More handpicked essays just for you.
One flew over the cuckoo's nest from a psychological perspective
Critical analysis of one flew over the cuckoo's nest
Analysis of One flew over the cuckoo's nest
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
The Origins of Madness in One Who Flew Off The Cuckoo's Nest The book, One who Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, by Ken Kesey, is an eccentric story on the cruel treatment of patients within psychiatric wards in the 1960s. It is told from the narration of an indigenous man, named Chief Bromden, a character who is deeply conflicted and wounded inside, as he narrates the story of another patient McMurphy. McMurphy is not like Chief, nor any of the other patients for that matter, for he is a man who refuses to follow the wards rules and does whatever it takes in the book to strip the head nurse, Miss Ratched, of her power, in a fight for the patients, sovereignty within the ward. His rebellious attitude unfolds and the consequences begin unveiling
Between the film and novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, the roles of the characters as well as plotlines were manipulated to supposedly better fit a film adaptation. Charles Cheswick, played by Sydney Lassick, is an Acute patient of the mental ward admitted for his short temperament. Described as a “rabbit” by another patient, Cheswick is one of the first to be charmed by McMurphy’s rhetoric and actions and strongly supports all of McMurphy’s doings and suggestions. Cheswick, with so much belief in McMurphy even tries to emulate him by bringing up his own opinion and demand during a meeting after years of stagnated expression. Unfortunately for the novel version of Cheswick, no support was to be had and he suicides.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) Some films have been particularly noteworthy for breaking the Indian stereotype. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest featured an important contemporary role played by an Indian actor. In a scene where McMurphy (played by Jack Nicholson) gives a supposedly mute Indian Chief named Bromden (played by Indian actor Will Sampson) some Juicyfruit gum, “what the audience heard was far removed from the stereotypical ‘hows’ and ‘ughs’ and ‘kemosabes’ of tinsel moviedom” (Rollins and O’Connor, 1998:12): Bromden: Ahh Juicyfruit.
The Beat Generation of the 1950’s and early 1960’s encouraged a new lifestyle for young Americans striving for individualism and freedom, which included rock and roll music, long hair, relaxed style attire, vegetarianism, and experimenting with drugs (“Beat Movement”). Many young Americans of this era wanted to experiment with new social and cultural concepts, rebelling against “normal” American life. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, written by Ken Kesey, portrays the gruesomeness of conformity through the lives of patients in one of the asylum’s wards. The novel shows how the patients are confined to strict rules and limited freedom because of Nurse Ratched’s power.
Moral Lense Literary Analysis of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest The 1950s, the context of which One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, a novel by Ken Kesey, was written, was called the Era of Conformity. During this time, the American social atmosphere was quiet conformed, in that everyone was expected to follow the same, fixed format of behavior in society, and the ones who stand out of being not the same would likely be “beaten down” by the social norms. In the novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Kesey argues that it is immoral for society to simply push its beliefs onto the people who are deemed different, as it is unfair and could lead to destructive results. First of all, it is unjust for people who are deemed unalike from others in society to be forced into the preset way of conduct because human tend to have dissimilar nature.
Weather in literature is often used to symbolize the mood or mental state in which a character experiences. For example, rain is commonly associated with sadness. As it is commonly identified, fog is a cloudy element of weather that affects one’s ability to see clearly, however, it is also used in literature to represent a character’s lack of clarity. Throughout One Who Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey, the motif of fog is used to represent the mental instability and confusion Bromden experiences under Nurse Ratched’s ward. As the story progresses and Bromden gains confidence, the fog diminishes and he is able to overcome the Big Nurse.
The Mirriam-Webster Dictionary defines sane as having a healthy or sound mind however no one could possibly know what it means to be sane. Some people would consider, that to be sane means to be normal, but there really is no such thing as normal. Mostly everyone has thoughts and emotions in the world and they can differ from person to person. A mind can be influenced by culture as well as genetics and therefore sanity can be viewed differently depending on someone’s’ beliefs. Just like in One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, someone can behave a certain way if that is what is expected in the society for which you are expected to fit in.
The movie point of view was told in third person, while the story was told through Chief point of view and it focused mainly on McMurphy. The movie completely eliminates any of first person perspective that the book had to offer. Chief is only an auxiliary character in the movie, you were able to learn little about his past and personality that shaped the person he became. The book also did allow the audience to get a better understanding of some of the event and situations that lead the characters to the ward in the first place. The book allowed you to better understand and get a better feeling of what was going on.
While trying different drugs and working at a psychiatric ward, Ken Kesey was influenced to write his first novel, One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest. During his time and experience at the hospital, Kesey was inspired to come up with characters, scenes, and situations in the book. Kesey uses first-person point of view through Chief Bromden to tell his story of his own life through a character who was very similar to a man that he knew. The ward, a society in itself, is for the insane. Two characters, one insane and the other one sane help each other to overcome the society that they live in.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, by Ken Kesey, considers the qualities in which society determines sanity. The label of insanity is given when someone is different from the perceived norm. Conversely, a person is perceived as sane when their behavior is consistent with the beliefs of the majority. Although the characters of this novel are patients of a mental institution, they all show qualities of sanity. The book is narrated by Chief Brodmen, an observant chronic psychiatric patient, who many believe to be deaf and dumb.
In this article, the author cited that the definitions and descriptions of Metaphor and Mind Style Theory according to Roger Fowler and Gerard Steen. The “mind style” is to describe the method with a character’s thoughts to the world in a literary work. This theory is suitable for all literatures, but mainly used for the works which with reader’s particular, eccentric or disordered sense of the world. The “metaphor” is comparing one thing to another thing indirectly, using one little phenomenon to represent another problem. This article relates my project when the author uses the Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest as an example.
In conclusion, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is “a powerful critique of American society and of the function of madness in that society” and it accurately portrays the Civil Rights Movement and the movement towards deinstitutionalization experienced during the publication of Ken Kesey’s novel and by Ken Kesey himself (Vitkus, 65). The recurring theme of repressive vs rebellious wills illustrate the need to resist oppressive institutions of society so that humanity will not fall as victims to society 's ever changing economy. This novel focuses on the concept of American Capitalism and how defining a person as crazy because they are different or refuse to conform to society 's obligations is deemed immoral; therefore, through the novel,
“One flew over the Cuckoo’s nest” is a film directed by Miloš Forman, based on the novel by Ken Kesey. The Film was released in 1975. It is the story of a convicted man, trying to outsmart the American legal system by playing mentally ill. The film starts at the beginning when the main character, Randle McMurphy, enters the mental institution. It won 6 Golden Globes as well as 5 Oscars and many other nominations.
The movie “One flew over the cuckoo’s nest” gives an inside look into the life of a patient living in a mental institution; helping to give a new definition of mental illnesses. From a medical standpoint, determinants of mental illness are considered to be internal; physically and in the mind, while they are seen as external; in the environment or the person’s social situation, from a sociological perspective (Stockton, 2014). Additionally, the movie also explores the idea of power relations that exist between an authorized person (Nurse Ratched) and a patient and further looks into the punishment a deviant actor receives (ie. McMurphy contesting Nurse Ratched). One of the sociological themes that I have observed is conformity.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest The film, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, prompts very important aspect of the human condition. In the movie, the protagonist, Mac McMurphy, is deemed dangerous, so the mental institute tries to suppress him (Kesey). The film highlights various aspects of human conditions like psychology, sociology and philosophy. The mental institute tries to suppress the mentally challenged people rather than to try to communicate with them.
