One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a novel written by Ken Kesey during a time in the American society when the outside pressures of the modern world seemed to be at the greatest level. Many people were, at this time, overwhelmed by society's standards to be insane and institutionalized. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest takes place in a ward of a mental institution. The most significant conflict in the novel is the combat of power or conformity, which is the dominantly recurring and extraordinary theme throughout the whole novel. Kesey also shows readers the power of women who have inseparable relationship with the patients, the power Nurse Ratched has, and also the conformity McMurphy tries to fight. By default, he also shows how little power the patients have, which exactly represents the social circumstance during that time and even for now.
             When Kesey discusses the major theme of power in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, McMurphy cannot be ignored. He comes to the mental institution to escape the stress and difficulties of a prison work farm, because he believes that ward can give him conformity, even though he would have to live into a combine; therefore McMurphy's power starts with the fact of his mental stability. He is not insane as the way society describes stupidity, and He tells the patients in the ward, "Shoo, you can bet your bottom dollar I don't. If it gets me outta those damned pea fields I'll be whatever their little heart desires" (13). He is also constantly gambling with other patients and winning money from the insane or boring patients. When Kesey first introduced to McMurphy, he claims "[he's] a gambling fool" (11). McMurphy being a gambler is actually powerful because it gives the patients a goal or activity and is a form of entertainment, which not only decreases the monotony but also conformity to the whole ward. Mcmurphy, at this point, also seems to break the combine to show his eager for free life style. ...