Literature, old or modern, has always been subject to criticism and judgement due to the issues that exist within classic novels. Whether the issue contains profanity, violence, or content too mature for young readers, award-winning books’ existences receive threats to be banned and forgotten. Unfortunately for Ken Kesey’s classic, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, this may be the only course of action. While the novel displays violence unsuitable for high-school curriculums, Ken Kesey’s classic should be in every library for adult readers. Although the novel teaches valuable life lessons about individuality and is mild compared to modern media, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest should be banned in all high school curriculums because it incorporates …show more content…
In the novel, McMurphy attacks the nurse brutally and attempts to kill her, “doctors and supervisors and nurses prying those heavy red fingers out of the white flesh of her throat as if they were her neck bones, jerking him backward” (Kesey 319). Also, the narrator shows mercy towards McMurphy by smothering him in his sleep, “and scissor the kicking legs with mine while I mashed the pillow into the face. I lay there on top of the body for what seemed days. Until the thrashing stopped” (323). One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest has graphic violence that may seem pathetic compared to the media of the 21st century American society. Violence can affect children and adolescents up to the age of 18 mentally, physically, and socially. As Zena Rudo, senior researcher at the American Institutes for Research with 35 years of experience, infers through her research, “Social learning theory suggests that violence exposure has effects on children's behavior through modeling and the positive and negative reinforcement of aggression... and through the development of coercive parent--child interactions” (94). Children exposed to violence can begin to behave aggressively and develop unhealthy relationships with their parental figures. Detrimental