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Laughter In One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

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The age old adage that “laughter is the best medicine” appears as a recurring theme in Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Laughter is proven throughout the novel to be a symbol of the strength the men of the ward acquire through McMurphy’s influence. The occurrence and genuinity of laughter among the patients evolves throughout the book, paralleling the evolution the men experience due to McMurphy’s revolutionism.
R.P. McMurphy as a character is representative of the individualism and autonomy that the patients lack. From the moment he is introduced, he is depicted as a powerful, unrelenting force. His physiognomy evinces this claim with his well built, muscular body, corresponding directly to his headstrong attitude and independence, …show more content…

Chief hears it and remarks it as the “...first laugh I’ve heard in years.” (Kesey 12) This moment is significant because it initiates laughter in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest as a symbol of strength. As previously explained, McMurphy has resolve the patients do not, thus granting him the ability to laugh boldly and unadulterated exemplified in “He laughs til he’s finished for a time … Even when he isn’t laughing, that laughing sound hovers around him, the way sound hovers around a big bell that just quit ringing-it’s in his eyes, in the way he smiles and swaggers, in the way he talks” (12). This quote demonstrates the symbolism of laughter, because like the way McMurphy exudes strength, he is also emblematically exuding laughter, thus further connecting the two. The reason Chief can’t recall a “real” laugh is because he, Billy Bibbit, Harding, and all the other men have never felt strong enough under the nurse’s rule. She controls the men through her manipulative and authoritarian attitude, creating an atmosphere of unease, consequently making the idea of laughter completely unfathomable to the patients seen in “The air pressed in by the walls too tight for laughing.” She is able to belittle the men to the point that she chips away at their self esteem and self image proven by the fact Chief believes he is a small man,

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McMurphy makes the patients realize they all have a purpose in life. He preaches this to Billy and Chief the most. Billy’s only limitations are his stutter and the fact he is still taking orders from his mother. Once McMurphy sees this, he questions "why? Why You're just a young guy (Billy)...why do you stand for it"(167).

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Throughout the novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey, a psychoanalysis is made through the character, McMurphy. There are several things you can infer from McMurphy through his speech and actions. McMurphy instantly perceives himself to be something he is not. When he first walks into the ward he says, “Since I'm thinking about taking over this whole show myself...maybe I better talk with the top man,” (19). Typically when someone is introduced to a new place, they are hesitant on how to respond.

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In Ken Kesey’s 1962 novel ‘One flew over the cuckoo’s nest’ the main character and narrator, Chief Bromden, is noticeably stuck inside his own head as he acts deaf and dumb to escape the pressures of being a part of something. As the novel moves on, for someone who’s perception of living is to stay transparent and withdrawn totally inside himself the Chief takes a transformation from his delusional mind and gains strength physically and mentally, creating a journey towards freedom and finally, breaking free from the ward and from himself. Kesey uses the transformation to unravel a number of ideas about the importance of freedom and explores how the pressures of society can lead individuals to conform within themselves. The theories Chief believes

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In the novel laughter play a major role by representing a type of freedom and an escape from nurse Ratched’s restrictions. Laughter proves a vital role in helping the patients deal with their problems. Not only does

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In novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, by Ken Kesey, a leader organizes a group of mental patients and rebels against the figurehead of the broken institutional system of the mental hospital. McMurphy pushes The institutions rules of order, bringing out the evil in the situation. Bromden, due to his bias narration, misconstrues Nurse Ratched as the antagonist where, in truth, she falsifies this by trying to maintain order and by ultimately seeking the best for her patients. Kesey chooses Bromden as the narrator, by doing this, he introduces an element of skepticism for the audience as Brombden opposes the institution.

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For example, on their fishing excursion McMurphy “knows [they] have to laugh at the things that hurt... to keep the world from running plumb crazy… he’ll let the humor blot out the pain” (Kesey 250). Accepting the absurdity and adopting a sense of humor is important to get through the negative and spread laughter and joy rather than accept the dull fate of ordinary life. McMurphy acts as a savior who brings happiness and vibrant life to the patients by exposing them to laughter and humor. McMurphy gives confidence to the

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Ken Kesey’s comic novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, takes place in an all-male psychiatric ward. The head of the ward, Big Nurse Ratched, is female. Kesey explores the power-struggle that takes place when the characters challenge gender dynamics in this environment. One newly-arrived patient, McMurphy, leads the men against the Big Nurse. The story is told through the eyes of Chief Bromden, a patient who learns from McMurphy and fights for his freedom.

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Nurse Ratched uses him as an example of “what will happen if someone challenges me”. Chief smothers McMurphy because he refuses to let his friend be an example of Nurse Ratched’s conformity

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McMurphy had been close to breaking down, evident in Chief’s description, “He looked sick and terribly tired,” and Harding’s description, “It was us that has been making him go on for weeks, keeping him standing long after his feet and legs have given out, weeks of making him wink and grin and laugh” (318). McMurphy breaking down would have destroyed what he had worked so hard for, so before he broke, his golden image, his ideas had to be preserved through his death. Chief also says that what happened would have happened and that McMurphy, “Would have had to come back” (310), and that, “he could no more have sat around outside the hospital, playing poker in Carson City or Reno or someplace, and let the Big Nurse have the last move and get the last play, than he could have let her get by it rough under her nose. It was like he’d signed on for the whole game and there wasn’t any way of him breaking his contract.” The fact that McMurphy would have come back no matter what shows that his sacrifice was meant to happen, something that was unavoidable.

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This madness in Mcmurphy gives the men hope throughout the novel. The irrational behavior can be judge as reasonable in many cases. Mcmurphy is a big, loud and confident man. He’s different from many other patients in the ward. When he first entered the ward he was laughing and telling jokes.

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Forcing people to follow a societal norm is detrimental to the health of the mind and body. The struggle between conformers and non conformers creates a schism in society. In the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Ken Kesey asserts the overarching importance of individuality through the use of a conflict between the patients and the nurse as a microcosm of society. In the novel, the delusions of the narrator create a surreal world that reveals a strong message on the nature of conformity.

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The question of sanity becomes apparent when McMurphy, a confident gambler, who might have faked psychosis in order to get out of the work farm, is assigned to the mental hospital. He quickly stirs up tension in the ward for Nurse Ratched by encouraging the men to have fun and rebel against her rules. Brodmen appears to be sane for the most part, despite his hallucinations of a fog, which seems to be the result of something both the ward and the world has done to him. He is able to think logically and though others believe him to be deaf and dumb, he uses this to his advantage. Chief states, “They don't bother not talking out loud about their hate secrets when I'm nearby because they think I'm deaf and dumb.

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His rebellious and free mind makes the patients open their eyes and see how the have been suppressed. His appearance is a breath of fresh air and a look into the outside world for the patients. This clearly weakens Nurse Ratched’s powers, and she sees him as a large threat. One way or another, McMurphy tends to instigate changes of scenery. He manages to move everyone away from her music and watchful eye into the old tube room.

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Another point to note was that McMurphy seems abnormal among the patients. Especially with his laugh, I kept thinking that he might be mentally ill and not fake it (Kesey). But if you just imagine his behavior outside of the asylum, then it seems normal. This phenomenon is well known in psychology. It says that person once convicted of mental illness have an uphill battle to prove that he is not.

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Towards the beginning of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, people are compared to parts of machines to show power.. The patients in the ward, spcifically Bromden are very intimidated by machines. When McMurphy first arrives at the psychiatric hospital and he is singing a song, Nurse Ratched becomes furious with the lightheartedness he brings with him: “She works the hinges in her elbows and fingers… She starts moving and I get back against the wall, and when she rumbles past she’s already as big as a truck, trailing that wicker bag behind in her exhaust like a semi behind a Jimmy Diesel” (Kesey 96).

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