Oppression: a Comparative Literary Analysis

Oppression: A Comparative Literary Analysis There has been an ongoing battle within trends in society, and continues as time evolves and revolutions occur. Such battles include issues of oppression; be it in marriages, families, or in society as a whole. Two particular stories that tackle these issues within the idea of oppression include “The Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin, and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey. While Chopin’s story deals with how women are expected to conform by society’s standards, Kesey’s piece argues how men are feeling emasculated from the pressures of society in whole.

Such major similarities and difference these two have with one another include dealings with marriage, the desire for individualism and nonconformity, and the issues with gender norms. Now Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” is a short story of a woman who, because of her husband’s supposed death, realizes her newfound freedom and independence. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, on the other hand, is a novel set at a psychiatric hospital located in Oregon, with characters including Chief Bromden, one of the protagonists and the narrator, who is half­Native American and pretends to be deaf and mute.

There is also Randle McMurphy, who is the other protagonist and a rebellious convict sent from prison. The plot concerns itself with McMurphy’s interaction with the other patients in the ward along with those who run it. From then on he comes up with events for the patients to participate in, with the intention of making them stand up for themselves against society’s pressure. Initially he thinks that being in a psychiatric institution is an easy way out compared to prison, however in the end he violently thrashes against Nurse Ra.