One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Analysis

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest was published in the early 1960s, during the Civil Rights Movement and during a controversial movement towards deinstitutionalization. There were concerns with the rights of institutionalized patients which brought up issues of free expression and conformity, the premises of the book revolved greatly around these issues. In addition, the approach to how psychology and psychology were being viewed were beginning to change. Furthermore, the book reflects the aftermath of the situations that many veterans found themselves in when they returned home from the Vietnam War. Veterans who returned from the war did not have any support, the veterans were traumatized by the incredibly gruesome things that they saw; however, they were expected to be the same person they were before they were involved in the war. However, the veterans were changed and they were misunderstood when they returned home. Many veterans were admitted and isolated in mental institutions as they were no longer considered socially acceptable because their
attitudes and behaviors did not conform to the social norms during this time. As explained in the book, staff in the mental institution forcefully tried to conform the patients through lobotomies and electric shock, however, they were never successful. Ken Kesey, the author, of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, was a paid volunteer for an experiment conducted by the United States government. The study required the volunteers to report any side effects that they had after taking the mind-altering drugs they were given. Kesey was interested in the altered state of consciousness and soon began working in a psychiatric ward as an attendant, during his employment he witnessed firsthand, the treatment and abuse the patients endured inside the mental institution. Kesey interviewed the patients while he worked in order to gain a better understanding of their altered perception, and how they viewed the world. The experimental hallucinogenic study that Kesey participated in and his employment at the mental institution contributed to the book being written. The characters that are written in the book were created from the actual patient’s Kesey interviewed, what their experiences were in the institution and how he perceived them. (A&E Television Networks). Kesey believed that the trauma caused to the veterans was solely due to what they saw in the Vietnam war, as Chief Bromden said in the book “I was hurt by seeing things in the war”. I agree with Kesey; I also believe that the Vietnam war caused mental illness, more commonly known today, as post-traumatic stress disorder, there is a high number of veterans today who suffer from this disorder. I also believe that the mental institution further damaged their mental state, and led to an increased state of paranoia that Chief Bromdens describes while he is institutionalized. The book One flew over the cuckoo’s nest, was highly controversial when it became part of the required curriculum in the public-school system in the mid-1970s.
In the 1970s many public schools in Ohio, Maine, New York, Idaho, and Oklahoma were required to ban the book from their required reading list after receiving numerous complaints. In the 1980s, several schools in New Hampshire and Washington were also challenged and brought to the school board, but the attempt unsuccessful in banning the book. The latest challenge was in 2000, parents with children in a California public school district filed complaints with the school board, calling the book “garbage”, however, the department of education believed that the book was a great learning resource and were not required to ban the book. The negativity stemmed from the racist remarks, violence, sexual remarks, unsavory themes, and foul language. (L.A. Times) (ALA,
n.p.). I thought that the book was interesting, it shed light on conflicts between the state and the individuals, in addition to the harsh reality of an era where mistreatment, shame, and power were used against individuals with mental disorder. The book also shines light on issues that have been overcome, and how much freedom individuals now have regarding their personal rights. In conclusion, the book, One flew over the cuckoo’s nest criticizes American mental institutions during the 1950’s, as it describes the oppressive nature within the mental institution, the struggle for freedom and compliance to control the anti-social and disobedient behavior of people and the power struggle within social structures. It challenged the use of controlling the patient’s behavior with psychotropic medication and challenged the concept of what was considered insanity and what was considered normal during a time when social norms were controversial.