Have you ever wondered what would happen to characters if they met characters from other books you have read? I have, since our class began reading One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, wondered how Gogol Ganguli would react to the characters in the ward.
He would be admitted due to his obsession with his name...
His mother has begun to call him "Him," because he does not anwer to anything else. Of course, Ashima Ganguli has connections with the Big Nurse because the Big Nurse has met her through the latter's selfless yet self-run organization called "Reach Out to the Different People Program." Ashima shamefully, tearfully puts her son's mental health in the hands of Miss Ratched. She slyly smiles, knowing full well that the ward will recieve more funding for tending to someone from India. Oh, and of course, it will be therapeutic for Gogol.
During Gogol's first therapy session, the Big Nurse and the doctor intently listen for the first three seconds of Gogol describing the internal conflict he has with his name. On the fourth second, McMurphy interrupts asking, "Do any of us birds have some real problems that are more interesting than this fool's name?" Gogol tries to explain how he is having relationship problems with one of the nurses on the ward that he has known for a day while Nurse Ratched icily stares at McMurphy, knowing that if Ashima is not satisfied with her son's time in the ward, her funding will be taken away. He does not catch this look and continues to berate Gogol for his petty so-called "problems." Then, Bromden, stoically residing in a dark corner of the room, stands up and chooses his words with care. He leads Gogol to the door and whispers:
"You do not belong here. You are too weak. Leave before it is too late."
This straightforward attitude is something that Gogol has never seen and it scares him away, for he was too fragile to live on the ward anyway. McMurphy and Bromden still use him as the butt of their jokes, yet continue to wish their lives were as simple as his.
Lizzie,
ReplyDeleteI thought this post was hilarious and so creative. I would agree that this would be the exact situation if Gogol ended up in the ward, which would make sense because I agree he is a little odd sometimes. The comments by McMurphy you wrote were great and seemed exactly like something he would say.