One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Blog #2

It seems that currently, in the conflict between Nurse Ratched and McMurphy, the latter is winning. After the initial refusal of Nurse Ratched to let the patients watch the World Series, he talks with the others angrily about wanting to "bust out of [the ward]" (p. 103) and goes on to discuss possible ways of escape with the others (who doubt that he could make it). Additionally, he asks them who would vote in favor of watching the Series and "about half the Acutes nod yes, a lot more than would really vote." Later, at one of the therapy meetings, McMurphy brings up the topic again, saying, "'I'd just kind of like to see which of these birds has any guts and which doesn't'" (p.117). When all twenty of the Acutes put their hands up, McMurphy is convinced that he has won, but Ratched points out the fact that twenty out of forty is not majority. McMurphy persuades Bromden to raise his hand as well, breaking the tie, but Ratched refuses, saying that the voting was closed. When the World Series comes on, McMurphy turns it on, and Ratched turns it off from her control room, but McMurphy pretends it is still on. Soon, "Cheswick goes and gets him a chair, and then Billy Bibbit goes, and then Scanlon and then Fredrickson and Sefelt, and then we all put down our mops and brooms and scouring rags and we all go pull us chairs up...and we're all sitting there lined up in front of that blanked-out TV set, watching the gray screen just like we could see the baseball game clear as day, and she's ranting and screaming behind us." In this, it seems that McMurphy has won his bet and his ongoing competition with Ratched; he caused her to lose her composure completely, despite the doubts of the others.

At this point in the story, the Chief's reliability as a narrator is swayed both ways. It is obvious that the "fog" that he frequently feels caught in is not literal, even if he perceives it as being so; this leads to the idea that he is not entirely to be trusted as a narrator due to his condition mentally. However, he also demonstrates that he is extremely observant in his descriptions, particularly of McMurphy. He frequently sees his intentions when others don't; for example, Bromden says that "[McMurphy]'s making sure none of the staff sees him bothered by anything; he knows that there's no better way in the world to aggravate somebody who's trying to make it hard for you than by acting like you're not bothered." As a whole, Bromden seems reliable enough as a narrator, for even when he feels that the fog is closing in on him, he reports the dialogue of other characters and other events.

One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Blog #1

In One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Kesey seems to have developed an environment in which the new inmate, McMurphy, who intends to outsmart Nurse Ratched, is the hero of the story (though an antihero). His rebellion is new to those in the ward--according to Bromden, his laugh is the first that they have heard in years--and they respond first with some sort of reluctance for even listening to him. Nurse Ratched, who is the villain of the novel, has practically reigned over them with complete control for many years, and they know her power and her punishments. McMurphy suggests to Harding that they be rude to her at the next meeting, and Harding replies (starting a whole new conversation) that she is too powerful and too abusive to allow such a thing to happen.
McMurphy's rebellion is what makes him an antihero--he doesn't do what is morally right, but his actions of attempting to outsmart the Big Nurse are justified through her cruel treatment to him and the other patients.

The Great Gatsby Reading Blog #3

For what purpose did Gatsby intentionally become the legend that he was regarded as in the beginning of the novel? In other words, why did he move to his enormous house, host his parties, allow rumors to fly, etc.?
Gatsby's life was entirely motivated by Daisy Buchanan. He moved to his house to be closer to her; her house was just across the water, and he was seen reaching across the water to her dock, where a green light shined. He hosted his many parties as a means of trying to reconnect with Daisy, hoping that one day she would come or that someone that knew her would. The rumors that regarded him, many of which were utterly ridiculous, did not seem to really affect him; in fact, they built up who he was, and it can be inferred that he did not entirely mind being mysterious.

Why didn't Wilson kill Tom, considering that it was he who had been Myrtle's lover?
Wilson, mad with grief and confusion, searched the town to find out who owned the yellow car that struck Myrtle. While he initially assumed that it had indeed been Tom, he realized that it could not be, because Tom had driven by later in a different car. Later, Tom told him that it had been Gatsby, and Wilson assumed that Gatsby had therefore been Myrtle's lover. As he never knew that it was with Tom that Myrtle had an affair, he killed Gatsby and then himself.

The eyes of Dr. Eckleburg are mentioned frequently throughout the novel. What might they symbolize to various characters?
Wilson stated explicitly that the eyes were God, and that God was always watching and that Myrtle could not possibly hide from him, even if she could hide from her husband. Indeed, throughout the novel, there seems to be the theme of a higher power of some sort watching through the eyes on the billboard. On page 24, Nick describes the eyes as "dimmed a little by many paintless days under sun and rain [that] brood on over the solemn dumping ground [of the valley of the ashes]." Daisy and Tom move away at the end of the novel, and though it never mentions it specifically, this means that they are out of the range of the eyes, and that they are no longer watched by them-though what the eyes mean to them, specifically, is not clarified.

Analyze Daisy's love for Tom and for Gatsby. Did she love either exclusively?
Daisy loved Gatsby as a young woman, and she did seem to regret her engagement to Tom on the night before their wedding. However, it seems that she did love Tom, to some extent, because of her dedication to him through their marriage, even when he was unfaithful, and through the quarrel between Gatsby and Tom. For her, loving Gatsby was stepping back in time, to when she was loved by someone who would not cheat on her and whom she loved as well.