Mental Health In One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

295 Words2 Pages
Billy Bibbit, a character in Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, serves as a window into how people in society view mental health. Throughout part one of the novel, the battle of anxiety in society has made Billy believe he is not sane, which then tends to make him wish to remain in the ward. The first way in which Billy Bibbit reveals the societal understanding of mental health was by describing how his mother was a contributing factor to his anxiety and stutter. Nurse Ratched states, “I can't give you a new mother,” (Kasey 137). This comment demonstrated how his mother put a lot of pressure on him as a child, which led to his mental problems, especially anxiety, which eventually took control of his life. Secondly, Billy’s self-harm