The Fishing Trip, Essay Example

The book and the film of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” both focus on the central character of Randle McMurphy, though the book is told through the narration of the Native American character known as the Chief. In the film we can only see and hear the actions and words of each of the characters, but in the book readers are able to gain some insight into the mind of the Chief, and that allows readers to know that the Chief is not really deaf and mute, despite the outward appearance he shows to the other prisoners. Both the book and the film contain many similar scenes, through the book generally offers greater details about these scenes. One notable example of how the book and the film approach similar scenes in different ways is when McMurphy takes some of the patients on a fishing trip. The general theme of the trip is that the patients who join McMurphy enjoy themselves and open up in ways that they could not do before. At the same time, however, there are a number of notable differences between the way the scene from the book is translated to the film. These differences help to make the scene shorter, and to heighten the dramatic effect, without undermining the purpose of the scene.

In the book, McMurphy has been challenging Nurse Ratched and the staff for some time, but he suddenly starts to be more cooperative. McMurphy makes numerous written requests for unaccompanied leave from the hospital, though these requests are routinely denied. McMurphy eventually requests accompanied leave, and informs the staff that if he is granted leave he will be accompanied by two of his aunts. The truth is that he plans to have two prostitutes come to the hospital to pick up him and the other patients. Much to the surprise of Nurse Ratched, the doctor signs off on the trip, and McMurphy begins signing up other patients to pay him ten dollars and to come on the trip. Nurse Ratched does everything she can think of to scare off the other patients from wanting to go, but in the end, McMurphy convinces enough of the patients to go with him.

It is the night before the trip when one of the book’s surprises occurs, as the Chief opens up to McMurphy and speaks to him. The two are alone in the dark in their cots, and they begin to have a conversation. Even though McMurphy does most of the talking, it is clear that he is happy about the Chief opening up to him and learning that the Chief can hear and speak. McMurphy offers to pay the costs of the trip and invites the Chief to join them. Only one of the young women actually shows up the next day, and the doctor who signed off on the trip is so attracted to her that he decides to go along, and helps drive some of the patients. The group encounters some difficulty in getting the boat they had reserved, and McMurphy finally distracts the captain and takes the boat out himself with the patients onboard.

The most significant aspect of the fishing trip scene comes when they are all out on the bat. As they begin to bring in fish, the group of patients find themselves enjoying the experience so greatly that many of them begin to smile and laugh for the first time in a very long time. When they left for the trip they were meek and timid, and by the time they return to the dock, and then to the hospital, they are full of confidence. The deckhands onshore who had been mocking and insulting them before they left sense this difference, and they are much more polite when they return. Even the captain, who was prepared to have them arrested upon their return, ends up drinking with McMurphy as the police are warned off by the doctor. McMurphy’s presence and this experience have had a positive impact on the patients.

In the film the story begins very differently, as the Chief is still acting mute and deaf, and McMurphy uses him to plan an escape. McMurphy steals a bus and leads several of the prisoners to it and takes off. The prostitute character still appears in the story, but this time she is someone McMurphy knows who they pick up along the way. The patients do not know where they are headed, and McMurphy takes them to the dock and takes over a boat after pretending that the patients are doctors. Once the patients are out on the boat, they have a similar experience to the one described in the book, and they enjoy themselves greatly.  McMurphy goes below decks with Candy, the prostitute, which was mentioned in the book but was not as obvious. The patients are successful in fishing, and they return from their trip with a renewed sense of confidence.

The similarities and differences in the way that the fishing story is described are based mostly on the fact that the film has to make its points more quickly than in the book. McMurphy is still a troublemaker in both versions, but in the book he has a longer period of time to figure out how to make the fishing trip happen. In the film he simply takes the bus and leaves with the patients. The fact that he discovers the Chief is not really deaf and mute is important in both stories, but in the film this is revealed at a different point. The contrast between the book and the film demonstrates how dramatic license can be used effectively, and even though several elements were changed and shortened for the film, the main point about the positive effect McMurphy has on the other patients remains the same.

References

Kesey, K. (1962). One flew over the cuckoo’s nest (1st ed.). New York: Viking Press.

Foorman, Milos, dir. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. (1975). US.