Existentialism and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Existentialism is the theory that there is no reason to life, they believe that you are born with no purpose to life. I find this topic rather intriguing however it’s confusing at times because I agree and disagree.

I think the purpose of life is to find what YOUR purpose as an individual is. But I can also agree with existentialism because it’s true that you are responsible for your own actions and you shouldn’t live life without purpose. However, when the subject of God comes into question, as a Catholic I can’t agree that man created God as something to praise.

Over the break I watched One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest which I recently read in my English class. The book and the movie are closely related, but the movie doesn’t follow everything exactly according to the book which, most movies don’t when based on novels. The movie is about a mental institution run by a woman named Nurse Ratched, a mean, castrating female that belittles the patients. When a new patient, McMurphy, enters the ward, he creates an uprising revolution against the nurse while encouraging the weaker patients.

This movie is an example of existentialism in many ways. The men on the ward are constantly put down and basically castrated by Nurse Ratched, although not physically. Until McMurphy comes, they are nothing and just sit there all day being told what to do and treated immaturely. Once McMurphy comes, he makes them feel better about themselves and as if they have a reason to live that they are destined to fulfill. McMurphy brings out the true feelings inside of them to help them speak out against Nurse Ratched. He ultimately helps them discover their meaning of living and that although they may not feel very important they actually are.

All of the men in the ward were put there for absurd reasons and labeled as mentally insane which they really aren’t. they were accepted by society because of the time period but McMurphy helped them realize that there’s much more to life than being accepted by society and that they in fact truly are not “crazy.”

The movie didn’t interpret the book as well as it should have but it does exemplify the meaning of existentialism and I was further educated on the subject and given a better understanding of the topic.