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Running head: COMPARATIVE ESSAY

COMPARATIVE ESSAY

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COMPARATIVE ESSAY

An individual's identity is shaped by the way they perceive their connections with
others and the world around them.
Introduction
This article is an analysis of two riveting sources which portray how each of the two
subjects personality or identity came to be and what were the stimuli for those changes. Further,
the people around them and the society contribute enormously to creating a lasting identity
depending on how they treat the individual and the environment he grows up. The sources are the
movie 'The Iron Lady' and the book ' One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.' An individual's
personality is not just shaped by his experience but also on how he views the world and what role
he perceives to be his own in the society he lives.
In the film The Iron Lady, we learn about the prodigious life of Margaret Thatcher and how
she rose to power from humble beginnings in a male dominated field and era back in the 80s. We
learn about how her experiences growing up, as an adult and her perception of the world as well
as her contribution in it molded her into the person, she later became. In the book One Flew over
the cuckoo's nest we also learn of our author's experiences and come to understand his approach
to the real life although it is much different from Thatcher's approach. Overly, the author has a
more extreme, doleful and twisted perception of the world which makes him the best subject for
the study. Theoretically, people are born with a blank canvas of identity.
The film features Thatcher as a child during world war two, we see her as the underdog and
constantly verbally bullied by her peers. It can be argued that this was one of the earlier
experiences that motivated her more and pushed her to make a better life which gave her a

COMPARATIVE ESSAY

competitive edge. In the book One Flew over the cuckoo's nest the author does not share on
Chief's early life but rather starts the story in an asylum where he is admitted in a healthcare
facility having some minor mental issues.
We learn of how Thatcher would take public speaking lessons because the male
representatives did not respect her and she needed to capture their attention. This clearly shows
why she was deafening and opinionated because such experiences can create insecurity and
cause people to think about their actions and as a solution they need to enforce their authority to
gain control in such situations. On the other hand, Chief's mental health issues made him doubt
the world more and develop a more cautious approach to real life. We learn that he pretended to
be deaf and dumb to avoid any communication and contact with other patients.
Thatcher experiences made her more motivated one event after another while Chief
experiences turned him into an introvert and made him more cautious and doubtful in life. They
provide a riveting comparison since they have quite different personalities, Thatcher is perceived
as an optimistic person while Chief is a pessimistic person. Applying the psychoanalytic
perspective, Chiefs and Madame Thatcher personalities started to shape up during their
childhood period. Sigmund Freuds theory on the psycho-sexual stages is that our personality
develops through various steps or stages during childhood. We develop a healthy and stable
personality only if all the psycho-sexual stages are completed successfully. If a traumatic
experience occurs during the development of these stages, the child's personality may be
distorted negatively.
For example, the Arrogance portrayed by Thatcher in the film may have been developed from
the insecurity, she felt as a child due to the bullying she experienced while the pessimistic and
introvert attitude Chief projected in his book may have been as a result of a negative childhood

COMPARATIVE ESSAY

experience. Maybe he was betrayed by someone he trusted, or something horrible happened to

him. Sometimes a person identity may be changed completely by a single event if it is quite an
emotional one.
It can be argued that both subjects experiences as mature people cemented their personalities.
Chief saw his friend McMurphy who had a different life attitude affected negatively and change
into a dull drooling person who could no longer control effectively his reflex or other complex
skills which made him more fearful as well as cautious of the world. On the other hand, Thatcher
was developing a big ego and aggressive approach and when she became the prime minister
following a number of major career building decisions she made as a the prime minister that
boosted her ego and confidence making her more belittling and combative.
Both subjects personalities were not only shaped by their experiences but also, their perception
of themselves and the world was a pivotal contributor in the process. Even as a young woman
Thatcher had high ambitions in life, she saw herself as a leader and felt that she had much to
contribute. This is evident when she speaks to her husband then her boyfriend of her ambitions to
be a politician. He agrees to support her which in turn provides a positive motivation for her to
carry on, this strong motivation and drive facilitated her achievements. On the other hand, Chief
is portrayed as a paranoid person who hallucinates and views the world as a horror movie with
people who are more superior than him and are out to get him. He argues that the world is
controlled by a number of people whose main agenda is to bend the rest of the population to their
will or force them to conformity.
In all fairness Bromden, life is quite a sad one, and his experiences in the psychiatric hospital
were nothing short of dreadful. Therefore, it is quite realistic and notable that he chose a hands
off to see or hear no evil approach to real life. Such horrendous experiences usually leave very

COMPARATIVE ESSAY

deep emotional scars, and it is not easy for someone to go through such experiences and still be
emotionally balanced. Therefore, it was inevitable for him to develop a reserved, cautious
identity. Thatchers experiences were tough, but the circumstances were very different, and her
experiences and perception of her environment was more of a motivation and made her stronger.
In conclusion, a person's identity is forged mostly by the strongest experiences or external
stimuli he goes through, and these experiences may be negative or positive. Positive experiences
instill a warm positive identity in an individual while negative events attribute to a negative
identity. The adverse of the identity depends on how extreme the experience was. Therefore, the
reception offered by the people around an individual or the world he exists in defines a man's
identity.