Part 1:
CUCKOO'S NEST
1) Why is McMurphy such an unlikely hero in the struggle against a dehumanizing institution? How does Nurse Ratched embody this dehumanization?
2)How does McMurphy have a positive effect on the other "inmates"? In what ways is he very different from them?
3) What causes McMurphy to actually attack Nurse Ratched? What price does he pay for his righteous indignation? How does Chief Bromden redeem McMurphy's sacrifice?
STUDY QUESTIONS ON "WIT"
1) How does the play, "Wit," reveal that the institution that is supposed to care for Vivian Bearing, in her desperate condition, is as dehumanizing as the one that McMurphy in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" faced?
2) How does the least intellectual character in the play, Nurse Susie, demonstrate that she is the wisest and most human of all the characters in the play?
3) How does Vivian Bearing learn, contrary to her earlier assumptions, what is most important in our existence as human beings?
Part -2:
"AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE"
1. Why is there a conflict between Dr. Thomas Stockmann and his brother, the mayor, Peter Stockmann? Who is right?
2. At first, what is the attitude of Hovstad, Billing, and Aslaksen to Dr. Stockmann's report? Why do they change their minds? How do Hovstad, Billing, and Aslaksen compare to Captain Horster?
3. How does the view of the doctor's wife, Mrs. Stockmann, compare to the view of the doctor's daughter, Petra?
4. Explain Dr. Stockmann's view of the "majority." Why does Dr. Stockmann refuse to leave the town although he has been labeled, "an enemy of the people"?
5. What hope for the future is evident by the end of this play?