OFOCN: Blog Response #2

Many authors attempt to use symbolism as a way to add depth and meaning to a story. When chosen well, it can convey an intricate idea with just a single object that allows the novel to be interpreted in more than one way. One of the central symbolisms in One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest is the machinery. Similarly, Charles Dickens also uses this machinery imagery in his novel the Tale of Two Cities. Both authors utilize it as a way to express the dehumanization of the society.

The main metaphor in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is the machine. The metaphor appeared early on in the story and was mentioned frequently by the narrator Bromden. Bromden sees society as a giant farm machine, the Combine, which harvests grain crops and gets rid of the excess. He sees this same machine representing the mental institution as well. This machine representing the dehumanization of individuals can be seen primarily in two places: the description of Nurse Ratched and Bromden’s nightmare. When Nurse Ratched first appears in the novel, Bromden describes her in machine-like terms. When she is approaching the black boys, “she blows up bigger and bigger, big as a tractor, so big I can smell the machinery inside the way you smell a motor pulling too big a load” (p. 5). Moreover, all of her physical features seem to be that of a machine – “precise, automatic” and “smooth, calculated, and precision-made.” Nurse Ratched is the perfect product of society. She has lost her individuality; her personality is no longer there. She is just a robot who goes on with her life. In addition, Bromden once dreams about the hospital being a slaughterhouse where the hospital workers kill the patients. In his dream, Blastic was the victim. The scene that most caught my eye was when Blastic was disemboweled. Instead of blood (what a normal human being should have inside), “a shower of rust and ashes” spilled out of his body. There is nothing human inside of him, but just leftovers of machines. This illustrates how the hospital did not just take his life away but his individuality and humanity away. Kesey uses machinery imagery to symbolize society and how it suppresses individuality as well as taking control of human souls.

 Likewise, in the Tale of Two Cities, the guillotine plays a significant role. The machine that is used to behead people is first introduced when the revolutionaries take over the Crown – when the revolutionary chaos gets institutionalized. The guillotine symbolizes the dehumanization of humans as they mercilessly behead them one after the other. They don’t perceive them as meaningful human beings anymore; therefore, human life became cheap. The guillotine made the killing more emotionless, mechanic, and automatic and showed how the people at that period had lost their moral compass.

Ken Kesey from One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Charles Dickens from Tale of Two Cities were successfully able to use machine as a way to express the dehumanization of society. Whether it was about the person’s individuality or morals, the automatic, emotionless ways of the Combine and the guillotine allowed the readers to perceive the characters not as human beings but as soulless “objects.”