For centuries, people have witnessed the horror and inhumanity of the actions of one man toward another. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey is an excellent revelation of man's inhumanity to man. Inside the mental hospital, also known as the ward, Big Nurse and her assistants rule with "an iron fist." For the most part, the patients fear her and her forms of punishment, which are nothing less than cruel. The punishments could range anywhere from being as easy as strapped into bed at night, or as evil as surgically removing part of their brain. Some patients even got shock treatments from the EST (Electro Shock Therapy) machine, if she saw fit. Fortunately, not everything is sadistic about the ward. In spite of all the cruelty and punishment, some of the patients do show signs of humanity towards one another. When Cheswick was drowning in the pool, McMurphy and some of the black boys attempted to get him out, unfortunately, they were unsuccessful in their attempts.
The most apparent form of inhumanity in the ward is the ward itself. Keeping people locked up inside for most of the day, working them day and night and then strapping them in bed to sleep is considered unjust and inhumane. Patients in the ward should be allowed some free time, and shouldn't have to live by a schedule every second of every day. Also, Big Nurse tortures her patients by adjusting the clocks. She sets them faster or slower, depending on what the patients are doing and how they are acting. So in reality, she controls every aspect of their life. The ward patients have no freedom, which is a God-given right. Thus, Big Nurse appears to be equivalent to God, if not more powerful than He is. Harding gives an excellent account of her control and the inhumane possibilities of her power when he says, "Look at him: a giant janitor. There's your Vanishing American, a six-foot-eight sweeping machine, scared of its own shadow.
