SETTING One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest takes place in Oregon during the late 1950’s or early 1960’s in a mental hospital. We know this because the memory of World War II is fresh in Bromden’s and McMurphy’s minds. The environment is very grey, dull, confining, and machine-like. There is very little warmth before McMurphy’s arrival.
Even the title of this book is intriguing and apposite within the content of the book. The inception of this title came from the fact that the cuckoo travels while leaving behind a significant amount of its eggs in other bird’s nest. Ideally, it uses the ignorance of other birds so that it can survive. Cuckoos have various strategies for getting their egg into a host nest. Different species use different strategies based on host defensive strategies, but most of them specialize and lay eggs that closely resemble the eggs of their chosen host.
Imagine a life where people ignore us and treat us as if we were not even there, simply because they believe we do not have the same mental age as our peers and cannot hear. All on a day to day basis. When entering One Who Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, by Ken Kesey, one can tell that Chief Bromden, our Indian narrator, is fully aware of his surroundings and does not live up to the statement above; even though the nurses and aids in the ward think otherwise. In this novel, we see how Chief Bromden comes to understand that he is not the one who started to present himself as deaf and dumb, but it was the people around him that thought he was too dumb to hear what they were saying. Through Kesey’s writing, we come to see how McMurphy, a rough-n-tough fighting man, helps Chief regain his ability of speech and build his emotional and “physical” strength back to its fullest potential.
The passage which evidently focuses on Billy Bibbitis stated as, “He was concentrating on getting to his feet... she turned a slow, contemptuous look across the bunch of us” (314-316). This section reveals Billy Bibbit’s shift as a character,from a repressed, adolescent observer flourishing into a confident, masculine and bold character. He was timid and frightened by Nurse Ratched, as she used his mom as a threat to shame him back into her submission. However, when McMurphy encourages him to pursue his desires and he does, the readers recognize that he briefly regains his manhood and power, as he finally defies Nurse Ratched’s control.
One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest is a novel that features Randle McMurphy as an unscrupulous anti-hero in a mental hospital ward. Harrison Bergeron is a short story that highlights the main character, Harrison Bergeron, as an anti-hero in a fully dystopian society. McMurphy can be classified as charismatic and charming at times, but is very rebellious and wants to suppress his arch nemesis, Nurse Ratched. Harrison Bergeron has an unmatched obsession for overthrowing the government which attempts to suppress individual talents and people’s unique abilities. Both Randle McMurphy and Harrison Bergeron are what are known as unscrupulous anti-heroes.
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.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest: Restricted But Not Forgotten Throughout One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, the mental hospital is rocked mercilessly by the arrival of Randle McMurphy and his rather inappropriate manner. Literature and classic novels such as One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest contain issues heavily criticized by concerned parents and children. Whether the issue contains profanity, violence, or content too mature for young readers, concerned parents and students continue to threaten to ban and forget award-winning books’ existences.
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.
{all needs re-edited} Mental health is a controversial topic in many countries, especially the treatment of patients. The media often depicts the mentally ill as people in straight jackets. Mental disorders are now expressions and phrases normalised by the everyday use of them. These idioms can be saying you feel “depressed” when having a down day, claiming someone to be “bipolar” for a sudden change of emotions, having “Obsessive-compulsive disorder” just because you like your desk a certain way, the list goes on.
The author of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Kesey, presents the ideas about venerability and strength by using his characters and the way they interact with each other to establish whether they are a submissive or a dominant, tamed or leading, venerable or strong. Kesey uses strong personalities to show the drastic difference between someone who is vulnerable and someone who is strong. Nurse Ratchet is a perfect example of how Kasey presents the idea of strength over the venerability of others (the patients). Keys also exhibited vulnerability throughout characters such as Chief Bromden and his extensive habit of hiding himself in all means possible from Nurse Ratchet. Another idea presented by Kesey is a character’s false thought on what
“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 novel, One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest by Ken Kesey follows the story of a mental ward turned upside down by non-conforming patient, R.P. Mcmurphy, who challenges the ideology of the ward’s stern, abusive, and dictator-like head nurse, Mrs. Ratched. Throughout the novel, many instances of violent and inappropriate content occur. With content ranging from violence, use of alcohol and drugs, and inappropriate language, the novel has a smorgasbord of writing that is often times seen as inappropriate for younger audiences, particularly impressionable students who can exhibit this negative behavior in reality. This has lead many schools and educational institutions to question whether the book is appropriate to be in class curriculums, and has even sparked outrage from parents claiming that they will not allow their children to read the book’s stirring content. By researching the effects of graphic literature on young minds, it has become clear that although the questioned content within this novel definitely hold merits and contributes to the context of a 1960’s mental ward, One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest should be prohibited from all high school curriculums because its violent and inappropriate depictions contribute to the adoption of damaging and violent behavior by students alike.
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.
