One Flew Over The Cuckoo 's Nest By Ken Kesey

In Ken Kesey’s book, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, there were two main characters that were in a battle to have the majority of control over the ward. Throughout the story, they engaged in different acts of stubbornness to see who could display the most power and which of the two could stand their ground the longest without giving in to the other. These two characters were: Randle McMurphy, a new patient who was determined to change the ways of the ward, and Nurse Ratched, the head nurse of the asylum who preferred to have complete control over everyone and everything.

Works of literature innately embody the author’s ideology and the historical context of the given time period. Within the novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, by Ken Kesey, the author furthers his ideals against the issue of oppression as he attempts to take stabs against its deteriorating effects and support those who rebel. Set in the microcosm of a small mental hospital, he establishes man’s external struggle to overcome tyranny. At the head of the head of the ward is the corrupted character of Nurse Ratched, who rules with an iron fist and the help of her machine like aides. It also features the nonconformist character, McMurphy, as he works to break Nurse Ratched’s endless cycle of tyranny. Although the novel shifts between the

proves this fact. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, a first novel by Ken Kesey

An exceptionally tall, Native American, Chief Bromden, trapped in the Oregon psychiatric ward, suffers from the psychological condition of paranoid schizophrenia. This fictional character in Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest struggles with extreme mental illness, but he also falls victim to the choking grasp of society, which worsens Bromden’s condition. Paranoid schizophrenia is a rare mental illness that leads to heavy delusions and hallucinations among other, less serious, symptoms. Through the love and compassion that Bromden’s inmate, Randle Patrick McMurphy, gives Chief Bromden, he is able to briefly overcome paranoid schizophrenia and escape the dehumanizing psychiatric ward that he is held prisoner in.

Fiction novel’s shows us the views and perspective others. This type of literature help us gain a more broader perspective and can teach us more about our society. The idea of banning fictional novels is a very foolish idea. These novels do more good than they do harm and are beneficial for our curriculum and learning. Taking away this literature will not benefit our learning and will only harm our learning. “Literature is a luxury; fiction is a necessity.’’ said G.K. Chesterton.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1962) by Ken Kesey had great commercial success when it was first published and still continues to be celebrated by many. At first glance Kesey’s story of Randall Patrick McMurphy taking control of the mental ward from Nurse Ratched might seem just as a heroic battle but, throughout the entire novel Kesey hints at his own views about society and the change he would like to see. Through Nurse Ratched’s devotion to conformity and the patients’ want for change, Kesey presents a reflection of the time in which the novel was written, the transition period from the conservative 1950s to the counterculture movement of the 1960s.

One flew over the Cuckoo’s nest, written by Ken Kesey in 1962 is a gripping multidimensional novel, set in an Oregon Mental Institution set deep in the countryside. The novel is narrated by an American half-Indian known as the “Chief”, who is a seemingly deaf and dumb patient with Paranoid Schizophrenia. By choosing Bromden as the narrator instead of the main character McMurphy, Kesey gives us a somewhat objective view, as its coming from only one perspective.

Ken Kesey portrays McMurphy as a Chris-like figure in many different parts of the book, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. In the book, McMurphy is viewed by some as a Christ-like figure, and for some, he is not. Ken Kesey intended for McMurphy to be a heroic, Christ-like figure because of events that occurred and the battle between McMurphy and the "evil" Nurse Ratched. A few events that occurred that demonstrated McMurphy's heroic, Christ-like figure was the Electro Shock Therapy and the fishing trip.

Many times throughout one of Ken Kesey’s most famous novels, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, the book uses animals as symbols to represent the story’s plot. The animals usually relate to individual characters and their current struggles within the story. Animal imagery provides us with great insight to the themes that Kesey is trying to have us explore, and is a very good tool that the reader can use to help better understand and relate to the characters.

As I’m seemingly searching the shelves full of books hoping to find the one for me,this book catches my eye. Further and further I get into this book, the more exciting it gets. I can definitely relate to this outgoing character, we’re like the same person. This book showed me what determination is, when the odd are stacked against you but you still go, what you have to do, that’s what this story is all about.

All of us are constantly changing, often at the hand of our environment. Traces of our experiences, opinions, and circumstances are seen in anything we make or do, including our writing. Ken Kesey is the author of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”, and while writing this novel, he was affected by the environment he was in. This is very reflected in his writing. The time period he was living in, as well as his own personal experiences likely caused Ken Kesey to give true and upsetting information about the mental institutions and asylums of the time, and to either glorify or involve the use of drugs.

Born in La Junta, Colorado Ken kesey graduated from the University of Oregon and later studied at creative writing at Stanford. In 1959, in need of cash Kesey volunteered in a government sponsored study of LSD, mescaline and other drugs. He later worked as a night attendant in a psychiatric hospital, an experience that led to him writing One Flew Over the Cukoo’s Nest in

Ken Kesey's One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest is a creation of the socio-cultural context of his time. Social and cultural values, attitudes and beliefs informed his invited reading of his text.

Written by Ken Kesey, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest was published in 1967 by Penguin Books. This story was written based on the author’s experience while working in a mental institution. He held long conversations with the inmates in order to gain a better understanding of them. It was during this period that he wrote the first draft of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Most of the characters in the novel are based upon actual patients he met while working at the hospital.

Raymond Mar, a psychologist at Your University in Canada and Keith Oatley a professor An The University of Toronto, they both say that “individuals who often read fiction appear to be better able to understand other people, empathies with them and view the world from their perspectives.” I agree that reading certain types of books can help people further understand and see things from a different point of view. Reading helps to open people's eyes and to teach life lessons or to show there are other things to believe in and know other than what they have always been told to know. Getting different types of books, types that are not always the same as the books that you normally read can help you to view things differently. For example from personal experience a new book can help your imagination grow, readings helps me a lot when I need to come up with new ideas for an art class. The new places a book takes you the new images you see while you are reading the new stores you hear and the happy ending your book might have can change the way you are feeling it can brighten up your day.