A Peaceful Stature

Catch 22 and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest present the idea that men wish to weaken the control women have over them because it threatens their capacity as men.

These two novels share common themes throughout but it is the scenes in the hospitals that offer an insight into the clash against women. Both Heller and Kesey show that at first the men can only discuss their sexual attraction to the women in secret just between each other. We can see this when McMurphy and Harding discuss the ladders wife once she’s left the room, “She’s got one hell of a set of chabobs”. The same happens when Yossarian and Dumbar discuss the experience of touching Nurse Duckett. The author’s idea that the men lack the strength to talk to woman down at first, highlights their cowardly attitude. They continue this cowardly attitude in the way they try to undermine the women, physically. Lacking the strength to do so through words, the men recur to the physical sexual aspect to diminish the women. By using the physical aspect they devaluate the women from a person into an object or so they believe they do:

“I didn’t grab Nurse Duckett by the bosom,” said Yossarian.

“I Grabbed her by the bosom,” said Dunbar.

 Heller’s replacement of her name for a pronoun proposes the devaluation of them from an individual into just a female. The authors’ highlighting on the strategy these men use hints it is ineffective. Even though it might initially weaken a women’s stature she will continue being an individual and eventually re-emerge.

Heller and Kesey develop the relationship between man and woman as a constant love-hate relationship in which both gender’s which to acquire total power yet do not wish to see the other gender suffer. The existence of Harding’s wife as a woman who he loves yet hates paints am almost incomprehensible relationship between them. Harding loves the essence of his wife but hates that she tries to break from his control. At one point she says, “I hate Mrs. Harding, Mack; why don’t you call me Vera?” As readers we can identify that the reason for her hatred of “Mrs. Harding” is because of the way it ties her to Harding almost as if he owned her.  The reaction from the male’s is hatred as Major Sanderson puts it, “you love her and hate her so much you don’t know what else to do,” In effect the authors’ imply that any struggle for power will end in hating the opposite party despite the fact that you previously loved the opposite party that the hatred for the opposing party will always be generated because of them being the opposing party. Perhaps these conflicts for power are necessary for they generate equality among people but we must find a method to avoid such conflicts by establishing equality beforehand.

Heller and Kesey present stature as a weakness for the human race because of the ridiculous importance given to it. Generating nothing but conflict, stature should be forgotten to create a peace.