On the Symbolism in the Movie “One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest”: A Fight between Institutional Society and Human Mind_英语论文

摘要

《飞越疯人院》是一部改编自肯·克西的同名小说的喜剧剧情片，由米洛斯·福尔曼导演拍摄于1975年。这部电影在当时的美国取得了巨大的成功。影片剧情以一个想要逃脱监狱惩罚的男主角麦克墨菲为第一视角，描绘了精神病院中大护士对精神病人的控制，麦克墨菲做出了一系列为了自由而逃离精神病院举措鼓励着病人们，虽然他自己的逃离计划失败了，但酋长却最后逃出精神病院获得了自由。直到现在，已经有很多作家和批评家都从各种不同的方面去揭示了这部著名电影的内涵，这些主题有“反英雄主义”，“存在主义”，“黑色幽默”等。对于这部经典电影的研究，依然有很多学者和专家在不同的方面进行专研。本篇论文从象征主义角度讨论《飞越疯人院》这部电影的众多象征意象，并且赞美独自为人类自由抗争却被残忍的社会吞没的英雄们。

本论文主要论述关于这部电影中利用象征主义来描绘人类思想与制度化社会间的博弈。首先解释和说明象征这一艺术表现手法的定义和分类阐述，之后，对《飞越疯人院》这部电影创作所处的时代背景（美国70年代）及电影主要内容做一个简单的介绍。紧接着，将《飞越疯人院》中的人物角色以及特殊情节与其象征意象相结合来进行论述。最后，对整部电影的象征分析，其电影名的象征分析，再次论述电影如何用象征手法来描写人类自由思想和制度化社会的较量。

关键词：飞越疯人院 象征主义 制度社会 自由 较量

Abstract

“One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest” is a 1975 American comedy-drama film directed by Miloš Forman, an adaptation of Ken Kesey’s 1962 novel of the same name. The movie plot is developed by a hero named Randle McMurphy who wants to escape from the prison punishment then comes into a mental hospital. According to depicting the poor mental patients are controlled by the Big Nurse to show the darkness of the institutional system. McMurphy has made a series of measures for escaping the mental hospital to encourage the mental patients to have their own minds, although his escape plan fails, but “the Chief” escapes from the mental hospital and get real freedom. Up to now, there have been many writers and critics from different aspects to interpret the connotation of the famous movie “One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest”, such as "Anti-hero", "The research of the existential elements ", "Black humor”, etc. About the studies on this classical film, there are still many learners and professors studying on it, different people can get different feelings about it. This paper talks about the symbolism in the movie One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest by discussing the numerous symbolic images in the movie, then praise the heroes who fight alone for their liberation of individuality but engulfed by cruel society.

This paper mainly discusses the usage of symbolism in the movie depicting human mind and institutional society. Firstly explaining the definition of symbol and symbolism with its classification and characteristics. It is going to talk about the background (the United States in the 70 s) of the movie "One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest" and make a brief introduction of the movie. Then, it discusses the characters in the movie with theirs symbolic images to this paper. Finally, analyzing the symbol of the whole movie, including the symbolic meaning of movie’s name, the symbolism of the mental hospital to this paper by discussing the how to use symbolism to describe the fight between human mind and institutional society.

Key Words: One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest; symbolism; institutional society; freedom; fight

Contents

1 Introduction 1

2 Literature Review 2

2.1 Related Researches on Guided Learning Plans at Home and Abroad 2

2.2 Definition of Symbolism and Symbol 2

2.3 The Classification of Symbolism 3

2.4 Characteristics of Symbolism 3

3 The Background of the Movie “One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest” 4

3.1 Introduction of Creation Time---1970s’ USA. 4

3.2 Contacting the Social Background and Analyzing the Symbolism of the Movie. 5

4 The Usage of Symbolism in the Movie “One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest” 7

4.1 The Symbol of the Characters 7

4.1.1 McMurphy 7

4.1.2 “Big Nurse” Ratchet 8

4.1.3 “Chief” Bromden 10

4.2 The Symbol of the Scenes 11

4.2.1 A Fishing Trip 12

4.2.2 McMurphy and Brain Damage 13

4.2.3 Chief Escaping from the Mental Hospital 13

5 The Symbolism in the Movie—A Fight between Institutional Society and Human Mind 15

5.1 The Symbolic Meaning of the Movie’s Name 15

5.2 The Symbol of the Mental Hospital 15

6 Conclusion 17

Bibliography 18

Acknowledgements 19