss Ratched...what worries me Billy...is how your poor mother is going to take this...his mouth was working. He shook his head begging her. You d-don't n-n-need!”(Kesey, 300). This quote shows how Nurse Ratchet is able to regain control over Billy who was showing signs of becoming more self sufficient by talking. Her knowledge of Billy’s unnatural fear of his mother allowed her to again establish dominance, making Billy once again submissive. Similarly, Stanley, the man of the house in A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams knows how to control Stella, his wife, and Blanche, his sister-in-law, to do as he pleases. Stanley uses his words to control Stella by turning all his friends against Blanche so he can control her. ”Well, she has, however. But now the cat’s out of the bag! I found out some things” (Williams, 118). The previous quote is taken from when Stanley begins to tell everyone about Blanche’s mis-deeds Stanley and Miss Ratchet both use their words as a means of successfully maintaining dominance in their respective situations. Stanley does this by turning everyone against the person he wants to control. Nurse Ratched uses what she knows to push the correct buttons of a person to make them relinquish control and give her power. In the end words can be used to create wonders or used to create power.
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Marc Brewer
8/26/2016 07:10:00 pm
Language is a very powerful tool for both speech and literature. Some characters in literature are very intelligent with their use of language as they speak. In "A Streetcar Named Desire" by Tennessee Williams one of the main characters, Stanley, chooses his worlds very wisely in order to get exactly what he wants from his target. Getting in their heads, almost controlling them. This is very similar to how Nurse Ratched in " One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" uses her language, to control the patrons of her mental asylum. In T.Williams book Stanley is not a man of intimidating stature but gives off a feeling of authority through his word choice. This can be seen very early on after asking Blanche where she lived, "In Laurel, huh? Oh, yeah. Yeah, in Laurel, that's right. Not in my territory,"(Williams 26). Stanley puts forth the idea that he is in charge by claiming an area around his home. In a way to intimidate Blanche and her self control. In K.Kesey's book Nurse Ratched confronts a new Billy Bibbit with a new found self confidence. She easily tears down his confidence with his one weakness, his mother,"She got the response she was after. Billy flinched and put his hand to his cheek like he'd been burned with acid,"(Kesey 314). She used the thought of his dissappointed mother to put Billy back in to the palm of here hand. Just like she aimed for, Billy returned to the stuttering nervous reck of a man he had been for so long. Both of these characters broke down their targets with psychological warfare, picking at soft spots with their words until reaching what they believed was a breakthrough. However this was a breakthrough in their standards they chose, they spoke, they conquered.
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Marc Brewer
8/26/2016 07:11:39 pm
Once again the books I used are different copies than what was used in class and therefore the page numbers may not match up correctly.
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Alex Wark
8/26/2016 07:18:26 pm
Power is the ability to make other do what you want them to do. In the novel The one Flu over the cuckoos nest Nurse Ratched has the power to make the patentees do what she wants them to do. Nurse Ratched uses her words at a loud tone to scare and strike fear into the patients to make her seem like she has more power than she actually does. In the novel The street car named desire stanley has the power over Blance because he i the man and she is the home with the job and lower in the rank of society than he is. Stanley uses his words to degrade Blanched and make her suffer and until he has all this control over her.
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Matt Izzo
8/26/2016 07:30:31 pm
Power comes in many forms, the most powerful of them is the idea. The creators of the idea may pass however as long as one record of the idea is kept, that form of power will live on. Ideas are transferred by talking, talking is thus one of the greatest ways of gaining power over people. This is shown in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey and Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. In One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, McMurphy has an idea of freedom and fairness, so he talked to his fellow inmates and friends. Soon the fine folks at the asylum were able to enjoy themselves, get out of the asylum, and help others get out. Even though McMurphy didn't survive, his idea did, so his power did too. Clarisse, like McMurphy had an idea on how to benefit society. Clarisse told Montag to slow down and enjoy life. Thanks to Clarisse, Montag ended up surviving the bomb and he preserved the memory of the books he read too. McMurphy and Clarisse are two literary examples of how talking to people can be the most effective way to gain power.
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Lauren Bonanno
8/26/2016 07:30:59 pm
In the novels "A Streetcar Named Desire" by Tennessee Williams and "Farenheight 451" by Ray Bradbury, there is a character or group of characters who express power over others. In "A Streetcar Named Desire", one of the main male characters is named Stanley. Stanley uses power over his wife named Stella in the form of "social norms". Stanley physically abuses Stella when he is mad and drunk but she takes the hits because she thinks it is the normal, stereotypical behavior of men. Stanley uses language as a chance to redeem himself. Once he hits Stella, he tells her how much she means to him hoping to win her back. This gives Stanley power because he can control Stella knowing she will not run away from him. In the novel "Farenheight 451", the government and fire department has taken power over the rest of the country. This is power in the form of "state action". Since people are afraid that the government will find books in their home and that the firemen might burn their houses down, they listen to the government. The people are living under a dictatorship where they are forced to disown any and all books. Civilians in "Farenheight 451" and Stella in "A Streetcar Named Desire" are similar because they have been taken over by power mentally and physically. They both have someone who is seemingly stronger than them and they listen to them out of fear. Stanley and the government are similar because they both use physical force and language to rule. Power can be used as a good or a bad thing and in both of these instances, they are used in a malicious way.
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Charlotte Jansky
8/26/2016 07:39:48 pm
Beatty from Fahrenheit 451 and Stanley from A Streetcar Named Desire are both characters that use language to put themselves in a position of power. Beatty used language with negative connotation to explain why there are no books. He purposely uses the negative connotation to put fear in others and make it seem like the books are very bad, and to brainwash all the firemen into believing that what he has to say is the truth. He uses his strong ideas to get the other firemen to follow him as the captain. While explaining, Beatty says, “With schools turning out more runners, jumpers, racers… the word ‘intellectual,’ of course became the swear word it deserves to be”(Bradbury 58). Beatty uses his strong negative connotation and propaganda to instill the fear in the firemen that they will not read the books. Also, Stanley from A Streetcar Named Desire used strong, powerful language to show his power. When Stanley got angry, he used strong words to establish that he had the power and that he was in charge. When Stanley became angry with Stella for asking him to clean up the meal he shouted, “I am the king around here, so don’t forget it!”(Williams 107). This powerful choice of words and punctuation is what fuels Stanley’s power. The two of these characters use their distinct choice of words to get the end result that they want, therefore dominating the power.
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Aidan Gilmartin
8/26/2016 07:40:51 pm
The idea of language being a source of power and characters using language to gain power over others is present in the novels "One Flew Over A Cuckoos's Nest" by Ken Kesey and "A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams through characters Nurse Ratched and Stanley. These characters use language to gain powers over others whether it is through talking about ideas, using particular words, or bringing up topics of weakness. Nurse Ratched uses her knowledge of characters and certain weak topics to talk in a way that controls and gains powers over others. For example with Billy and Harding she talks about their weak spots like Billy's mother and Harding's sexuality to make them feel demoralized and powerless. Eric Liu in his video on power says that power can come in the form of social norms. Ratched explains social norms to characters and explains to them that they are ill and need help with gains her power. Stanley uses language to gain power by again explaining social norms but also using certain words and topics. For example in Streetcar gender roles are a big thing so Stanley talks in a masculine way to make himself seem like a powerful man and gain power over characters like Mitch, Stella, and Blanche. He also uses sexual language and sweet talk to gain power over Stella like when she left him but then he begged for her back and talked about the "colorful lights" that gained Stella back and under control. Stanley also explains to Stella at the end that Blanche was ill and needed help but really he just knew she didn't fit the society norm so he needed to get rid of her and stay in control of Stella. Theorist Norman Fairclough said in a presentation that power is being exerted when one speaker is able to infer or decode inferences that lead to an inequality of relationship with the listener. He is saying that if one can find another weak spot and talk about it it can lead to an unbalanced relationship with unequal power which is true through these two characters. Both characters Nurse Ratched and Stanley talk in ways that prove that language is power and can be useful in gaining power over others.
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Patrick Sullivan
8/26/2016 07:52:56 pm
Power can be obtained in many ways. One way that it’s obtainable is through language. In the books One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and A Streetcar Named Desire there’s a character that uses language to obtain power. In A Streetcar named Desire the main character Stanley has a lot of power over the other characters. At many points in the book he uses language to get his power. For example, Steve asks if they were going to play poker the following night and Stanley said to play at Mitch’s, but Mitch said they couldn’t play at his house because his Mother is still sick. Then Stanley said “Okay at my place...but you bring the beer.”(Williams 28). This shows that even though Stanley tried to show his power telling Mitch they were going to Mitch’s house, he still made Mitch bring drinks. As you can see Stanley had the power of the situation by using his language. In the book One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, one of the main characters, McMurphy, shows power through his language. For example, he said,“the Big Nurse could use it as an example of what can happen if you buck the system” (270). This shows that McMurphy was showing the other people in the mental hospital how the nurse punished them for not obeying the system, instead of bringing them to the lobotomy to help them. Even though both of the characters used language to give them power, they both used the power differently. For example, Stanley wanted the power to have his male ego, while McMurphy used the power to help the other people at the mental hospital realize the flaws of the mental home.
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Maddie Stout
8/26/2016 08:00:27 pm
Power through language is thoroughly demonstrated in the two novels One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and A Streetcar Name Desire. The characters Stanley Kowalski and McMurphy come to mind when power is a topic. Stanley from A Streetcar Named Desire uses not only violence, but his words to bring himself up while the people around him are victims. For example, Stanley says to the sisters, "You hens cut out that conversation in there!" and "Who turned that on in there?... Turn it off!"(Williams 54-55). This shows his agressive control over the girls achieved by yelling and making demands. On the other hand, McMurphy from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest has the same power over his fellow patients in the hospital in which he makes them rebell against the big nurse. He does this with his bold personality and manipulation. The difference between these two characters is that McMurphy uses his power for the greater good while Stanley uses it to conform to a gender role and be dominant.
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Shea Grant
8/26/2016 08:03:39 pm
In each novel, multiple characters use language in order to exert power over another character. However, I found that Blanche Dubois in A Streetcar Named Desire and Clarisse Mclellan in Fahrenheit 451 use particularly interesting ways to gain power over another character in each book. Blanche uses luxurious and sophisticated language to win over Mitch in Streetcar. She finishes off the lines of his favorite poem, which creates romance, and the way she tells stories make her seem mysterious. She is continuously flirting through language. She does this by using large words and too many adjectives. She also manages to lie her way out of situations by beating around the bush. When all of these attributes combined, she gains power over Mitch. Mitch is now caught up in her story, and neglects the beliefs of his other friends because of the sole power Blanche holds over him. Clarisse Mclellan exudes power over Guy Montag within the first 25 pages of the book. Her outlandish ideas and willingness to discuss them make her an intriguing character. The way she questions Guy about simple things with no explanations confuses him until eventually she is all he can think about. Her topic choice and the simplicity of everything she’s saying compared to the complexity of the dystopian world the characters live in rattles the firefighter. I believe her power is innocence in an intense world and that shines through her language. She displays signs of non-conformity which is odd and envelops Guy’s mind so he is constantly distracted by her. By asking him genuine questions and being curious about oddities, Clarisse obtains power over Guy. In conclusion, both women hold power over a man in each novel, but with different intentions. All of the power is obtained through language.
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Summer Smith
8/26/2016 08:14:23 pm
People all around the world use their language to gain power. Both characters, Montauge, in the book, Farenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury. And Miss.Ratched in One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, by Ken Kessey use language to gain power. The characters use their mostly their words, and sometimes their actions to gain the power of peers. Miss Ratched, the nurse in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest uses language to gain power of the patients and to appear powerful. She wants to patients to feel threatened and feared by her. Being assertive gets her power. She even encourages the other patients to spy on the others and they do that because they want to follow her orders since they are scared and threatened by her. Her idea of telling the patients to spy on the others gives her power since she can know what is going on in the hospital. Miss.Ratched uses language to appear more powerful and gain power in the hospital. Montauge in Farenheit 451 also uses the same tactics as Miss.Ratched to gain power. Although they are very different charcters they both have to same idea... to become more powerful. Montauge wants to become more powerful so he can let the truth out. The only way he can get the the truth about books out and the only way people will listen to him is is he appears more powerful. He uses his language to gain power among his peers. He tells them that books are good and should stop being burned. He also, unlike Miss.Ratched uses actions to gain power. At the end of the novel Montauge set his Superior on fire, which made people listen to him. Both of the characters, in order for people to listen to the them and to gain power, use language.
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Emily Rothberg
8/26/2016 08:15:41 pm
So often when power comes to mind many tend to give it a negative connotation, associating it with things like greed and corruption. And while yes, sometimes power is in relation with such adverse things it can also be used to enlighten and enrich those whom you have influence over. Perhaps the most basic yet forceful subdivision of power is the influence of words. In Fahrenheit 451, Clarisse McClellan is a prime example of how the power of language can be used for good. The first time she interacts with Montag she has already left his head spinning with new ideas just by talking to him. The curious and questioning way she speaks expose him to things he never thought about such as when she tells him “‘And if you look’—she nodded at the sky—‘there's a man in the moon.’ He hadn't looked for a long time.” (Bradbury) Everything she divulges to him from her ideas about life in the past to doubts about how their society functions presently leaves Montag with the strange new concept of asking “why” instead of “how.” Thus, this ultimately leads him off the beaten path and he directs himself into a new life free of the blinds pulled over his eyes by his own city.
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Jack Farello
8/26/2016 08:26:26 pm
Power is important among human beings. People use power to show how dominant they are over one another, well in reality, we are all created equally. For example, Stanley from "A Streetcar Named Desire", and Beatty from "Fahrenheit 451" both use language to gain power over others. These two characters abused their powers for their own reasons (different reasons). Stanley abuses his power by using strong commands towards Blanche and by using forceful words, trying to show authority over her. All of his language to get power, works in the end, because Stanley ends up raping Blanche. Stanley also talks like this to Stella. When Stella doesn't give into Stanley's forceful words, Stanley ends up beating her up. Beatty convinces Montag that, "in order to be a fireman", you need to burn all the houses with books in them. Beatty is constantly manipulative towards Montag. Beatty tricks Montag into believing that television is always more important than books. However, Beatty actually makes a good point in his anti-book ravings because literature is confusing. It will force you to answer questions you never wanted to be asked in the first place. It can instantly shock you. These two characters, along with millions of people, really show the true definition of using power to get things they want in life.
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John O'Leary
8/26/2016 08:27:27 pm
Two characters that use language to gain power are Stanley Kowalski, from "A Streetcar Named Desire", and Randle McMurphy from "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest". However, Stanley uses his language to intimidate others into giving him power over others such as Stella and Blanche, a prime example is when he tries to scare Eunice into giving Stella back to him after he strikes her during a poker party by exclaiming, "Eunice, I want my girl to come down with me!" (Williams 60). Stanley tries to scare others into following his orders and listening to him. Unlike Stanley, McMurphy uses language to unite people together to gain power in the ward. He uses words to convince others to join his cause against nurse Ratched. He believes that if he and the others on the psych ward unify as one they can overpower Ratched. McMurphy tries to persuade his fellow patients into rebelling against Ratched by saying, "You're gonna sit back and let some old blue-haired woman talk you into being a rabbit!" (Kesey 61). McMurphy tries to stop the others from believing that they're unable to do anything and work together for a common goal, which shows that McMurphy believed in power in numbers. Although both Stanley and McMurphy both use language to gain power, they gain power through different methods.
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Bella Fernandes
8/26/2016 08:32:29 pm
The novels "A Streetcar named Desire" and "Fahrenheit 451" have two characters that demonstrate a sense of power among all characters. Eric Liu’s video explaining power and how it impacts others lives describes how language can affect others beliefs and opinions. The way Stanley and Clarisse speak and react to other characters along with events shows influence. Stanley from "A Streetcar named Desire" and Clarisse from "Fahrenheit 451" both are able to broadcast a sense of power to those around them. Stanley holds role of “man of the house” in A Streetcar named Desire.” His demanding nature and strong dialogue give him power over the other characters. Stella’s easy going attitude, and Blanche’s fragile figure gives Stanley an easy way to dominate over the two of them and maintain control. He saw Blanche as a threat, and easily gets rid of her by convincing Stella she is insane and sends her off to an insane asylum. This final event illustrates just how easily Stanley could control the other characters and his power was not something to mess with. On the other hand, Clarisse shows power while bringing attention to certain aspects of Montag’s life that were missing. Once she uses her empowering personality to try to break his shell, she reveals to him that he needs love, satisfaction, and pleasure.
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Nicholette Glenn
8/26/2016 08:33:10 pm
Power can be presented in many ways having the similar result. Power also has many meanings in this case it’s the influence one has on another. What I learned from the ted talks is that power is given to you not self obtained, it’s others allowing you to influence them and their actions. Also in some cases power can be taken, and because that person has so much of it others are powerless against that force. Referring to the book One flew over the cuckoo’s nest, Nurse Ratched and Stanley are a great example. They are very similar yet different at the same time. They appear similar because they use the power they have to make the other seem powerless. The difference is how they use that power they have. Nurse Ratched uses the power of her title to intimidate the patience including some of her co-workers/ employee’s. A good example of that is when she changes up the rules to show McMurphy that she can do whatever she pleases because she’s the boss. The actions of a person are show power and that is what intimidates the other patients. I think of Nurse ratched in this case as a dictator even though she didn't forcibly take over anything, reason being because the influenced people can do nothing about her being in control. The type of language Nurse Ratched uses is what makes her so powerful. The cool and collected mask showing how protective she is of not letting that control slip but also showing the fear of losing it.
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Nicholette Glenn
8/26/2016 08:46:30 pm
At the end of line 5 *McMurphy
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Harrison Jones
8/26/2016 08:37:30 pm
Language can be used to manipulate others and gain control over a group, however there are many different ways it can be used to do so. quiet and provoking speech can easily make someone question themselves, but a loud and booming voice can make someone fear the other into giving them power. Stanley from, 'A Streetcar Named Desire', by Tennesse Williams, and Clarisse from, 'Fahrenheit 451', by Ray Bradbury, have different intentions, and different voices, but they both are able to manipulate and control others. Stanley uses his loud and disruptive voice to frighten others, and uses fear as a tactic to gain power, by doing so, people listen to him because they are afraid; even if some don't want to listen to him. Clarisse however doesn't outright try to make Guy Montag do what she wants, rather she uses simple questions in certain ways to make him question himself and his lifestyle. When she asks him "Are you happy?" (Bradbury 10), she then runs off and leaves Montag to think about the question. At first he says to himself that of course he's happy, but then he begins to think about Clarisse and how powerful that question was. "What incredible power of identification the girl had, she was like the eager watcher of a marionette show, anticipating each flicker of an eyelid" (Bradbury 11). Stanley must use force to make others fear him, and has his own goal of maintaining superiority over others, but Clarisse naturally makes others think and can change the way they think without any effort, but unlike Stanley does not have any intention to be superior over others.
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John Tuohy
8/26/2016 08:47:45 pm
In the novels One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, by Ken Hussey, and Farenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, the characters of the Big Nurse and Beatty gain power over other through lanaguage. The Big Nurse uses seemingly nice and friendly lanaguage combined with her icy cold demenour to put the patients of the pyche ward in place. She constantly uses strong words and embarssing stories from the patients' past to keep them in check and always vulerable, thus to sqush any uprisings or rebellion from among the men on the ward. Then every once in a while she loosens her iron grasp on the men just a little for them to let their guard down and begin to think she is a kinder more trust worhty person. But then she tightens her grasp all the way and comes down hard on them with strict rules and barrages of restraights on their freedoms. This way the Nurse keeps a tight rule over the ward at all time. And Beatty uses lanaguage in a different way to assert his power. Beatty talks down to people in an almost motherly way, using a plastic simile and presumiuois notions to sqash rebellion. Instead of using embrassment to shame others, he uses guilt. Beatty expects his men to do the "right" thing and anything else is a federal crime. And espically in a dystoipian world where dong the wrong thing is punishable be death, one must always watch what they do and say. So Beatty expects his men to do what their society deems is right, although it is quite immoral. Thus men are put in place as tyo not disobey a sort of parental figure that would punish them for stepping out of line.
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Shealyn Russell
8/26/2016 09:00:47 pm
In the play " A Streetcar Named Desire" by Tennessee Williams and the novel "Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury, they both have a character that has/wants power. In William's play a character named Stanley is very power seeking in a physical way. Stanley abused his wife to feel more powerful and dominant. For Bradbury the government used state action as a form of power. The government bans books so that no one was smarter than the other making them unable to over power each other. Both Stanley and the government use physical force to gain power the government set houses and books on fire if anyone was caught with some causing harm to the people who didn't leave the building. Stanley used aggressive language while the government used forcible rules and intimidation for power over a set of people.
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Julia Rousseau
8/26/2016 09:10:18 pm
Your choice of words and tone when you speak can dictate power and control over someone. There is very similar language used when Nurse Ratched from One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest and Stanley from A Streetcar Named Desire speak to the other characters. Both characters show inequality in relationships and how they have a higher status than who they are having a conversation with by their body language and words. The nurse uses the patients vulnerability to verbally degrade them. She never actually threatens anyone but she shows her power over them. Stanley on the other hand emanates his power by verbally assaulting Banche. He uses physical power to further his control over Blance when he rapes her. Even though Nurse Ratched is more subtle when showing her power over the patients, both outcomes are very disturbing. Stanley uses brute force along with his language to degrade others and show his power. They both realize the connection of language to power and use it to their advantage.
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Craig Scharmann
8/27/2016 05:05:21 am
In the books, one flew over the cuckoo's nest, and a streetcar named desire, two characters use both verbal and physical force to help them attain power. First of all, the big nurse uses verbal force, by mentally abusing her prisoners. She knows each patients weaknesses and ultimately uses it to her advantage in order to keep them oppressed. Next, the big nurse also uses physical violence in order to maintain order and leave her with absolute power. For example, at the end of the book, the big nurse happens to send McMurphy to receive a labotomy, so that he wouldn't ever again risk seizing the Nurse's power. Not to mention the countless times Nurse Ratched had substituted electrical rehabilitation as a punishment for acting out of the norm. The next character is Stanley from a streetcar named desire. In my opinion, Stanley's persona reminds me very much of an animal. In order to get what he wants, he doesn't really use verbal violence, but rather physical violence. Throughout the book, Stanley's communication skills towards both
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Tara Clark
8/27/2016 06:57:39 am
In the books, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey and A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee William are both books that show characters who use their language to have influence and have power over others. Though both novels take place in different times and different places, their character comparisons are very similar. Stanley from A Streetcar Named Desire and McMurphy from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest both have much influence over others because of their aggressive personality and need for power and domination. After Stella called Stanley a pig and disgustingly greasy, he got really mad. He yells, "pig—Polak—disgusting—vulgar—greasy!—them kind of words have been on your tongue and your sister's too much around here! What do you two think you are? A pair of queens" (Williams 107)? When Stanley feels brutalized he becomes even more aggressive, he throws a plate on the floor and screams at Stella. In One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, although nurse Ratched was in charge of the ward and everyone in it, McMurphy always tried to make her feel strained and he tried to gain influence over her. Stanley and McMurphy used the same tactics to gain power over everyone. They tried to make the person feel threatened. In Eric Liu’s TED talk it tells you that there are different types of power that someone can gain in different ways. The power that Stanley and McMurphy have is determined by threats of physical force and aggressiveness. The words and actions that Stanley and McMurphy used created the power they have over others in the book.
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Christina W.
8/27/2016 12:05:34 pm
In the story, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", written by Ken Kesey, two characters fight for power: Nurse Ratched and McMurphy. In the novel, Nurse Ratched is the head nurse of the mental hospital and is very stern with all the patients; she doesn't allow them to take trips, or ask girls out on dates. She does not even allow the patients to watch television. In the mental hospital, Nurse Ratched controls the patients by acting superior to them, making them think she is wiser than them. Speaking to them as if they were children and extremely useless, makes the patients believe that they are useless and child-like. She brain-washes all her patients and therefore gains a position of high power. She dictates their thoughts by making them believe she is always right and that no one should dare challenge her. None of the patients leave the hospital because they believe her. They believe her when she tells them they are sick in the mind and should not be allowed to interact with the regulars in the world. They believe her and so they stay; she has that power over them. Therefore, when McMurphy enters the picture, trouble occurs. Being powerful, and strong is just apart of McMurphy's personality. He fights for what he believes in; he's not a coward and he doesn't give up just because another person tells him no. Different than Nurse Ratched, McMurphy fights for the patients in the hospital. He believes that they do deserve to be treated just like everyone else; they should be allowed to have fun, get out of the hospital, and enjoy their lives despite their disability. Differences in their views, leads McMurphy and Nurse Ratched to clash. McMurphy challenges her by having his friend Candy come and interact with the patients, and he starts to stand up for all of them. Many of the Acutes start to worry about what would happen "after McMurphy doesn't stand up for [them] any longer" (Kesey 150). McMurphy does however, go on fighting for them by "outsmarting the Big Nurse" over and over again (Kesey 151). By doing so, McMurphy even puts his life on the line. Since Nurse Ratched still has the power not over the patients, but also over the rest of the hospital staff, she can do anything with McMurphy, as his punishment for acting out. Therefore, by the end of the novel, McMurphy goes through a lobotomy, scheduled by Nurse Ratched, to rid the ward of any person who might persuade them into thinking they should have the right to live their lives outside the hospital. Nurse Ratched was too late, for McMurphy's high spirits were able to have enough power to drive some of the patients to check themselves out and to get started living their lives. Over all, Nurse Ratched had a very strict, and stern way of gaining her power, however McMurphy was positive and upbeat, and therefore people listened to what he had to say.
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Richard Bakalian
8/27/2016 05:26:15 pm
In the the three works that we have studied we have seen that characters such as Stanley and Clarice have expressed the ability to use power over others. For example in Fahrenheit 451 when Montag and Clarice are walking home Clarice questions mom talk about normal life and it causes him to think giving power to Clarice. Stanley on the other hand has power in a different way he uses his intimidating self to command others. For example in the first act of a streetcar named desire we see Stanley bossing Stella around using his stern words and scary physique. Although these two characters are able to gain power in someway they both do it very differently Stanley uses his natural looks and forceful voice to get respect from others, whereas Clarice simply asked questions that will cause you to think giving her power over your mind.
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Grace Noglows
8/28/2016 06:44:24 pm
There are many systems of power in life. Six of them are physical force, wealth, state action, social norms, ideas, and numbers. For example, in A Streetcar Named Desire,the character, Stanley, uses social norms as a system of power. He does actions that he thinks is okay. He can act however he wants and feel that he has all power. Stanley is aggressive. He uses violence to get what he wants. In One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, The big nurse uses power by raising her voice she is very strict. She feels that people listen to her when she seems scary. Both the big nurse and Stanley get their way by being rude.
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Jack Povey
8/28/2016 07:54:23 pm
Eric Liu's video classifies the way people gain power into groups. One of the groups is social norms. In "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" and "Fahrenheit 451" there are characters that gain power through the use of social norms. These characters are McMurphy and Clarisse. These two characters similarly go outside social norms and question the social norms to gain power over people. They use language to question the social norms in their society whether it is the mental institution or the ways of life. Clarisse gains power over Montag using language when she makes him think by asking the question "Are you happy" (Bradbury 10). This gains power over Montag's mind and he cannot stop thinking about the question. This questions the social norms of their society because none questions happiness or even thinks about it. McMurphy gains power in the mental institution by questioning the social norms of the institution. He uses language to persuade the other patients into turning against the Big Nurse. He says "You're gonna sit back and let some old blue-haired woman talk you into being a rabbit!" (Kesey 61). This is him questioning social norms to gain power and make the other patients think. McMurphy is more determined and presses his opinion on others more than Clarisse. Clarissa just speaks her mind and that is all she needs to gain power and impact others. These two characters are very influential in "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" and "Fahrenheit 451". Both characters gain power by not conforming to social norms.
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Ray Forbes
8/29/2016 04:18:23 pm
Power is a very strong characteristic. Power is also something that can be very good or very bad depending on who is in control of it. For example, Nurse Ratched had a tremendous amount of power and used it in the wrong way. She was very cruel to patients at the hopsital and used her power to manipulate and control people. This is an example of how power in the wrong hands is a bad thing. An example of power used in the right way is Clarisse in Fahrenheit 451. Although she is young and small she has a lot of power in an interesting way. She changes Montag's way of thinking completely in a kind way. She helps him think and learn without being mean which leads to him taking on his own path of life. Power can be used in many different ways but under the right hands it can be a great thing.
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Grace Winberry
8/30/2016 03:39:02 pm
There are many ways to establish power, there are also different ways to use ones power. In "A Streetcar Named Desire", Stanley achieves his powerful position by physical force and language. He hits Stella and yells at her which makes her scared. Therefore, she is scared to defy him. Blanche is suppressed by Stanley because he has more power over Stella then Blanche does. Since Stella feels Stanley has more power than Blanche, she will do as Stanley says. This is why Stanley can get away with raping Blanche. " I couldn't believe [Blanche's] story and go on living with Stanley." (Williams 165). Since Stella can't go against Stanley, she choses to not believe Blanche in order to keep her life the way it was before. In the novel, this character uses his power that he has gained for evil. In "Fahrenheit 451", Clarisse gains her power by using language. She speaks out against the social norms and inspires others to test what they know. Due to Clarisse, Montag realizes the true meaning of the books he has been destroying. Clarisse uses her power for good unlike Stanley. People are out in powerful positions by the choice of others around them, whether they are voting or they chose to be suppressed by others.
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Meghan Murray
8/30/2016 07:55:47 pm
After reading Fahrenheit 451 and A Streetcar Named Desire, I realized the effect of people's level of power has on their life and the lives of the people around them. Captain Beatty in Fahrenheit 451, uses his knowledge and his leadership to control other people. In A Streetcar Named Desire, Stanley Kowalski uses his role as a man and his loud voice to control people. They use different methods, but still get the same result. Captain Beatty puts ideas into the firemen's heads and shuts ideas down that he doesn't approve of. In the Ted-Ed video by Eric Liu, Eric talks about the different ways that people gain power. He explains how "money creates the ability to buy any other kind of power". In both Fahrenheit 451 and A Streetcar Named Desire, the people who had the power also had the money.
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shloopy mcgillicuddy
8/31/2016 10:23:12 am
i like trains
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Gavin Mahoney
8/31/2016 11:00:29 am
In "A Streetcar Named Desire" by Tennessee Williams and "One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest" by Ken Kesey, characters use violence and physicality to show their power over the weak. For example, Stanley from "A Streetcar Named Desire" was needy for Blanche, Stella, and others to see his authority. He uses violence and aggression to make them realize he is in control. On the other hand, Nurse Ratched from "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" mentally overpowered the ones she wanted to beat, her patients. They knew she had power over them because she was responsible for them.
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Mr. Vlogger707
8/31/2016 12:31:13 pm
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Jack Borkoski
8/31/2016 01:18:29 pm
The two figures I chose to compare and contrast were Blanche DuBois from "A Streetcar Named Desire" by Tennessee Williams and Nurse Ratched from "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" by Ken Kesey. These characters both use the power of language to feel important or dominant over other people in their life. Neither of them use physical power, but verbal instead.
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Julia Schneider
9/1/2016 05:31:48 am
In “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” by Ken Kesey and in “A Streetcar Named Desiree” the characters use language and physicality to gain power over others. In “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” McMurphy basically gained power over Nurse Ratched. He didn’t follow her rules, he didn’t listen to her, and he would always make her feel uneasy with the words he used to talk to her. He was trying to get inside her head so he could make the patients in charge instead of the nurse. In “A Streetcar Named Desiree” Stanley gains power over Stella by ordering her around and hitting her when she does something “wrong”. Stella tries to stand up to Stanley but in the end she goes running right back to him. In both of these novels McMurphy and Stanley use their words and their demeanor to threaten others to gain power and to get their way.
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Sarah Lown
9/3/2016 05:55:47 pm
Through the works of both "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and "A Streetcar Named Desire", two of the main characters, Nurse Ratched and Stanley, have influenced other's actions through their sense of power. Nurse Ratched, leader of the asylum in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", dictated the lives of the men who lived there. Through both words and actions, she gained a sense of superiority that made everyone do exactly as she said. She held equal power over the men through shock therapy and the use of degrading comments. This was how she was able to strip the men of their sense of power. Stanley from" A Streetcar Named Desire" felt a sense of power over his wife Stella. Influencing the way she acted, Stella felt helpless and powerless. Through mental and physical abuse, Stanley made sure his wife knew he was in charge. He would hit her when mad and drunk, and talk to her as if she were an object. The difference in the the novels lies in the fact that the power was shifted away from Nurse Ratched to McMurphy in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, while Stanley maintained his authority throughout the play. McMurphy, who took power from Nurse Ratched, treated the men in the asylum equally as bad as Stanley treated his wife. Both novels have a recurring theme of power being used for the bad instead of the good.
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Quin Moore
9/4/2016 12:30:17 am
In all three works of literature there is a theme where the world around us has standards in which some people tend to stray away from. In “Fahrenheit 451” the main idea had to do with how Guy Montag strayed from the norm of burning books and instead enjoying them. In “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest” it illustrated to the audience how society’s norm made people who were different from the rest of the pack feel as if there was something wrong with them. In “A Streetcar Named Desire” the social norm was that men were meant to be brave and masculine while women were supposed to be weak and dependent on men. Two characters from the three novels Mitch and Guy Montag both strayed away from the typical norm in similar ways. In Mitch’s situation instead of shadowing the rest of society’s ways of needing to act manly but instead being soft and sensitive. Guy Montag went against society by instead of following the social norm and continuing to banish books, but strayed away and began to read and enjoy them. Mitch and Guy used language to receive power by standing up to society and expressing how being different from the norm is normal itself in a way. Their actions of straying away from normality become the norm.
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Callie Haytaian
9/4/2016 11:15:52 am
Power is the capacity or ability to direct or influence the behavior of others or the course of events. In the three pieces of literature we read a common theme is evident, language is power. Characters show their dominance over one another through language. In Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury, Beatty establishes his dominance over Montag whenever they speak to each other. Beatty makes Montag feel weak and unintelligent compared to him. A similar occurrence happens in A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams. In this play, Stanley who is already societies stronger man shows how he is more powerful than Mitch by bullying him. Although both have a more dominant character that uses language to show it, Beatty is much softer then Stanley in doing so.
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Cristina Persico
9/4/2016 11:38:29 am
In the novels "One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest" by Ken Kesey and "A Streetcar Named Desire" by Tennessee Williams characters use language as power. In "One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest" McMurphy doesnt follow Nurse Rachets rules and he pretty much gains power over her by not listening to her and making her feel uncomfortable. In the novel "A Streetcar Named Desire" Stanley shows how he is much more powerful than Mitch by being cruel and bullying him. This also helps Stanley maintain his social status of a "manly man". In both these novels characters use language to gain power over others.
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Cori Martin
9/5/2016 06:51:17 am
In the novels "Fahrenheit 451" and "A Streetcar Named Desire", characters seem to use their tone and choice of words to overpower another character or characters. In "Fahrenheit 451", Clarisse seems to use her wit, curiosity, and gentleness to overpower Montags thoughts and ideas he had before he met her. She used a sense of shelter and understanding to break Montag and to find out his weakness points to make him believe she was not actually crazy. In "A Streetcar Named Desire", Blanche seems to overpower Stella by making her feel bad about the lose of Belle Reeve. She acts so gentle and innocent, which makes all of the other family memebers feel guilt and pity her. This results in them doing whatever she wants, and means she has power. Stanley did not like this power over his wife whatsoever and was not allowing Blanche to replace his hypothetical spot "the man of the house". As you can see, in both of these novels, mostly all characters seem to use their voice to make an impact on how much power they take over others.
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Trinity McQuillan
9/5/2016 08:14:46 am
In Fahrenheit 451, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and A Streetcar Named Desire, the plot stems from the conflicts between the powerful and the powerless. Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 and Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest both depict antagonists trying to control a group of people. Captain Beatty and Nurse Ratched are both people put in positions of power and both chose to wield that power by force to intimidate those under their control. "There's physical force and a capacity for violence. Control of the means of force, whether in the police or a militia, is power at its most primal." (Eric Liu, How to understand power). Captain Beatty uses the firemen and social norms to keep everyone from reading and learning. If someone is caught with a book, their house would be burned down. That punishment is shown to others to keep them from rising against Beatty. Unlike the captain, Nurse Ratched uses a less questionable, more silencing force. If someone started to become too much of a problem, she would send them to receive a lobotomy knowing that when they come back they would be in a vegetable state. She does neutralizes any threat to her power quickly and quietly so no one knows what has happened before it is too late. How Beatty and Ratched display their power plays a role in how they develop as characters and how the novel ends. Because Captain Beatty was too trusting of his firemen, he is betrayed and killed by Guy Montag before he runs away to safety. However, Nurse Ratched has Randle McMurphy lobotomized and remains the head of the power pyramid with the ability to make the majority of patients do what she would have them do.
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Mary Brigid Clanton-Calnan
9/5/2016 09:29:14 am
Power is described as the ability to make others do what you would have them do. Nurse Ratched from the book one flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Captain Beatty from Fahrenheit 451 both use words to oppress people. When both these characters come into the position that have to exert power they become these mean and awful people. For example Captain Beatty said to Montag, "Surely you remember the boy in your own school class who was exceptionally ‘bright,’ did most of the reciting and answering while the others sat like so many leaden idols, hating him. And wasn't it this bright boy you selected for beatings and tortures after hours?”(Bradbury 58) This is showing us that he is torturing anyone that doesn't do what he wants. Now is that right? Well, Nurse Ratched is very similar to Captain Beatty that when she thinks she is losing control over the situation. McMurphy, who gets the brunt of all her discipline, explains “...is a ball-cutter. I’ve seen a thousand of ‘em, old and young, men and women. Seen ‘em all over the country and in the homes- people who try to make you weak so they can get you to toe the line, to follow their rules, to live like they want you to. And the best way to do this is, to get you to knuckle under, is to weaken you by gettin’ you where it hurts the worst… And that’s what the old buzzard is doing, going for your vitals.”(Kesey 58) In conclusion these two characters, Captain Beatty and Nurse Ratched, both use their power to demean and oppress others.
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Jaz Marshall
9/5/2016 09:50:40 am
In "Fahrenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury, two characters have some similarities and the way power is exerted over other people. In Fahrenheit 451, Beatty and the Big Nurse gain power over others with their language. The Big Nurse speaks nicely to the patients in the hospital to keep them in their place, but also her cold, mean demeanor overpowers that. She always uses strong words and stories from the patients' past to keep them in check. But also she can be kind to the patients to make them loosen up on her. But then once they trust her she hits them with strict rules and restraints on their freedom. This way the Big Nurse keeps herself on top of everything in the hospital. Beatty talks down to people in a nurturing kind of way, instead of embarrassing them he uses guilt to shame them. Beatty expects his men to do the "right" thing and anything else is a federal crime. So Beatty expects his men to do what their society deems is right, although it is quite immoral and undesirable. There, men are put in place so they don't disobey their figures of authority.
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Penelope Buchanan
9/5/2016 03:51:35 pm
Although "One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest" and "A Streetcar Named Desire" are two very different pieces of literature, they have two very similar characters. Nurse Ratched and Stanley have many similar attributes. They may be living very different lives, they seem to have similar ways of asserting their dominance over people they interact with. Nurse Ratched, head nurse at the facility, is in a major position of power. She has control over all the patients. Stanley is in a lesser position of power, he is just the "man of the house". To him this means he has power over the women in the house. To keep the position of power that the two are in, they are stern, mean, and most of the time unfair. Nurse Ratched is subtle with her manipulation and threats, but she makes sure that all patients know that she holds the power. Stanley is more outward and violent, not afraid to strike anyone who questions his position of power. Their tactics may be different, but their goals are the same; to be feared and keep their power.
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Penny Hill
9/5/2016 04:22:28 pm
In One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, there are two immensely powerful characters: Nurse Ratched and Randle McMurphy. While Nurse Ratched seemingly possess more power because of her position as head Nurse of the ward, I believe that McMurphy was even more powerful. His power grew much quicker than hers did, as he had gained the support of almost all the patients in the ward at the mental hospital in a matter of weeks while it had probably taken her years to climb up the ladder of authority in the hospital. McMurphy had power in numbers, since most of the patients eventually stood up to the nurse and joined McMurphy is his rebellion. He also obtained power through ideas. This way of gaining power is where language is very important. McMurphey was never timid in social encounters. He was always loud and proud of his opinions. When Harding was trying to explain to McMurphey how all the patients at the hospital are like “rabbits” that are “feeble, stunted, weak little creatures in a weak little race”, McMurphy gets furious and tells Harding “Shut your damned mouth! (Kesey 63).” McMurphy’s hot temper and cursing makes him more powerful because it catches people’s attention and makes them want to listen to what he has to say. If McMurphy had been more calm and quiet, he wouldn’t have gained powerful. Another significant part of language McMurphy used to gain power was humour. He was always laughing at something or joking about something. Chief Bromden said that at breakfast he was “being the clown, working at getting some of the guys to laugh (Kesey 92).” The patients in the ward rarely laughed, but when McMurphy helped them loosen up. McMurphy was also captivating in his stories. He was able to invoke his passions in other people, which is something the Nurse could not do. When he gained the favor of the patients who used to always listen to her, he was able to use them against her. One example was the baseball game incident. McMurphey and the patients wanted to watch the World Series in the afternoon during cleaning time and did there cleaning at night instead. Nurse Ratched was completely against this because everything would “be thrown into turmoil by the switch of routines (Kesey 105).” This is probably just an excuse for the Nurse to flex her abuse of power. At first, no patients speak out against her because they are afraid. This disappoints and angers McMurphey, and the patients decide that they want to do a re-vote. When they do the revote, twenty out of the forty patients vote yes to the baseball game. But the unfair thing is that the Nurse is counting the Chronic patients, and most of them aren’t even able to raise their hands. So the Nurses final decision is no, but on the day of the game while the patients are doing their chores, McMurphy takes a chair, sits in front of the TV, and turns on the game. The Nurse shuts it off, but still more patients stop doing their chores, pull over chairs, and join McMurphy is watching the blank screen. This small act of rebellion is a turning point in the power shift from the Nurse to McMurphey. The way McMurphy addresses the Nurse and speaks to her shows he has no respect for her authority. He calls her “Miss Rat-shed (Kesey 87)” on purpose one morning when she finds him running around the ward with seemingly only a towel on. And then when she tells him he can’t run around in a towel he responds “Towels against ward policy too? Well, I guess there’s nothin’ to do exce-” and as he is about to take off the towel she stops him. McMurphy is extremely thoughtful while being careless at the same time, which is difficult for the Nurse to comprehend. McMurphy’s humorous and sarcastic language gains him power over the Nurse and helps him gain favor of the patients.
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Penny Hill
9/5/2016 04:23:53 pm
In One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, there are two immensely powerful characters: Nurse Ratched and Randle McMurphy. While Nurse Ratched seemingly possess more power because of her position as head Nurse of the ward, I believe that McMurphy was even more powerful. His power grew much quicker than hers did, as he had gained the support of almost all the patients in the ward at the mental hospital in a matter of weeks while it had probably taken her years to climb up the ladder of authority in the hospital. McMurphy had power in numbers, since most of the patients eventually stood up to the nurse and joined McMurphy is his rebellion. He also obtained power through ideas. This way of gaining power is where language is very important. McMurphey was never timid in social encounters. He was always loud and proud of his opinions. When Harding was trying to explain to McMurphey how all the patients at the hospital are like “rabbits” that are “feeble, stunted, weak little creatures in a weak little race”, McMurphy gets furious and tells Harding “Shut your damned mouth! (Kesey 63).” McMurphy’s hot temper and cursing makes him more powerful because it catches people’s attention and makes them want to listen to what he has to say. If McMurphy had been more calm and quiet, he wouldn’t have gained powerful. Another significant part of language McMurphy used to gain power was humour. He was always laughing at something or joking about something. Chief Bromden said that at breakfast he was “being the clown, working at getting some of the guys to laugh (Kesey 92).” The patients in the ward rarely laughed, but when McMurphy helped them loosen up. McMurphy was also captivating in his stories. He was able to invoke his passions in other people, which is something the Nurse could not do. When he gained the favor of the patients who used to always listen to her, he was able to use them against her. One example was the baseball game incident. McMurphey and the patients wanted to watch the World Series in the afternoon during cleaning time and did there cleaning at night instead. Nurse Ratched was completely against this because everything would “be thrown into turmoil by the switch of routines (Kesey 105).” This is probably just an excuse for the Nurse to flex her abuse of power. At first, no patients speak out against her because they are afraid. This disappoints and angers McMurphey, and the patients decide that they want to do a re-vote. When they do the revote, twenty out of the forty patients vote yes to the baseball game. But the unfair thing is that the Nurse is counting the Chronic patients, and most of them aren’t even able to raise their hands. So the Nurses final decision is no, but on the day of the game while the patients are doing their chores, McMurphy takes a chair, sits in front of the TV, and turns on the game. The Nurse shuts it off, but still more patients stop doing their chores, pull over chairs, and join McMurphy is watching the blank screen. This small act of rebellion is a turning point in the power shift from the Nurse to McMurphey. The way McMurphy addresses the Nurse and speaks to her shows he has no respect for her authority. He calls her “Miss Rat-shed (Kesey 87)” on purpose one morning when she finds him running around the ward with seemingly only a towel on. And then when she tells him he can’t run around in a towel he responds “Towels against ward policy too? Well, I guess there’s nothin’ to do exce-” and as he is about to take off the towel she stops him. McMurphy is extremely thoughtful while being careless at the same time, which is difficult for the Nurse to comprehend. McMurphy’s humorous and sarcastic language gains him power over the Nurse and helps him gain favor of the patients.
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Penny Hill
9/5/2016 04:25:42 pm
patients like Stanley embarrassed Stella in front of his friends, McMurphy never whined or cried to gain power over Nurse Ratched. Social norms were also a way Stanley held power over Stella. The stereotype at the time in A Streetcar Named Desire generally was that men were more powerful and intelligent than women. Therefore Stanley exhibited this belief by being rude and cruel to Stella, which made him feel superior and made Stella feel small. McMurphy sometimes used gender stereotypes to get the other patients to agree with him. He basically told the patients they were babies for letting a woman boss them around and make them feel helpless. This helped inspire them to rebel against Nurse Ratched with McMurphy. But the difference between Stanley and McMurphy’s use of language to gain power is that Stanley did not use humour like McMurphy. McMurphy used humour to defy Nurse Ratched’s suppression of joy in hospital while the only jokes Stanley cracked were negative and mean.
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Claire Lynch
9/5/2016 04:58:43 pm
In the three works of literature that we read this summer there is an overall theme. It focuses on power. Multiple different characters in the novels express power by words or even by physically harming someone. In "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest," Nurse Ratched is tough and doesn't let anyone control her. McMurphy would never listen to her and get under her skin. Nurse Ratched didn't let that fly and eventually had him get a lobotomy so he wouldn't be so much trouble. This shows how powerful Nurse Ratched is. In the novel "A Streetcar Named Desire," Stanley shows his power to his wife Stella by abusing her. He makes her feel weak and unimportant. Both of these characters feel the need to show others who is in charge.
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Erin Rooy
9/5/2016 05:13:12 pm
In the books One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and A Streetcar Named Desire, although very different books, certain characters held a lot of power and they gained that power mostly through violence, but also through the power of people. In the TED talk given by Eric Liu, there are six ways that people gain power: physically, through wealth, through the government, through ideas and numbers of people, and social norms. In One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, McMurphy gains his power by rallying the people of the hospital to side with him and go against Nurse Ratched. At some points in the story he resorts to violence, but the main way he earned his power was through masses of people. Before McMurphy showed up, Nurse Ratched held all the power, but as time went on and McMurphy rallied and gained support against Nurse Ratched, her power dwindled and shifted to him. However, finally, Nurse Ratched’s brutality was too much and her actions resulted in events that led to his death. In A Streetcar Named Desire, Stanley earned all of his power through violence. The females in the house feared him and that is how he got to the position of “king” of the house. He beat his wife and raped Blanche, both times to prove that he is the man and he is stronger than everyone in the house. Also to prove that nothing can compromise his power and if someone dares to cross him they will be punished. However, a main difference between Stanley and McMurphy is Stanley was the main antagonist in the story while McMurphy was a protagonist. This goes to show that power can land in the hands of anyone that earns it, no matter if they’re good or bad.
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9/5/2016 05:18:49 pm
Captain Beatty from Ray Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451" and Nurse Ratchet from Ken Kesey's "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" have striking similarities in which they use words to attain and hold power among others. They are both manipulative and authoritarian, and they both confuse those below them to do what they want. Both characters utilize shame and guilt to manipulate people, like how Nurse Ratched reminds William Bibbit of what his mother would think of his terrible behavior, "'What worries me, Billy,' she said- I could hear the change in her voice- 'is how your mother is going to take this.'" (Kesey 264) and how Captain Beatty reminds Montag that breaking the law for books has only put him in a bad situation. "Give a man a few lines of verse and he thinks he's the Lord of all Creation. You think you can walk on water with your books. Well, the world can get by just fine without them. Look where they got you, in slime up to your lip. If I stir the slime with my little finger, you'll drown!" (Bradbury 55) Captain Beatty makes multiple references to the holy Bible, which makes him appear holy and religiously righteous. These characters speak in ways that bend the truth and confuse. They hide their hostility behind a smile which convinces people into doing what they want.
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Sophia Morales
9/5/2016 05:40:01 pm
In both 'A Streetcar Named Desire' and 'Fahrenheit 451' one of the main characters are strong powerful men. In 'A Streetcar Named Desire' Stanley uses his power to demean people specifically woman. He uses his masculinity to show that he is above everyone. In 'Fahrenheit 451' Guy Montag has the power of being a free- thinker. He knows there is more to humanity then what is allowed in the society they live in. Both characters want to be in control. Montag wants to be in control of society to show them new ideas and goes to great lengths to accomplish this. He demonstrates power through violent and forceful acts like burning down a whole city. Stanley wants power only he wants it in his relationship. He displays power through masculinity and anger. When his wife Stella does not respect him and he precedes to yell at her. In a sense he feels the need to be violent and punish her. Both men are in different circumstances but act the same to seek more power.
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Claire Taylor
9/5/2016 06:41:19 pm
Both gaining and sustaining power can be established through- physical force, wealth, state action, social norms, ideas, and numbers (TED-Ed). Eric Liu believes that you can find power in words beyond books. Words that can be found in any scenario you encounter in everyday life. One of the six main sources of power listed above is ‘ideas’. An idea is a thought that turns into a statement and evolves into a firm belief. When the person believes in their idea so much they label it as a fact rather than opinion.
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Jack Dee
9/5/2016 07:11:47 pm
In the books "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and "A Streetcar Named Desire" some characters use their language to gain power over others. In "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", Nurse Ratched uses her language to gain power. She threatens and scares the patients so they obey her and don't try to inspire others to join up and stand up to her. She threatens the people and breaks them down until they are too scared to even think about standing up to her. She manipulates them and tries to make them what she thinks is "normal" which is really her messed up view of how they should act. The Nurse achieves her power in a similar way to Stanley from "A Streetcar Named Desire". Stanley tries to be the tough guy in the story and threatens and abuses others to gain power. He also scares people into doing what he wants them to do because he believes that it is his role as the masculine character. He also tried to show his power by physically abusing Blanche when he raped her. This is similar to Nurse Ratched because they both beleive that they can only achieve power through manipulating other people and causing them to do what they want out of fear. Power can also be achieved through getting people to agree with you or support your ideas and getting them to like you rather than be scared of you like McMurphy in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's nest". The two characters used aggressive actions and words to gain power.
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Isabella Scheider
9/5/2016 08:32:21 pm
In the books, “A Streetcar Named Desire”, and “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest”, one of the main themes is power one person has over another. In “A Streetcar Named Desire”, Stella’s husband, Stanley, winds up taking masculine dominance to a whole other level. Stanley thinks he has all control over Stella and when she tries to change something ever so slight in his life without his consent, he punishes her. One night when she tells his friends to go home, he winds up throwing punches at her, proving to be abusive. In “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest”, Dr. Ratchet tries to prove herself to be superior over everyone in the hospital by punishing everyone. Power over others is an extremely important concept in fiction and in real life. There wouldn’t be problems if there wasn’t arguments over power. All wars, arguments, and fights are over power in some way, shape, or form.
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August 2016
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