The characters in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest in the film and novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest was a critically acclaimed novel written by Ken Kesey and later made into a film adaptation, directed by Milos Forman, which was equally critically acclaimed earning a very high 96% on Rotten Tomatoes. However, the above rating of both works does not excuse the obvious errors and artistic license found throughout the entire film. While there were no major plot holes or alterations, the physical descriptions of the various characters within 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 the patients of the mental institution ward. The novel's (and film's) main antagonist Nurse Ratched is portrayed as the main villain. for both works as a whole. Her commanding presence and skills at micromanaging the ward and the lives of those associated with it are contrasted with her rather more feminine body. Kesey, through the narration provided by Bromden, gives the audience a mental image of a woman of unrealistic proportions who was continually angry and disappointed in the world around her, making her bitter and “depressed.” The nurse is described as a woman whose bitterness is hidden behind a mask described as "smiling, calm and cold". (Kesey pg. 5). This is also where the film had its first deviation from the source material: in the film, instead of being controlled by an evil machine, Nurse Ratched is shown as the ultimate authority-wielding bureaucrat. Director Forman below... center of paper... various versions of the same typical mental patient. In the universe in which the film is set, each patient is represented the same way and in the same group, creating less detail and less investment for the audience within the characters than in the novel. In many ways the changes Forman made were there to help provide comic relief in an otherwise sad and dark film. Additionally, Forman also created character “tags” within the film so that audiences would rally around and identify with the characters more. From the childish behaviors of the ward members, to the more classically evil and vile Nurse Ratched. Nonetheless One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a masterpiece with understandable and justifiable changes, made through simple audience analysis, enriched the plot without eliminating anything critical.