Review Of One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest By Ken Kesey
Marcavage 1
Colin Marcavage
Mrs. Wenger
CP English 11
15 December 2014
Novel Review In 1962, Ken Kesey published one of the most well-known and controversial novels of all time, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Ken Kesey was born on September 17, 1935 and raised in Springfield, Oregon. Kesey was a very intelligent young man who attended Stanford University and earned himself a scholarship to their writing program. However, Kesey was not the typical writer, he volunteered to be a test subject for drugs being developed for the U.S. Army. Additionally, he frequently wrote under the influence of acid because he believed it was the key to individuality and the way to truly connect with his imagination. Kesey had hundreds of interesting and influential …show more content…
life experiences, but arguably his most important experience was working on a psychiatric ward. Kesey observed the patients and how the ward was operated; this is what led him to writing the most popular and wide read novel of his career, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (Ken Elton Kesey). This novel is about a mental patient named McMurphy who is admitted into a psychiatric ward and causes a great deal of havoc in the operation and organization of the ward, but also inspires the patients to fight for their lives back. This novel begins in a psychiatric ward during the mid-1950s and is told using a first person point of view, from the eyes of a patient named Chief Bromden. Nurse Ratched, who is in charge of the ward, runs it in a tyrannical manner. However, she realizes that her dictatorship is going to be put to its first true test when the patient Randle McMurphy is admitted onto the ward. He exudes
Marcavage 2 confidence and immediately lets everyone know that he is going to be in charge, “I’m thinking about taking over this whole show myself” (Kesey 29). McMurphy immediately realizes that the patients are afraid to speak up and even laugh once in a while due to Nurse Ratched’s strict and authoritarian control. McMurphy decides that he is going to abrogate the Nurse’s tyranny of the ward and obtain the patients’ dignity and pride back. The novel progresses and McMurphy continues to relentlessly fight for control of the ward. He clashes numerous times with Nurse Ratched in a constant struggle for power. McMurphy feels as though the patients are being disrespected and treated like animals, he finally decides to stand up for the patients by attacking an advisor on the ward. He is joined by Chief Bromden who “picked up him off and threw him in the shower,” Chief broke the man’s arm espousing for his abused friend (Kesey 355). Consequently, both of the men are punished with electroshock therapy due to their actions. However, this only results in McMurphy’s heroic reputation growing due to his nonchalant attitude regarding the treatment. An evening when the Nurse is not present, McMurphy throws a huge party in the ward; at this point in the novel, the Nurse is defeated and has lost complete control over the ward. McMurphy has accomplished what he was striving to do and has sparked life in the ward by inspiring the patients around him. When the Nurse arrives the following morning, she finds the ward completely destroyed and attempts to gain her control back by threating one of the weaker patients which results in the patient taking his life. The Nurse accuses McMurphy of being the reason for the tragic suicide. “First Charles Cheswick and now William Bibbit! I hope you’re finally satisfied” (Kesey 412). McMurphy is so enraged by the Nurse’s words and actions that he attempts to strangle her, but is unsuccessful. The Nurse realizes that she has let everything get out of control, in a desperate attempt to gain her power back, she has McMurphy lobotomized, which is a procedure that takes out the part of his brain that allows him to think and act on his own. McMurphy is brought back to the patients’ area and is no longer even recognizable to the patients; he has become a “vegetable”. Chief knows that McMurphy
Marcavage 3 would hate to live like this and to be used as an example of Nurse Ratched’s power, so he decides to kill McMurphy out of respect and escape the ward. Chief feels full of energy and life, he believes that his time with McMurphy had a healing effect on him, and now finally feels home “I been away for a long time” (Kesey 422).
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest takes place in a psychiatric ward in Oregon during the mid-1950s when mental health patients were feared and not understood. Chief says, “I’m the one been here on the ward the longest, since the Second World War,” so it can be inferred that the novel takes place shortly after the War (Kesey 27). Kesey doesn’t go into a great deal of detail about what the psychiatric ward looks like because he simply wants the reader to focus solely on the fact that the plot takes place in a psychiatric ward. However, the ward is described as having “white walls and white basins, and long-tube-lights… making sure there aren’t any shadows” (Kesey 14). The ward is designed to feel comforting and safe, however the exact opposite atmosphere is created throughout the ward.
The ward has a huge impact on the Nurse specifically; when she enters the ward and puts on her nametag, she immediately transforms into a powerful figure, transubstantiating from the average women she is outside the ward. The ward gives her a sense of power and control the “Practice has steadied and strengthened her until now she wields a sure power that extends in all directions,” she has dominance over the patients and even the other staff members (Kesey 41). The ward also has a major impingement on the patients, they aren’t exposed to the outside world and all they know is life inside the ward. The patients feel safe and secure in the ward, “Everybody was thinking how easy it would be to return to the ward, go back and say they decided the nurse had been right,” which exemplifies the power of the atmosphere of the ward on the patients (Kesey 305). The setting of the novel also has a major effect on the plot; if the novel wasn’t set in a psychiatric ward or taken place during this time period, then there wouldn’t be a story. The setting is crucial because it allows for
Marcavage 4 development of the characters and ultimately makes them who they are.
McMurphy, the protagonist in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, dresses himself in “work-farm pants and shirt, sunned out till they’re the color of watered milk, he’s got a primer-black motorcycle cap stuck in his hair and a leather jacket over one arm,” which displays his formidability and ruggedness (Kesey 22). McMurphy is a “huge towering man, with the largest hands you have ever seen and has red curly hair” (Kesey 25). However, under his masculinity and rugged figure, there is an intelligent man who is an extremely enjoyable man to be around. He lives on a farm which also where he was charged for rape, however he was able to escape his jail sentence by claiming insanity. As soon as McMurphy enters the ward he realizes that he needs to change how the place is run. He immediately sets two goals, to gain the patients’ confidence, dignity and manhood back, and to destroy Nurse Ratched’s tyranny. However, as the protagonist of the novel, he faces numerous hardships along the way.
He was sent to Disturbed which is where all the patients go who were being punished, the ward advisors were “hitting him every day with EST” which was a procedure that sent electricity through the brain (Kesey 377). McMurphy’s noncompliant, relentless and ultimately his caring personality was definitely the most crucial part of his character. Whenever the Nurse would do something to get under his skin, he would almost always handle it in the best manner possible. Also, he never gives up; he continues working hard to keep his promises for the patients, to earn them their respect and dignity back. In addition, he is very compassionate and truly does care for the patients, for example when one of the guards disrespected one of the patients, McMurphy steps in and says, “I said that’s enough” even though he knew he was risking being punished (Kesey 353). McMurphy’s only fear is being dehumanized and losing his dignity to the Nurse, therefore it is beneficial to all the patients’ that he does everything in his power to stop the Nurse.
Marcavage 5
Nurse Ratched is a power hungry, manipulative and destructive woman who only cares about having absolute control over the psychiatric ward. The Nurse is described as having “smooth face, calculated, and precision-made, like an expensive baby doll, skin like flesh-colored enamel, blend of white and cream and baby-blue eyes, small nose, everything working together” (Kesey 13). The Nurse appears to be a very kind and gentle women, but she uses this to her advantage by making the patients think she is innocent. The Nurse’s only goal is to have the ward organized and patients to behave exactly the way that she wants. However, being the antagonist of the novel, she faces many challenges along the way and repeatedly loses the power and control that she lives for, all due to McMurphy. McMurphy is the Nurse’s first actual true challenge and she can’t handle it, he aggravates her numerous times, for example he walked around the ward only in his towel and she was described as “being flustered for a second” (Kesey 61).
The Nurse has two personalities, the fake one that she puts on for the ward and the real one that she tries not to show. On the outside she appears to be a very kind-hearted and affectionate woman who actually cares for the patients, but really all she was doing was putting on an act. McMurphy is able to extract the Nurse’s true personality that she displays only a few times throughout the novel, revealing that she only cares about her power on the ward. She fears that McMurphy will get the best of her and take over her ward, she doesn’t care what extremes she has to go to try to maintain her control, she will do anything to maintain her power. The Nurse isn’t just a symbol of power in the ward, overall she represents the enormous amount of power that the psychiatric ward system has over these patients.
Chief Bromden, a half-Indian man, who is the narrator of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, is a mental health patient at a psychiatric hospital located in Oregon. Bromden grew up living in the wilderness with an Indian tribe that was forced to accept money to leave their land. However, the reason why Bromden is admitted into the ward was never stated in the novel, although one can infer
Marcavage 6 if was due to his hallucinations. He often suffers from hallucinations throughout the novel, but at the same time he is a very clever, attentive and sly man. Even though Chief is “six feet seven inches” tall, he tries to be inconspicuous by acting deaf and ignorant, this way he can hear all of the secrets in the ward (Kesey 35).
Since Bromden is an intelligent and observant character, he is able to depict the characters and events in an insightful and elaborate way.
Although his intelligence is prominent throughout the novel, his view on the story may be inaccurate or skewed due to his mental state. Bromden states in the introduction of the novel, “It’s still hard for me to have a clear mind thinking on it. But it’s the truth even if it didn’t happen” (Kesey 12). Bromden tells the story believing everything that he is stating is true and factual, but even he isn’t sure if he is exaggerating events or if his memory is altered by his imagination. Therefore, the narrator is not completely reliable because he frequently hallucinates during the novel and it is apparent that he has a psychological disorder since he is in a mental hospital. Even though Chief Bromden may not be a completely reliable narrator, he truly does care about the patients and consider others before even thinking about himself. For example, he backed up McMurphy when he was standing up for a fellow patient even though he knew there would be a great deal of consequences. Bromden’s only fear is becoming part of what he calls the Combine, which is how he believes the world works. McMurphy is his hope that the Combine hasn’t completely worked; this fills him with life and something to fight for.
In conclusion, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey was an eye opening experience and an extraordinary read. Kesey’s great deal of knowledge about lobotomies, electroshock therapy, and mental hospitals are what makes the book so vivid. Kesey’s goal to cause readers to question the management and therapeutic benefits of mental hospitals was definitely achieved. Kesey creates a very intriguing story through the setting of a psychiatric ward,
the
Marcavage 7 characters and by the plot. Without a doubt, this novel would be a fantastic book for any other teenager or adult to read. This book truly can be mind altering due to the way it is written.
Works Cited
“Ken Elton Kesey.” Bio. A&E Television Networks, 2014. Web. 14 Dec. 2014
Kesey, Ken. One Flew over the Cuckoo 's Nest, a Novel. New York: Viking, 1962. Print.
Colin Marcavage
Mrs. Wenger
CP English 11
15 December 2014
Novel Review In 1962, Ken Kesey published one of the most well-known and controversial novels of all time, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Ken Kesey was born on September 17, 1935 and raised in Springfield, Oregon. Kesey was a very intelligent young man who attended Stanford University and earned himself a scholarship to their writing program. However, Kesey was not the typical writer, he volunteered to be a test subject for drugs being developed for the U.S. Army. Additionally, he frequently wrote under the influence of acid because he believed it was the key to individuality and the way to truly connect with his imagination. Kesey had hundreds of interesting and influential …show more content…
life experiences, but arguably his most important experience was working on a psychiatric ward. Kesey observed the patients and how the ward was operated; this is what led him to writing the most popular and wide read novel of his career, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (Ken Elton Kesey). This novel is about a mental patient named McMurphy who is admitted into a psychiatric ward and causes a great deal of havoc in the operation and organization of the ward, but also inspires the patients to fight for their lives back. This novel begins in a psychiatric ward during the mid-1950s and is told using a first person point of view, from the eyes of a patient named Chief Bromden. Nurse Ratched, who is in charge of the ward, runs it in a tyrannical manner. However, she realizes that her dictatorship is going to be put to its first true test when the patient Randle McMurphy is admitted onto the ward. He exudes
Marcavage 2 confidence and immediately lets everyone know that he is going to be in charge, “I’m thinking about taking over this whole show myself” (Kesey 29). McMurphy immediately realizes that the patients are afraid to speak up and even laugh once in a while due to Nurse Ratched’s strict and authoritarian control. McMurphy decides that he is going to abrogate the Nurse’s tyranny of the ward and obtain the patients’ dignity and pride back. The novel progresses and McMurphy continues to relentlessly fight for control of the ward. He clashes numerous times with Nurse Ratched in a constant struggle for power. McMurphy feels as though the patients are being disrespected and treated like animals, he finally decides to stand up for the patients by attacking an advisor on the ward. He is joined by Chief Bromden who “picked up him off and threw him in the shower,” Chief broke the man’s arm espousing for his abused friend (Kesey 355). Consequently, both of the men are punished with electroshock therapy due to their actions. However, this only results in McMurphy’s heroic reputation growing due to his nonchalant attitude regarding the treatment. An evening when the Nurse is not present, McMurphy throws a huge party in the ward; at this point in the novel, the Nurse is defeated and has lost complete control over the ward. McMurphy has accomplished what he was striving to do and has sparked life in the ward by inspiring the patients around him. When the Nurse arrives the following morning, she finds the ward completely destroyed and attempts to gain her control back by threating one of the weaker patients which results in the patient taking his life. The Nurse accuses McMurphy of being the reason for the tragic suicide. “First Charles Cheswick and now William Bibbit! I hope you’re finally satisfied” (Kesey 412). McMurphy is so enraged by the Nurse’s words and actions that he attempts to strangle her, but is unsuccessful. The Nurse realizes that she has let everything get out of control, in a desperate attempt to gain her power back, she has McMurphy lobotomized, which is a procedure that takes out the part of his brain that allows him to think and act on his own. McMurphy is brought back to the patients’ area and is no longer even recognizable to the patients; he has become a “vegetable”. Chief knows that McMurphy
Marcavage 3 would hate to live like this and to be used as an example of Nurse Ratched’s power, so he decides to kill McMurphy out of respect and escape the ward. Chief feels full of energy and life, he believes that his time with McMurphy had a healing effect on him, and now finally feels home “I been away for a long time” (Kesey 422).
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest takes place in a psychiatric ward in Oregon during the mid-1950s when mental health patients were feared and not understood. Chief says, “I’m the one been here on the ward the longest, since the Second World War,” so it can be inferred that the novel takes place shortly after the War (Kesey 27). Kesey doesn’t go into a great deal of detail about what the psychiatric ward looks like because he simply wants the reader to focus solely on the fact that the plot takes place in a psychiatric ward. However, the ward is described as having “white walls and white basins, and long-tube-lights… making sure there aren’t any shadows” (Kesey 14). The ward is designed to feel comforting and safe, however the exact opposite atmosphere is created throughout the ward.
The ward has a huge impact on the Nurse specifically; when she enters the ward and puts on her nametag, she immediately transforms into a powerful figure, transubstantiating from the average women she is outside the ward. The ward gives her a sense of power and control the “Practice has steadied and strengthened her until now she wields a sure power that extends in all directions,” she has dominance over the patients and even the other staff members (Kesey 41). The ward also has a major impingement on the patients, they aren’t exposed to the outside world and all they know is life inside the ward. The patients feel safe and secure in the ward, “Everybody was thinking how easy it would be to return to the ward, go back and say they decided the nurse had been right,” which exemplifies the power of the atmosphere of the ward on the patients (Kesey 305). The setting of the novel also has a major effect on the plot; if the novel wasn’t set in a psychiatric ward or taken place during this time period, then there wouldn’t be a story. The setting is crucial because it allows for
Marcavage 4 development of the characters and ultimately makes them who they are.
McMurphy, the protagonist in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, dresses himself in “work-farm pants and shirt, sunned out till they’re the color of watered milk, he’s got a primer-black motorcycle cap stuck in his hair and a leather jacket over one arm,” which displays his formidability and ruggedness (Kesey 22). McMurphy is a “huge towering man, with the largest hands you have ever seen and has red curly hair” (Kesey 25). However, under his masculinity and rugged figure, there is an intelligent man who is an extremely enjoyable man to be around. He lives on a farm which also where he was charged for rape, however he was able to escape his jail sentence by claiming insanity. As soon as McMurphy enters the ward he realizes that he needs to change how the place is run. He immediately sets two goals, to gain the patients’ confidence, dignity and manhood back, and to destroy Nurse Ratched’s tyranny. However, as the protagonist of the novel, he faces numerous hardships along the way.
He was sent to Disturbed which is where all the patients go who were being punished, the ward advisors were “hitting him every day with EST” which was a procedure that sent electricity through the brain (Kesey 377). McMurphy’s noncompliant, relentless and ultimately his caring personality was definitely the most crucial part of his character. Whenever the Nurse would do something to get under his skin, he would almost always handle it in the best manner possible. Also, he never gives up; he continues working hard to keep his promises for the patients, to earn them their respect and dignity back. In addition, he is very compassionate and truly does care for the patients, for example when one of the guards disrespected one of the patients, McMurphy steps in and says, “I said that’s enough” even though he knew he was risking being punished (Kesey 353). McMurphy’s only fear is being dehumanized and losing his dignity to the Nurse, therefore it is beneficial to all the patients’ that he does everything in his power to stop the Nurse.
Marcavage 5
Nurse Ratched is a power hungry, manipulative and destructive woman who only cares about having absolute control over the psychiatric ward. The Nurse is described as having “smooth face, calculated, and precision-made, like an expensive baby doll, skin like flesh-colored enamel, blend of white and cream and baby-blue eyes, small nose, everything working together” (Kesey 13). The Nurse appears to be a very kind and gentle women, but she uses this to her advantage by making the patients think she is innocent. The Nurse’s only goal is to have the ward organized and patients to behave exactly the way that she wants. However, being the antagonist of the novel, she faces many challenges along the way and repeatedly loses the power and control that she lives for, all due to McMurphy. McMurphy is the Nurse’s first actual true challenge and she can’t handle it, he aggravates her numerous times, for example he walked around the ward only in his towel and she was described as “being flustered for a second” (Kesey 61).
The Nurse has two personalities, the fake one that she puts on for the ward and the real one that she tries not to show. On the outside she appears to be a very kind-hearted and affectionate woman who actually cares for the patients, but really all she was doing was putting on an act. McMurphy is able to extract the Nurse’s true personality that she displays only a few times throughout the novel, revealing that she only cares about her power on the ward. She fears that McMurphy will get the best of her and take over her ward, she doesn’t care what extremes she has to go to try to maintain her control, she will do anything to maintain her power. The Nurse isn’t just a symbol of power in the ward, overall she represents the enormous amount of power that the psychiatric ward system has over these patients.
Chief Bromden, a half-Indian man, who is the narrator of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, is a mental health patient at a psychiatric hospital located in Oregon. Bromden grew up living in the wilderness with an Indian tribe that was forced to accept money to leave their land. However, the reason why Bromden is admitted into the ward was never stated in the novel, although one can infer
Marcavage 6 if was due to his hallucinations. He often suffers from hallucinations throughout the novel, but at the same time he is a very clever, attentive and sly man. Even though Chief is “six feet seven inches” tall, he tries to be inconspicuous by acting deaf and ignorant, this way he can hear all of the secrets in the ward (Kesey 35).
Since Bromden is an intelligent and observant character, he is able to depict the characters and events in an insightful and elaborate way.
Although his intelligence is prominent throughout the novel, his view on the story may be inaccurate or skewed due to his mental state. Bromden states in the introduction of the novel, “It’s still hard for me to have a clear mind thinking on it. But it’s the truth even if it didn’t happen” (Kesey 12). Bromden tells the story believing everything that he is stating is true and factual, but even he isn’t sure if he is exaggerating events or if his memory is altered by his imagination. Therefore, the narrator is not completely reliable because he frequently hallucinates during the novel and it is apparent that he has a psychological disorder since he is in a mental hospital. Even though Chief Bromden may not be a completely reliable narrator, he truly does care about the patients and consider others before even thinking about himself. For example, he backed up McMurphy when he was standing up for a fellow patient even though he knew there would be a great deal of consequences. Bromden’s only fear is becoming part of what he calls the Combine, which is how he believes the world works. McMurphy is his hope that the Combine hasn’t completely worked; this fills him with life and something to fight for.
In conclusion, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey was an eye opening experience and an extraordinary read. Kesey’s great deal of knowledge about lobotomies, electroshock therapy, and mental hospitals are what makes the book so vivid. Kesey’s goal to cause readers to question the management and therapeutic benefits of mental hospitals was definitely achieved. Kesey creates a very intriguing story through the setting of a psychiatric ward,
the
Marcavage 7 characters and by the plot. Without a doubt, this novel would be a fantastic book for any other teenager or adult to read. This book truly can be mind altering due to the way it is written.
Works Cited
“Ken Elton Kesey.” Bio. A&E Television Networks, 2014. Web. 14 Dec. 2014
Kesey, Ken. One Flew over the Cuckoo 's Nest, a Novel. New York: Viking, 1962. Print.