Examples Of Cruelty In One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

Cruelty is often used in literature as a motivator. Whether it pushes characters to harm others, or themselves, or get what they want, a character in a book is usually cruel to attain something. While most books portray cruelty as an ineffective way of achieving one's goals, with inhumane antagonists being typically beaten by loving protagonists, Ken Kesey’s novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest portrays cruelty in a contrasting lens: as a tool that allows one to achieve their goals at the expense of their morality. Characters who act cruelly are portrayed as evil, yet they are the ones who ultimately win in the novel. The novel’s victims of cruelty all succumb to the demotivation and fear that cruelty brings, and sadly, but truthfully, fall

Even if they are only slightly disadvantageous, many morally correct actions from donating money to a charity or sacrificing time to help a friend all come at some cost: money for the donor and time for the helpful friend. This effect is magnified when larger decisions are taken into account and expresses the idea that morals hamper success. One such decision is made during the novel, and its successful outcome further reinforces this statement. As Bromden has one of his flashbacks, he remembers a time when a group of government officials tried purchasing his indigenous father's land to build a hydroelectric dam. To secure a deal, they decided to “go back into town, and, of course, spread the word with the townspeople about the government’s plans so they understand the advantages of having a hydroelectric dam and a lake instead of a cluster of shacks beside a falls, then type up an offer—and mail it to the wife, you see, by mistake” (Kesey, 120). They decided to ‘mistakenly’ mail an offer to the chief's wife in the hopes that she would convince her husband to sell the land. This decision defies all morals: the officials are willing to manipulate the townspeople and the chief's wife while lying about their true intentions to reach a deal. This choice to ignore morals was a cruel one as well, as the officials felt no concern for the tribe or their well-being, which would have most likely been destroyed as most indigenous communities were harmed by land sales in the past, and received pleasure from finding success in reaching a deal. The officials’ cruelty and lack of morals allowed them to find their success, something that compassion or a fair deal would not have brought them. Cruelty manifests itself as a lack of morality in the three government officials, but it is also used by characters to find success in another form: