"One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest": Analysis of Nurse Ratched.

Nurse Ratched--as the supreme, authoritative, and callous overseer for the mental ward--probably believes that she is crucial to the mental-health recovery of the patients. Whereas the viewer believes Ratched to be the antagonist, she likely views herself as the protagonist and McMurphy as the antagonist. Ratched views the other patients as abnormal people with many mental problems who need her help, specifically in the form of therapy sessions, to straighten out their lives. She believes …

…Nurse Ratched who won (even though she was able to silence McMurphy), but McMurphy, as his legacy and effect on the patients lived on, as seen by the actions of Chief Bromden. Overall, the audience views Nurse Ratched as the evil antagonist. Clearly, however, she believes her role in the institution as a therapeutic overseer and leader is crucial to the patients; this is why she feels challenged when McMurphy dares to do things differently.