Review Of Ken Kesey 's ' One Flew Over The Cuckoo 's Nest '

Many situations can make a man lose his mind, or make him more insane. Between the movie Cool Hand Luke and the novel One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey, sanity is questioned. These two pieces of literature also question the jurisdiction and methods that take place in prisons and mental wards. Both stories demonstrate the idea of strength, making your own happiness, and the symbol of fear or punishment.

The Author and His/Her Times: Ken Kesey was born on September 17, 1935 and died on November 10, 2011 at age 66. Kesey was once arrested for possession of marijuana and a “faked suicide” and was put into prison for five years. He also had a lot of experimentation with psychoactive drugs, which could spark his interest in the human mind, which has a lot of influence on the novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. The novel was put on The Times list of To honor Kesey after his death, there is a film called, Gerry, which is dedicated to him and his life.

“The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.” (Orwell). Although animals might only look like animals, they are symbols of deeper meanings. Throughout the fiction novel One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, by Ken Kesey, many symbols/motifs are presented in the form of animals that represent characters. These animals give meaning to the story and illuminate the plot by giving insight on character development, parallels, themes and thought processes of characters. McMurphy represents the Geese, Nurse Ratched is rendered as a wolf and the Patients are portrayed as hens and rabbits.

Only a few are able to utilize the power to control and manipulate situations which can lead to drastic outcomes. Those with an assertive and manipulative personality tends to use that to their own benefit and completely disregard the impact their personality has on the surrounding people and themselves. In Ken Kesey’s novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, he expresses the theme of power and manipulation through two characters, Nurse Ratched and McMurphy. Both characters use their manipulative powers for their own advantage in a deceptive way that causes the patients admitted to the asylum to suffer rather than improve.

   The choice that a novelist makes in deciding the point of view for a novel is hardly a minor one. Few authors make the decision to use first person narration by secondary character as Ken Kesey does in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.  By choosing Bromden as narrator instead of the central character of Randle Patrick McMurphy, Kesey gives us narration that is objective, that is to say from the outside of the central character, and also narration that is subjective and understandably unreliable. The paranoia and dementia that fill Bromden's narration set a tone for the struggle for liberation that is the theme of the story. It is also this choice of narrator that leads

Though every period of time, people often find themselves looking for a savior. While most people turn for Jesus Christ or other religious figures, in the novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, by Ken Kesey, the patients of a strictly-run psychiatric ward turn to Randal Patrick McMurphy. Kesey uses McMurphy to create a Christ Figure, or a character that shows allusions to Christ, in his work. Despite being a patient, McMurphy finds a way to stand out as a Christ Figure through having his individual thoughts and actions, rather than shrinking himself to what the ward wants him to be.

A mental institution with patients treated like prisoners, waiting to be unleashed from their chains to be understood and accepted by society itself, but is held back by an antagonist, restricting their every move. “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” composed by Ken Kesey, is an incredible novel set in an Oregon mental institution, with clients held captive at an antagonist’s disposal. Through the portrayal of the institution as a factory, Kesey illustrates Miss Ratched and the orderlies as holders of unjust power and displays their attempts of pre-programming the individuals to follow her orders, and become more compliant. The patients located in the mental institution are treated nothing less than convicts, and their freedom lays in the hand of the adversary, Miss Ratched.

To be considered insane one must have non-conforming perceptions, behaviors, and interactions that negatively distinguishes one from one’s community (Mayo Clinic). Furthermore for one to be labeled mentally ill, they would need to be clinically diagnosed as being psychologically challenged. In Ken Kesey’s controversial novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, the constant question being asked by everyone is whether or not McMurphy is just an irrationally drunk character or is he actually struggling with deep-seated mental issues. However, instead McMurphy is reckless, foolish, and arrogant in his actions For that reason McMurphy, by manipulating his peers and in comparison to other characters is not insane, rather he is a power-hungry,

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is a controversial novel that has left parents and school authorities debating about its influence on students since its publication in 1962. The novel describes the inner workings of a mental institution, how the patients are emasculated and mistreated by the terrifying Nurse Ratched, who will go to any length to control them. But in comes McMurphy, a criminal who chose to go to an asylum rather than serve physical labor; he disrupts the order of the hospital with his big personality and loud opinions, undermining the authority of Nurse Ratched and encouraging the patients to live their own lives, until he too, is silenced forever by authority. With his novel, Ken Kesey paints society as an oppressive

Over time, social norms and collective standards have lessened in value. In modern society, diversity and self-identity are seen as more desirable as opposed to fitting a particular mould that is defined by what is normal. Although, looking back about fifty years, this wasn’t the case. The societal focus was more directed towards an overall collective standard. Often times, when an individual felt as if they abnormal when compared to the average person in society, they simply accepted it and seeked refuge in an institution such as a mental institution. In Ken Kesey’s novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, many of the patients in the mental institution were staying voluntarily due to the overwhelming pressure radiating from society outside the asylum. This external pressure from their ”inability to adjust to society,”(pg 167) took a toll on their self-perception, convincing themselves that treatment was required. Those who are perceived as being a leader have a strong influence on others and can alter the self-perception of many individuals; Kesey shows the patients using this new self-perception to seek social conformity. Once the self confidence of an individual has diminished, the introduction of a new perspective can reverse these effects, build a sense of self-acceptance and, therefore, introduce a cure.

The author of the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Ken Keasey, received his inspiration for the book while volunteering at a veteran's hospital. This is where he was first introduced to LSD. The moment he tried it, he became addicted, and began experimenting on himself with the drugs, observing the effects. The novel deals with the tyrannical rule of head Nurse Ratched in a mental hospital somewhere in Oregon. She runs all business and daily life in the asylum to her every whim and rules the ward by fear and manipulation. This has gone on for as long as the narrator, Chief Bromden, can remember. However a new patient, Randle McMurphy, enters the hospital and begins to wreak havoc upon the system

“Both the book and the movie are insightful views into societal problems such as stereotypes about the people who have mental disorders. But the film is largely out of date in terms of depicting hospital staff as manipulative or evil. From what I saw when I worked in a similar institution, mental hospitals are a calm, healing environments—as they should be” (Wind Goodfriend, 2012).

In 1973, psychologist David Rosenhan published “On Being Sane in Insane Places” which documents the results of studies he and his confederates conducted at 12 different psychiatric hospitals across the United States. The studies were an examination into the reliability of psychiatric diagnosis methods. Rosenhan’s research focused on testing the hypothesis of whether or not psychiatrists and medical staff can distinguish the sane from the insane and if the characteristics that lead to diagnoses relate more to the patient or to the environment and context in which they’re being assessed. (Rosenhan, 1973) The study was divided into two main parts. Participant observations and comparative information studies were noted as well as they gave valuable insight into the treatment of psychiatric patients, conditions in psychiatric hospitals, and the effect that diagnostic labels had on how patients were perceived by staff. Ultimately, the study discovered that psychiatrists could not reliably distinguish the sane from the insane and insight was gained into how diagnostic labels and environmental context play a strong role in the perception of behavior.

Insane Asylums in the 1920-1930’s were disturbing places to live. Men and women were held in different wards, each ward had up to fifty patients (D’Antonio). Patients lived incredibly close to one another. Not one patient knew what

Eight sane people were admitted into twelve different hospitals, where their diagnostic experiences would be part of the data of the first part of the article, while the rest will be devoted to a description of their experiences in psychiatric institutions. The patients were all very different from each other, three were women and five were men. Among them were three psychologists, one psychology graduate, a pediatrician, a housewife, a psychiatrist, and a painter. The ones that were in the mental health field were given a different occupation in order to avoid special attentions that might be given by the staff, as a matter of courtesy or caution. No one knew about the presence of the pseudopatients and the nature of the program was not known to any of the hospital staff. The settings were different as well. The hospitals were in five different states on the West and East coasts. Some were considered old and shabby and some were