Sex vs Control

In the novel One Flew Out of the Cuckoo's Nest, women play an important role.  They are constantly present in and outside of the ward and their personalities vary along with what they portray.  Nurse Ratched, also known as Big Nurse, portrays authority and power.  The things in the institution go "her way or the highway".  The patients in the institution fear her and think of her as a man.  On page 64, instead of saying that her face is beautiful the patients use the adjective handsome.  They constantly describe her using masculine adjectives except on page 38 where they speak about her feminine features.  In that time period women were seen as people without authority.  They were lower than men in terms of status.  It's ironic that this woman has so much power over all of the men in the institution, even the doctors that have a higher education.  In order to maintain on top, she uses fear and evil methods.  If someone misbehaves, she sends them to electro-shock therapy (EST).  Although EST is said to be painless, it is unpleasant and no one ever wants it again.

Sandy and Candy portray a whole other meaning.  They represent sex.  They do not have any type of authority and only do what gives them pleasure.  They do not care what men think of them, so they sell themselves.  In the novel, Sandy appears only once and Candy appears twice.  She goes with the patients on the fishing trip.  Not only do both of their personalities represent sex, but so do the description of their clothes.  They use the expression on page 199 the patients say that they could see the date of the coin in her pants because of how tight they were.

It seems as if Ken Kesey is not a big fan of women.  They are either prostitutes or cruel figures that have power over men.  When trying to determine what exactly it is that the women represent, the reader realizes that it is a competition between sex and control.  In my opinion, there is more authority because the Big Nurse is constantly present and she is always trying to overthrow McMurphy.  The novel, I guess you can say, is not only from the point of view of the chief, but the relationship between McMurphy and Nurse Ratched.