The characters of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest in the cinema and the novelOne Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Cuckoo was a critically acclaimed novel written by Ken Kesey and later a film adaptation, directed by Milos Forman, which was also critically acclaimed, achieving an extremely high score of 96% on Rotten Tomatoes. However, this assessment of both works does not excuse the glaring errors and artistic licenses seen throughout the film. While there were no major plot holes or changes, the physical descriptions of the various characters in the story as well as their behavior differed quite a bit from their big screen counterparts. The most critical physical and behavioral differences can be seen quite clearly by comparing the book versions of Nurse Ratched, Randal McMurphy, and patients in the psychiatric institute ward. The main antagonist of the novel (and film) Nurse Ratched is portrayed as the main villain. throughout both works. Her commanding presence and abilities to micromanage the room and the lives of those associated with it are at odds with her rather feminine body. Kesey, through the narration provided by Bromden, gives us the audience a mental image of an unrealistically proportioned woman who was continually angry and disappointed by the world around her, making her bitter and "depressed." The nurse is described as a woman whose bitterness hides behind a mask described as "smiling, calm and cold". (Kesey pg. 5). This is also where the film experienced its first deviation from the source material: in the film, rather than being controlled by an evil machine, Nurse Ratched is presented as the ultimate bureaucrat wielding authority. Director Forman middle of paper ...various versions of the same typical mental patient. In this film universe that I am set in, each patient is depicted the same way and in the same group, creating less detail and less investment for the audience in the characters compared to the novel. In many ways, the changes Forman made were there to help bring some comic relief into an otherwise dreary and dark film. Additionally, Forman also created "labels" for the character in the film so that the audience would rally around and identify more with the characters. Ranging from the childish behaviors of the ward members to the more classically evil and vile Nurse Ratched. Nevertheless One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a masterpiece with understandable and justifiable changes, made through simple audience analysis, that improved the plot without eliminating anything critical..