Kate Chopin’s Edna Pontellier and Ken Kesey’s inmates have
the same outward conformism to society, but inside are searching for a way to
escape such regime; ironically such freedom in both novels is expressed by the
vast ocean. Both texts are a harsh critique on society of the time and its
methods of segregation towards a certain person or group in society.
On one hand, Kesey’s novel evaluates the approaches of
mental hospitals to cure the ill around 1950’s after the war. It was inhuman
the way patients were treated with electro-shock therapies to the point of
becoming morons, and if that was not enough they were emasculated by a
possessive female figure Mrs. Ratchet. When
new inmate Randle McMurphy joins the pool he imposes new revolutionary ideas to
rein the Combine. The first time inmates and readers experience true freedom is
when McMurphy manages to take a group to the outer world, he convinces Mrs.
Ratchet it will be good for them to go on a boat ride. The inmates can finally
break out of the induced trance they had been living in and are allowed to see
another reality. When in the ocean the prisoners feel free, it is a vast body
of water that symbolizes and marks the beginning of the end for Mrs. Ratchet’s
electro-shock therapies and crazy treatments.
Edna Pontellier is placed, by Chopin, in a repressed society
in which men are the leading figure. Mrs. Pontellier insists she can achieve more
than what any woman has done before and is set to achieve it. Her persistence
will lead her to alienate from her common mother and wife chores, unsatisfied
with the society she is forced to live in. Author Kate Chopin expresses Edna’s
desire through the ocean. The character is constantly reminded of her duty as a
rebellious woman when she sees the vast ocean. When she first learns to swim,
she only gets a few meters away from shore, even though she claims she was
miles away. It was a milestone throughout the novel well she can finally feel
free. Every little accomplishment she has every step she takes closer to
swimming farther out than any woman has done before.
The ocean in both scenarios is a symbol of freedom against a
repressed society. In both novels the characters feel pressured to conform to
their environment in a simulated happiness. Yet, after the ocean comes in play
a glimpse of freedom is perceived by the readers. In many other literary works
the ocean, due to its infinite size and places it can take you, has been used
to symbolize: escape and free will.
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