Fear, Power, Hope - block one (Eng. 11)

My thoughts are in square bracket, italics
Make sure your quotes sheets have page numbers for every quote

Fear

-nurse imposes fear to get control - Mack fights it and helps patients fight their own fear
- Nurse "knows how to put fear to use...that side" (Ch. 3 - see questions)
- Doctors are scared of Big Nurse ("ammonia" quote)
- "you may need a month of bed pans" - Nurse controls aides, doctors, patients, other nurses
- Chief - fears combine, "I was a lot bigger in those days"
- [how does the fear connect to our world and our lives, what bigger statement is OFOCN making about society generally?]
- Mack has a sense of fear when he sees the EST bed - to what extent does he fear Nurse?
- [what role does fear play generally in our lives?
- [what is the nature of fear?]
- Symbol - Billy Bibbit's stutter gets worse around the nurse
- Symbols - wolves and rabbits, (wolves - Mack and Nurse, rabbits - rest of patients)
- [look at each patient's progression - Harding says "we're not rabbits anymore, we're men]
- Movie shows Cheswick fearing violence - anyone hitting each other or being loud
- Chief's fear goes away as his friendship with Mack grows
- Insanity and fear are related [how]
- [how do the topics - power and hope relate to fear]
- How does using fear help control?
- Less work to get people to fear - otherwise keeping track of everyone's needs
- Easy to lose control - Mack teaches patients not to fear and Nurse loses her power
- "That's one fear hiding behind another" - takes Chief some time to realize his problems - this problem isn't relevant - is covering up what he's really afraid of - same as fog
- Short choppy chapters = fog
- Chapters become longer represents Chief coming out of the fog
- As Chief gains control of himself - fog goes away
- Chief steps out of his comfort zone and gains more control of himself
- People gain power as fear loses its hold
- Big Nurse - likes to keep everything in order - this shows her fear (diagnosis of OCD)
- Chief - PTSD - fear of outside world and people with power
- [look at Chief's experience with tribe, Dad, government]
- [symbolism of Chief's deaf and mute status]

Power

- Chief shakes Mack's hand at the beginning of the novel - he feels a power surge
- Chief's interactions with Mack help him take steps to leave the fog
- Mack's influence in general
- Power and control is shown through Mack and Nurse's influence
- [what about society? Where is the power? How does this novel connect our society to the characters' experience of power]
- [microcosm of ward - represents the power structures of the world]
- [the Nurse controls the black attendants - but it's doubtful she picked them the way Chief interprets it - he says that one of the attendants stopped growing at age 5]
- "We need a good strong wolf like the Nurse" - patients are willing to relinquish their power - they want to be told what to do - they are mentally ill
- [do we need leaders? What is their purpose?]
- Group therapy sessions as a "pecking party" (51 ish)
- Nurse uses the staff to bolster her power
- Mack also manipulates the patients - but he does use his power to build people up
- [Mack actually cheats them out of their money since he knew Chief could lift the control panel - it was a fixed bet]
- [Mack - not perfect - are any of us?]
- Mack loses power when he realizes he's committed (scene at the pool)
- [Cheswick's suicide]
- Combine compared to society [Combine symbol = making everyone the same - one of Chief's biggest fear - think of First Nations people losing power to government and assimilation]
- Cards symbolize power, also cigarettes (self power)
- [what is our own power - what about Chief voting]
- Music is a symbol of power - Mack can't change - she controls it and the volume
- Cigarettes = self power - Cheswick loses them and then commits suicide [coincidence?]
- Fear and power are connected
- Hallucinations
- [you can discuss lack of power]
- Mack brings everyone else up - party shows everyone (opening the window - "what was to stop us from doing it again?" near the end of the novel
- [another symbol - windows - Chief finally sees clearly out the window - he also breaks out through the window - could he have just walked out the door]
- Volition -
- Lobotomy is a symbol of power - Nurse's biggest weapon - admits that she cannot outlast Mack
- Does Mack win? He dies, but she doesn't even want him to move wards earlier in the novel
- [look at the ending - look at what each character does]


Hope

- Mack and Nurse have power [who provides hope?]
- Mack "what do you think you are, crazy of something? You're no crazier than the average [a-holes] out there."
- [are power and hope connected?]
- Patients are able to give hope to each other - symbolized by Chief voting
- When Mack temporarily gives up hope after finding out he's committed, causes Cheswick's death
- Billy commits suicide as well -ward drains hope
- Hope focuses on Mack - when Mack loses his hope, they lose theirs
- Mack gives hope to Chief - Chief starts to leave the fog - [starts to recover]
- [again, look to the end - who has hope, what is the function of hope, what does this novel show us about hope generally, what is the nature of hope, what does the novel show us about hope in our society?]
- Mack gives up getting the cigarettes for Cheswick - makes Cheswick give up hope (suicide)
- Fishing trip gives patients hope - realize they are okay to go out in society
- Control panel - Mack tries to lift it "at least I tried, goddamnit, at least I tried." [this is hope]
- Could represent Mack trying to lift other people's spirits - Chief lifting it in the end shows how everyone has to do it on their own [mental health is ultimately each person's personal battle]
- What's the relationship with Chief's own hope…
- Before Mack arrives on the ward - things were the same every day - patients are shown - fishing trip, card games, laughing - all of these events provide hope [and alleviate fear]
- Is hope dangerous to have - hope provides expectations - but if they are not met, it can be devastating
- Cheswick, Billy Bibbit
- [contrast Cheswick and Billy Bibbit to Harding and Chief]
- Realistic hopes are good -but unrealistic [hanging all hopes on one person rather than self]
- ["Maybe it's not the Nurse, maybe it's something bigger" - Mack realizes it's not the Nurse causing all the suffering - remember - not seeing the forest for the trees]
- [What does Mack's death tell us about hope?]
- "haven't heard a real laugh since I came through that door"
- [does laughter provide hope?]