The One Who Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Literary Analysis

Every work of literature – whether long, short, humorous, or frightening – enables all readers to experience a certain set of emotions from the passages within the text; but what do these emotions imply? In How to Read Literature Like a Professor, Thomas C. Foster clarifies that these reactions closely associate with symbolic meanings. He specifies how “every reader’s experience of a work is unique” in order to explain that almost everything stands as a symbol and carries various ideas – depending on the reader’s emotional interpretation (Foster 110). Foster also mentions the concept of intertextuality in which pure originality is impossible, thus resulting with authors influencing one another. Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest stands

Symbolism is an important element in reinforcing the meaning of a story. It is a kind of formalist strategies which helps the reader understand the images that the author is trying to say in words. Symbolism is widely used in “The Story of An Hour” and “The Cranes”, which use conventional symbols, literary symbols, and even allegory. “The Story of An Hour” is written by Kate Chopin. Mrs. Mallard hears of her husband’s death from her husband’s friend Richards. At first, she feels depressed, but then she feels free and can have her own new life after thinking things through. Sadly, her “new” life is cut short by the abrupt return of Mr. Mallard. Mrs. Mallard, who has a bad heart, was so

Hospitals are meant to help some people heal physically and others mentally. In the novel One Who Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey published in 1962, readers are introduced to a mental hospital that has goals that do not align with helping people. Within the hospital, characters with varied personalities and opinions are intermixed with three main characters playing specific roles with supporting characters close by. With the characters’ motivations, themes develop such as the emasculation of the men in the hospital by an oppressive nurse. Symbols, such as laughter and the “combine”, are also pertinent to themes as the readers watch the men transitioning from being oppressed to being able to stand up for themselves causing change in hospital policy.

The time period, season, location, and surroundings of a character reveal a great deal about them. Kate Chopin's "The Story of An Hour" is an excellent example of how setting affects the reader's perception of the story. There is an enormous amount of symbolism expressed through the element of setting in this short story. So well, in fact, that words are hardly necessary to descriptively tell the story of Mrs. Mallard's hour of freedom. Analyzing the setting for "The Story of An Hour" will give a more complete understanding of the story itself. There are many individual parts that, when explained and pieced together, will both justify Mrs. Mallard's attitude and actions toward her husband's death and provide a visual expression of her

The symbols and imagery used by Kate Chopin's in “The Story of an Hour” give the reader a sense of Mrs. Mallard’s new life appearing before her through her view of an “open window” (para. 4). Louise Mallard experiences what most individuals long for throughout their lives; freedom and happiness. By spending an hour in a “comfortable, roomy armchair” (para.4) in front of an open window, she undergoes a transformation that makes her understand the importance of her freedom. The author's use of Spring time imagery also creates a sense of renewal that captures the author's idea that Mrs. Mallard was set free after the news of her husband's death.

The 1960’s was a period of great dissatisfaction from people who felt their rights were being violated. Millions of Americans, young and old, black and white, came together to fight against racial discrimination and protest the Vietnam War. The government suppressed the southern black population the right to vote, while sponsoring a war in Vietnam that was widely unpopular. Reflecting the anti-establishment movements of the 1960’s, Ken Kesey wrote One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. It has since become an American classic for its themes of rebellion and nonconformity against an over controlling authority that does not respect individualism and humanity.

The literary elements in Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest are very important in the way the movie and novel were made because without them there would be no novel nor movie. These differences were made due to the affects a book has on a reader and the affects a movie has on them. A book needs plenty of detail to show how the reader is feeling and what the surrounding area is like, while a movie only needs a few significant main events to put in. The reason Ken Kesey made differences in the movie from the book is because not as much detail is needed to get the story across in the movie. These differences did change the way the story is portrayed however. With the adaptation of Ken Kesey’s novel into film, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest displays differences in characterization, setting, symbolism, plot, and theme, affecting the reader’s perspective.

In “The Story of an Hour”, the author characterizes Mrs. Mallard by making her appear dramatic based on what takes place. For instance, Mrs. Mallard “ went away to her room alone” after “ she wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment’ due to the news of her husband's death. The author has Mrs. Mallard weapon and goes to her room alone to create the effect that she makes most situations dramatic. The textual evidence shows that

“A success, they say, but I say he’s just another robot for the Combine and might be better off as a failure…”(17).

Kesey highlights two distinctions between the roles of women in his novel ‘One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest’. He places women in two categories, the ‘Ballcutters’ and ‘Whores’ . The ‘Ballcutters’ are presented to have a dominant role over the men within the ‘Combine’ and challenges their masculinity, resulting in them being personified as machines. This is demonstrated when Bromden describes the ‘tip of each finger the same colour as her lips. Funny orange. Like the tip of a soldering iron’ of Nurse Ratched. Bromden compares the complexion of her fingers and lips with a metal iron, suggesting not only is she machine like, but also has the physical appearance of a metal machine. The ‘Whores’ are Candy and Sandy who are submissive and this stems from the introduction of the contraceptive pill, as ‘feminists encouraged sexual exploitation with multiple partners and claimed sexual pleasure as a woman’s right’, Thus, resulting into them being presented as sexual beings fulfilling the sexual appetite of men.

Within the walls of the institution the novel takes place in, mental illness is a prominent theme. The fact that the narrator Chief Bromden is a diagnosed schizophrenic greatly affects the text and how people may interpret it. “Like a cartoon world, where the figures are flat and outlined in black, jerking through some kind of goofy story that might be real funny if it weren’t for the cartoon figures being real guys. . .” (Kesey 33). Bromden sees the world through his eyes like a cartoon and doesn’t have a clear grasp on reality due to his schizophrenia-plagued mind. Bromden views the people on the ward as

In "The story of an Hour," Kate Chopin reveals the complex character, Mrs. Mallard, In a most unusual manner. THe reader is led to believe that her husband has been killed in a railway accident. The other characters in the story are worried about how to break the news to her; they know whe suffers from a heart condition, and they fear for her health. On the surface, the story appears to be about how Mrs. Mallard deals with the news of the death of her husband. On a deeper level, however, the story is about the feeling of intense joy that Mrs. Mallard experiences when she realizes that she is free from the influences of her husband and the consequences of

Characters like Billy Bibbit, who is too timid, with a speech impediment and Harding who is a closet homosexual and was less avert in sexuality were seen as having mental problems, and were committed to the asylum. McMurphy demonstrated the treating of these patients like normal people, helped them to become more in line with society then Nurse Ratched’s rules and group therapy meetings, or pecking party as Chief Bromden would call it. Chief Bromden was a Native American and wasn’t insane until he was institutionalized and withdrew himself from everyone else pretending he was deaf and dumb to protect himself. Ken Kesey’s message here with Chief Bromdens silence, was to portray the natives of the time having no voice in the country and to show the controlling and manipulative manner of Nurse Ratched that emasculated and de-socialised these grown men.

She believes him to be an ordinary man and that he will eventually settle down. Nonetheless, McMurphy continues to do all he can to annoy her. Throughtout the story, the two battle against each other, seeing who will give in to who first. Everything is rather harmless until and inmates party rolls around. McMurphy smuggles in prostitutes to help out the inmate, Billy. When the nurse found out what had been going on she was furious. Billy ended up slitting his throat and bleeding to death. McMurphy was in real trouble with the nurse this time. To retaliate he tore open Nurse Ratched uniform. As a result, McMurphy is taken away and give a lobotomy. When he returns, he has been changed into a vegetable. His Indian friend known as Chief Bromdencannot bear to see his friend in such a state, and ends up smothering him to death to save him from such a miserable existence. However, he escapes to freedom after that. Ironically, dead Mcmurphy had given this man a new life.

Throughout the short story, “The Story of an Hour,” Kate Chopin uses imagery and symbolism with several different objects to further the theme and plot. Since the use of symbolism helps bring depth to the story without focusing on too much detail, readers can acquire a more complex idea on what they believe the author tries to convey throughout the story. As Chopin executes an underlying message behind her signs, she also reveals new traits and meanings of her character, Mrs. Mallard. Despite Chopin’s use of several symbols to advance the storyline, the open window exemplifies not only Mrs. Mallard’s realization of her new-found freedom, but her hope and happiness as well.