One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey is based largely on the conflict between Nurse Ratched and Randle Patrick McMurphy. Kesey explores themes of individuality and rebellion against conformity, ideas widely discussed about mental hospitals at the time. The book is narrated by "Chief" Bromden, a giant half-Native American patient who is believed to be deaf and dumb. Bromden focuses on the antics of the rebel Randle McMurphy, who wants to manipulate the system to his advantage. The head nurse, Mildred Ratched, known as "Big Nurse" or "Nurse Ratched" by her patients; he rules the department with an iron fist and with little medical supervision. From the beginning, McMurphy constantly antagonizes Nurse Ratched and disrupts routine, leading to a constant power struggle between the patient and the nurse. Throughout the book Ken Kesey uses Randle McMurphy to represent the hero in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Throughout the department there is a dark and brooding feeling that Kesey presents. All the patients are scared and frightened by Nurse Ratched “who enters the ward with a gust of cold”(Kesey10). Nurse Ratched runs her ward on a strict schedule, controlling every movement with absolute precision and an iron fist. She has little medical supervision, but she enjoys using electroshock and even brain surgery. Chief Bromden goes into detail and explains its features and characteristics. “Her face is smooth, calculated and precisely crafted, like an expensive doll, skin like flesh-colored nail polish, a mixture of white and everything working together except the color on her lips and nails and the size of her breasts. Somehow a mistake was made in the production, putting those large female breasts on that... middle of paper... figure. He took patients on a fishing trip, like Jesus and his twelve disciples, to test their faith in him and his rebellious ways. Furthermore, when McMurphy is taken to undergo electroshock treatment, he voluntarily lies down on the table in the shape of a cross and asks, “shall I have my crown of thorns” (Kesey, 262)? Randle McMurphy makes the ultimate sacrifice when Ratched tries to destroy everything they've worked for. She sacrifices her own hopes of getting out of the ward when he attacked her. She tears off her uniform to reveal her femininity, proving that she was not a power-filled machine but a cruel woman who manipulated people so she could have power. His courageous act effectively destroyed Ratched's power, although he ultimately dies because Bromden suffocates him with a pillow, McMurphy becomes the hero in this novel for his courageous acts in giving the ward a voice of its own..