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One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Research Paper

2100 Words9 Pages

After receiving a lobotomy, a man returns to a mental ward as his friends watch, refusing to believe that he is the same man. The procedure took his once loud and energetic personality, and completely ripped it out of him. Author Ken Kesey captures the harsh and controlled reality of life in a psych ward to inform readers of what goes on behind hospital walls. In One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Kesey reveals parts of his LSD use and his belief in fighting against conformity through the mistreatment of the mentally ill in the 1960s. Knowing events in Kesey’s life leading up to the writing of Cuckoo’s Nest can help readers understand what influenced the writing of the novel. Ken Kesey was born in La Junta, Colorado on September 17th, 1935 (Tanner …show more content…

Kesey's decision to incorporate both his experience of the conscious expanding drug and his knowledge of mistreatment towards the mentally ill to support his belief in conformity, makes the novel a lasting piece within counterculture and academics. Kesey wrote six more novels after Cuckoo’s Nest (“Ken”), none of which became as successful,“[h]is literary achievement [remaining] pegged to his first novel.” (“Ken”). He settled on a farm in Oregon after multiple drug arrests, where he stayed for the remainder of his life until his death from liver cancer in November of 2001 (“Ken”). Over two decades after his death, Kesey continues to have a strong presence within the counterculture. Works Cited: Faggen, Robert, and Ken Kesey. "Kesey Clarifies the Role Drugs Played in the Creation of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." Mental Illness in Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, edited by Dedria Bryfonski, Greenhaven, 2010, pp. 113-117. 31-42. The syllable of the syllable. Ken (Elton) Kesey. Contemporary Popular Writers, edited by Dave Mote, St. James, 1997. Gale Literature Resource

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