The Black Orderlies

E858219

The Black Orderlies are a group of minor yet symbolically significant hospital staff in Ken Kesey's "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," representing dehumanizing institutional power and racialized oppression within the psychiatric ward.

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Statements (40)

Predicate Object
instanceOf fictional group of characters
hospital staff
supporting characters
appearsIn One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest NERFINISHED
associatedWithTheme dehumanization
institutional brutality
power and control
racism
countryOfOriginOfWork United States of America
surface form: United States
createdBy Ken Kesey NERFINISHED
employedAt psychiatric ward
enforces ward routines
firstPublishedIn 1962 novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest NERFINISHED
genreContext countercultural American literature
hasCharacteristic authoritarian
physically intimidating
sadistic tendencies
hasNotableMember Warren NERFINISHED
Washington NERFINISHED
Williams NERFINISHED
interactsWith Chief Bromden NERFINISHED
Nurse Ratched NERFINISHED
Randle Patrick McMurphy NERFINISHED
languageOfWork English
medium novel
narrativeFunction to externalize the ward's coercive power
to heighten the sense of threat faced by patients
participatesIn electroshock preparation
patient intimidation
physical restraint of patients
partOf staff hierarchy under Nurse Ratched
perceivedBy Chief Bromden as agents of the Combine
raceDepictedAs Black
roleInWork enforcers of institutional rules
settingOfActivity Oregon psychiatric hospital NERFINISHED
symbolizes dehumanizing institutional power
racialized oppression
systemic violence in mental health institutions
worksFor Nurse Ratched NERFINISHED
workTypeContext psychological novel

Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.