Overall, this novel connected to the ever-prominent aspect of mental health, and is the center of the story’s development. However, there were many aspects within the novel that went without explanation with the topic of mental health. On page fourteen of the novel, the narrator, Chief Bromden, explains that there was a constant fog that was present within the wards with, “When the fog clears to where I can see, I’m sitting in the day room. They didn’t take me to the Shock Shop this time.” While “fogging” as Bromden explains in the novel never occurred in mental hospitals at any period of time, many other forms of treatment did. When the “Shock Shop” is depicted, it is evident that Bromden is fearing the room dedicated to electroshock therapy, which is the process of sending a specific amount of voltage to the brain to induce a specific result, whether this is for treatment or other reasons, according to health.gov. …show more content…
While all else seem to be Caucasian, Chief Bromden is the only character to be identified as a Native American. On page twenty-six of the novel, it is explained that, “There’s not much else he can do, I guess. He’s deaf.” While Chief is evidently not deaf, he pretends to be so to ensure he is not “fixed” or reevaluated by the nurse. This reevaluation would most likely occur due to the discrimination of race found in the novel. It is described at mentalhealthamerica.net that the United States has a population of 1.2 million that identifies as Native American or Alaska Natives, of which twenty-one percent have a mental illness that may be diagnosed or left untreated. During the time period of the novel, this amount was significantly