Custom «Women as Castrators and the Phoniness in Adults» Essay Paper Sample

Introduction

In "one flew over the cuckoo's nest", the narrator, Bromden, is half-Indian. He has spent ten years at the Oregon psychiatric hospital. He regularly experiences delusions and hallucinations. It is noteworthy that he develops a fear of a conglomeration that controls the world; thus, forcing people to obey its rules. With this, he refers to a female nurse called Ratched, who intimidates patients. As a result, he pretends to be dumb and deaf, so that no one can notice him. McMurphy, a patient, confronts the nurse for quite some time. Finally, Bromden murders McMurphy, in revenge to all troubles he has caused them, including suicide of various patients. In the book "the catcher in the Rye", the narrator, Holden Caulifield, is a patient at a mental institution at the time of his narration. Before that, four different schools expelled him because of poor performance in his studies. He gets annoyed whenever he comes across issues that do not please him. Moreover, he fails to travel straight home to inform his parents of his expulsion from school. Instead, he resides in a motel, in his hometown. After contacting various friends who disappoint him, he decides to leave home forever. However, this does not happen as he finds it painful to leave his younger sister. In as much as these two narrations depict the evil deeds present in the society, they represent two different themes, whereby "one flew over the cuckoo" depicts women as castrators while "the catcher in the rye" represents phoniness in adults.

Brandell (2004) illustrates that Women are rendered castrators, because other than the prostitutes, who are depicted as noble, the women in "one flew over the cuckoo are equally frightening people." Bromden, the narrator, and McMurphy point up the castration that the patients in the mental hospital endure. Furthermore, they reveal that nurse Ratched and the institution supervisor who are both women cause all this suffering. As evident, the fear of women by the characters in this novel is a significant feature. This is because these men obey all the orders coming from the women in management. Bromden also depicts this fear when he pretends to be dumb and deaf so that no one the women cannot notice him. Furthermore, male characters in the book agree with Harding when he protests that they are victims of women's arrogance and humiliation. Most importantly, women seem to be in higher social status than men are; thus, they use the positions they have acquired in the society to oppress the men with whom they associate with (Kesey, 2002).

It is evident that most males in this mental institution are there because of the suffering they have experienced in their relationships with women. In those relationships, they were intimidated; thus, became mentally disoriented. For example, Bromden's mother is a castrator because she ordered her husband to use her last name. Furthermore, she transformed a huge and brawny chief into a small, feeble alcoholic. Bromden reveals that she expressively built her self up, by persistently coercing and looking down upon them (Bloom, 2008). Correspondingly, Billy Bibbit's mother does not allow him to develop sexually; furthermore, she treats him like a toddler. McMurphy incites Billy who goes a head and indulges in sex with candy. Through this act, he regains some confidence in himself and gets the opportunity to achieve what his mother would never allow him to do. However, this achievement does not last for long as Ratched threatens to tell his mother; thus, he commits suicide by slitting his throat (Walker, 2000).

Kesey, Palahniuk & Faggen (2007) insists that more acts of castration by women are portrayed later in the novel. When a patient in chops off his testicles and dies, Rawler suggests that, he should have waited longer. With this, he implies that the women present in the institution would have castrated him in the end. In the novel, it is evident that this mental institution only admitted male patients, yet the management consists of women. This clearly portrays the ability of women to enfeeble even the most masculine men. When the novel nears the end, McMurphy undergoes three shock treatments, which seem to have no significant impact on him. Hence, Ratched insists on taking severe measures, which she refers to as an operation. It is noteworthy that the operation meant a lobotomy. On realizing her next move, McMurphy destructs her by making jokes about castration. Most importantly, both procedures remove a man's personality, autonomy, and aptitude for sexual expression. According to Kesey, the author, these two actions are emblematically the same. Most importantly, the women used different means to tyrannize men. It is evident that all the suicides in the novel are, as a result, of these women's actions especially Ratched. It is noteworthy that her decisions and actions lead into death of patients in the mental hospital.

According to Baldwin (2000), "the catcher in the Rye", portrays phoniness in adult. It is evident that, in the novel, the word phoniness is Holden's preferred phrase. He frequently uses it for describing the ostentation, duplicity, pretense, and triviality that he comes across. In Chapter 22, just prior to disclosing his desire of the catcher in the rye, he elucidates that adults are without doubt phonies; however, they cannot realize their own phoniness. According to Holden, this word refers to everything that does not seem right around him. Furthermore, it justifies his behavior of contemptuous seclusion. This is because he supposes that most people, with whom he associates, are not perfect in their deeds. Thus, they commit numerous mistakes that he feels makes them phony people. He is a perfectionist who does not have any idea about how other people are judging him (Salinger, 2010).

Bloom (2007) divulges that Holder's interpretations seem oversimplified. He can be a highly shrewd narrator, but he is extremely conscious of shallow demeanor in those individuals close to him. In the novel, he comes across characters that are pretentious and superficial. For example, Mr. Spencer, Sunny and Carl Luce. It is evident that some characters like Maurice and Sunny seem indisputably detrimental. Holden wastes time looking for phoniness in those around him; thus, he fails to realize his own phoniness. Moreover, he believes he is perfect in every activity he undertakes. His behavior seems unfair to those people around him, as he constantly judges them.

In the novel, it is evident that Holden's dishonesty is normally futile and malicious; additionally, he is an irrational liar. For instance, while, on a train to New York, he lies to Mrs. Morrow about the conduct of her son in school, while giving him self all the credit. Here, he clearly portrays that he is so mean, when he issues false information about a schoolmate to his parent. He did this to look more useful than his schoolmate did. He wants those who meet him to have the perception that he is an epitome of high caliber amongst phony people. However, this is not true considering his behavior (Hurley, 2008). Although he supposes that the world is a straightforward place, and that desirable quality and virtuousness rest on one side of the fence while ostentation and phoniness rest on the other, he is his own counterevidence. It is a fact that the world is not as simple as he wants it to be. Furthermore, even if it becomes so, he is not in any position to adhere to the same behavioral standard that he expects those around him to uphold. Most importantly, he seems worse than the individuals he judges as phony (Unrue, 2001).

Conclusion

The two novels clearly portray the evil deeds in the society, although each of them has a significant theme. "One flew over the Cuckoos nest" portrays how women oppress men. It has a setting of a mental hospital run by women, whereby the nurse and supervisor are both women. The hospital only takes care of male patients including the narrator, Bromdem. It is evident that in this novel women disrespect men because they pose a low social status. Furthermore, in all the encounters men have with women they always come out weaker than female. Thus, this book clearly, exhibits the evil deeds performed by women on their male counterparts. On the other hand, "the catcher in the Rye" portrays the phoniness in adults from the narrator's perspective. Holden, the narrator, seem to be judging those around him. Furthermore, he refers to them as phony people with no distinct virtue. This he does without considering his own actions, which are worse than the ones he is judging. This is because four different schools expel him for attaining poor grades. Additionally, he frequently lies to his seniors and indulges in peculiar behavior like seeking the services of a prostitute. It is facts that the community is indulging in numerous evil deeds, however, Holden seem to exaggerate it. He does whenever he interrelates with individuals around him. Most importantly, narrations highlight the evils deeds in the two books adequately.