"Who's the bull goose loony around here?"

The constant power struggle between McMurphy and Nurse Ratched portrayed by Kesey creates obvious tension throughout the novel. Man vs. machine: McMurphy of course being the man, and Nurse Ratched being the machine. Nurse Ratched uses the domineering technique of fear. She shows this by intimidating Billy a numerous amount of times, telling him she is going to tell his mother things he has done, “What would your mother think, Billy?” Clearly the men have been emasculated to the point of being vocally trained. Just at the mention of his mother, Billy begins to regain this timid, fragile persona of a small boy. Nurse Ratched uses the mental aspect of control to contain the patients. Nevertheless, she might honestly believe that she is aiding the patients recovery, or she’s just a sadistic control freak looking to destroy the lives of others for pure pleasure.
McMurphy is the defender of the men, almost to the point of a messiah. McMurphy instantly butts heads with Nurse Ratched upon arrival. Initially I feel as if it’s as simple personality clash, but as the two characters unravel themselves to each other, they both understand that they are in that ward for different reasons, and neither of them are leaving anytime soon. If I was I doctor I would diagnose both McMurphy and Nurse Ratched with ODD (Oppositional Defiant Disorder). Imagine two people with ODD locked in a room: both constantly feeling the need to defy each other. Both constantly feeling like the other is wrong, it would bring destruction to both of them. In turn, this is what McMurphy and Ratched are doing, but with easily manipulated men at their disposal. The overall answer is the fact that someone is going to have to give in, or everything is going to crumble.