One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Comparison Essay

Ken Kesey wrote the novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, about a new inmate at a mental institution through the point of view of one of the inmates. J.D. Salinger wrote the novel, The Catcher in the Rye, as narrated by a teenage dropout. Neither of the novels have the same setting nor the same type of characters. However, both novels contain a theme of coming of age for the characters as expressed through situational irony, sexual themes, and the motif of laughter. The situational irony for Chief Bromden in the beginning portrays his initial way of going about in the mental hospital. Chief Bromden is the largest man in the building, and yet he has the least amount of power. McMurphy comments on the way that Nurse Ratched seems to cut off power from the patients. He relates her to the “people who try to make you weak so they can get you to toe the line, to follow their rules, to live like they want you to” (Kesey 57). This differs from how one would expect a large man to be. As Chief is well
above the average size of a man and has the blatant strength to take out anyone there, but he has been stunned into silence. However, this deaf-dumb act does not pass McMurphy, as he doesn't believe it for a second. One of the workers even comments on this irony, as he bosses Chief around. He says, “Haw, you look at ’im shag it? Big enough to eat apples off my head an’ he mine me like a baby.” (Kesey 9). The situational irony sets the scene for how Chief and the other patients lack control over their lives. Salinger uses situational irony to reveal Holden's initial immaturity. Holden constantly complains about other people being phonies, and yet he lied and did not follow through constantly. Holden is a bit of a compulsive liar, however, in simpler terms, he's just a phony. Holden talked about Sally Hayes and how much he absolutely disliked her, but he ended up asking her out on a date and proposing a plan to run away together (Salinger 132). He does not stick to what he thinks, he does't know what he thinks or does entirely. This creates a bit of immaturity as he cannot keep his mind on one opinion without being a hypocrite. Holden also thought about Jane Gallagher frequently in a fairly positive light. He would say, "Oh--Jane Gallagher. She's all right. I'm probably gonna give her a buzz tomorrow." and never follow through (Sailnger 191). He never does what pleases him and needs to reach a point of maturity by the end of the book. The use of situational irony sets the stage for Holden's immaturity and where he can improve. The sexual themes illustrated through the actions of McMurphy and the patients, display a sense of maturing. At one point, one of the patients, Billy, spends the night with a prostitute. Nurse Ratched finds the two of them the next morning and begins to berate him. However, for the first few moments, Billy is completely without his stutter and his 'illness' is cured (Kesey 263). As with the beginning of the novel, McMurphy is seen as the free spirit of the entire hospital. This may have to do with his animalistic tendencies with his sexuality. This is shown by his greatest offence, statutory rape. He argues, “Said she was seventeen, Doc, and she was plenty willin’.” (Kesey 44). He openly embraces his sexuality and this proves as a sense of freedom for him. He eventually exchanges this freedom with the rest of the patients. The themes of sexuality reveals the strength that it gives the patients. The sexual themes illustrated through the actions of Holden Caulfield, display inability to partake in mature activities. In the novel, Holden mentions that he has difficulties engaging in sexual activities. His friend's response is, "Naturally. Your mind is immature" (Salinger 147). This is very telling of Holden's problems that he has with women. He eventually realizes that he is not like the other 'normal' people and is put into a mental hospital. He does run into a situation with a prostitute that he just pays her off instead of actually doing anything aside from talking (Salinger 96). He lies his way out of that and avoids engaging in any of the activities. The sexual themes that Holden faces reveal Holden's slow realization that he is set apart from the rest. The motif of laughter from McMurphy creates a sense of normalcy and changes the patients. There is a blatant correlation between laughter and sanity throughout the novel. As McMurphy once says, “Man, when you lose your laugh you lose your footing.” (Kesey 65). He teaches the rest of the patients to laugh and find joy in the simpler things. As McMurphy is constantly laughing, he is known as the more sane of the bunch. Chief even notes, “He knows that you have to laugh at the things that hurt you just to keep yourself in balance, just to keep the world from running you plumb crazy.” (Kesey 212). Despite this, the rest of the patients become the sane ones and learn from McMurphy's example while McMurphy goes insane and becomes trapped in the institution. Laughter throughout the novel depicts the sense of normalcy attainable for the patients. Laughter in The Catcher in the Rye depicts the ideals of regular people.
Holden comments on other people and relates laughter to a sense of friendliness. He forms a correlation between humanity and humor. As he mentions one man giving a speech, he says that “He started off with about fifty corny jokes, just to show us what a regular guy he was” (Salinger 16). This relates regular people to cracking jokes and laughing. Holden does not laugh often in the novel. He, in fact, makes fun of the people who do. He says, “Normal people laugh like hyenas” (Salinger 37). However, in the last chapter of the novel, Holden does mention the humor behind his care for the people that he would talk to (Salinger 214). He becomes more human by the end, and also enters a mental hospital as he reaches a stage of maturity where he can realize that his behavior and thoughts are abnormal. Salinger's use of laughter proves the transition for Holden from outcast to maturing
adult. The two novels differ in overall setting and characters, but they both express how situational irony, sexual themes, and the motif of laughter present the coming of age. Both novels question the true insanity of the characters. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest exposes how few of the patients suffer from insanity. The Catcher in the Rye unfolds how Holden actually does suffer from a form of insanity. The characters change for the better, despite what stage of life they might be in. For, a bildungsroman does not always need a young character.