i hope no one reads this blog anymore. this would be embarassing

4 Discussion Q's over Cuckoo's Nest

1.) How does McMurphy symbolize a Christ figure?
McMurphy, throughout the story, displays acts of defiance, temptation, and sacrifice. He is completely open about his purpose and his motivations. Towards the end of the book McMurphy realizes that he can make the ultimate sacrifice for the group and be their "savior" from the Ward.

2.) At what point does McMurphy realize that it is he that can save everyone?
There is no distinct point of realization for McMurphy of this information. He comes to the realization that he can be the Savior for the group slowly and then this idea takes root in his mind and thats how he does his magic.

3.) Why does McMurphy make such a large sacrifice for the group?
From what I see, McMurphy has nothing to lose and he was already trying to help these people escape from the beginning. He made this ultimate sacrifice so that the others could take their chances and escape.

4.) What does "the fog" symbolize?
To me the fog symbolizes the Big Nurse's control over the group. Throughout the story, Chief sees the fog when the Big Nurse has control. When McMurphy steps in and disrupts the Nurse's power, the fog lifts and it is no longer there.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Blog #2

At the end of Part One, I think that the Big Nurse is getting the best of the rivalry at this point because throughout the book she has planned out every step of these people's daily lives and controls basically every aspect of how they react. She has control to tire them by speeding up the day processes and the ability to drive them insane with the freezing of all daily controls for many hours at a time. This control that she has over everyone, no matter how manipulative McMurphy is at times, allows the Big Nurse to keep the lead in this fight.
My perception of Chief is that he is playing dumb in order to keep himself safe. It says this right in the text and that is what i see him as still. He oversees basically all that happens while keeping himself safe because everyone thinks that he is deaf and dumb.
At this point in the story i am rooting for chief to make a move and take everyone by surprise. I know he has a humongous stature and is not dumb as the others take him to be. Under this "costume" that he has worn throughout the book, I believe that Chief can take over the hospital and he will have a definate advantage if he does because he will have the element of surprise on his side.

First Cuckoo's Nest Blog

As of now, there is no way for me to accurately place individual characters into a category such as Hero of Anti-hero.
If I were to make an educated guess as to what the current characters might turn into, i would have to say:
McMurphy would be the Anti-Hero. He (at this point) is mainly against all of our (as a society) values and morals but he seems at the same time like he would be the hero because he plans on rescuing these people from this prison-like place that they are trapped in.
The Big Nurse would be more of the Villain figure. She is portrayed in this negative light that is keeping her real intentions shaded from our view because we are blinded with this cover of the authors portrayal of her.

Final Gatsby post

Interpretive:

When did Nick realize that Daisy was the one that hit Mrs. Wilson?

Nick came into this realization slowly. He was being told a story by Mr. Gatsby when he gathered all the pieces to make this assumption. Gatsby was the owner of the car but not the one who ran over Mrs. Wilson.

Which Character best follows the theme shown in the book that one should always chase one’s dreams?

Gatsby is the one that best represents the theme above. He had spent the last 5 years of his life chasing this dream of his and he had almost reached this goal he had set until Mr. Wilson shot him. Gatsby shows persistence and determination when he spends his time trying to relive the past. The past that he is trying to relive is the love that was felt between Daisy and Mr. Gatsby 5 years previous to the story.

Evaluative:

 What is the best analysis of the behavior of Mr. Wilson after the event of his wife being killed?

Mr. Wilson was acting quite insane after his wife was killed by a mystery person. I think that the fact that he did not know who the killer was could have affected the way he responded to the whole situation. Quite frankly, Mr. Wilson was going crazy after his wife’s death. The addition of Tom and the others who watched over him probably did not help him at all. Tom especially caused a lot of fuss and was (in my opinion) the reason for Gatsby’s death.

Why did Gatsby act so oddly after the accident?

The most obvious reason might be the fact that it was a traumatic event but I think the reason was deeper. I believe that Mr. Gatsby was a very intelligent person and I think that he was thinking ahead into the future and he knew that Mr. Wilson might find out that it was his car that hit Mrs. Wilson. Gatsby was a very smart old sport. This is why I think that he was acting inexplicably odd after the accident.

The Great Gatsby #2

1.) The purpose of Meyer Wolfsheim is to show the connections between Nick and Mr. Gatsby. Nick is in the bond business as well as Meyer Wolfsheim. Wolfsheim connects Gatsby and Nick in another unrelated way. Wolfsheim also shows contrast between Gatsby and Nick. Nick does not particularly like Wolfsheim at first and gives Nick an uncomfortable feeling being around him.
2.) The background story of Gatsby and Daisy gives us the impression that Gatsby is shy and innocent in a way. He wants Daisy to remember him for who he is and like him without knowing that the crush she had is the rich and extravagant man living across the bay.
3.) The addition of the rest of Gatsby past gives us a more respectable view of Gatsby because he has a logical timeline of events and experiences to back him up. The story he tells us also disproves the rumors going around about him and builds his credibility.
4.) Over the last 3 Chapters i have come to like Gatsby more. He is the kind of guy i would hang out with on a Saturday.

The Great Gatsby #1

The Characters we have met so far are not very easily classified in to the three categories of Hero, Antihero, or Villain.
If I had to choose a few characters that appear to deserve one of these titles, I would go with Mr. Gatsby and Nick, As they are two of the most understood characters so far.
Mr. Gatsby is Defined as a Hero in my eyes. The way he is portrayed allows the reader to view him as an equal (similar views, morals, etc.) as proved by this quote from the book, "'i'm Gatsby' he said suddenly. 'What!' I exclaimed." During this conversation, Nick thought that the man he was talking to was just a normal guy who was very kind and relatable, but it turns out that this man Nick was speaking to was the famous Mr. Gatsby himself. This only proves that Gatsby was kind. To truely define him as a hero I honestly think we would need to know more about him as we progress through the book.
Nick, though we do know more about him than we do Mr. Gatsby, we still need more information on his life and ideas in order to fully place him (or any other character for that matter) in one of the categories above. If I had to choose at this point, I would say that Nick will most likely turn out to be a hero.