Widely regarded as a timeless and classic masterpiece, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey delivers an exciting story that follows the insane stories recounted by Chief Bromden in a mental facility. One must wonder, what factors make Kesey’s work a masterpiece? Thomas Foster’s book How to Read Literature Like a Professor gives readers insight about the qualities that make the novel a masterpiece: such as the progressions by characters, the allusions to the Bible, and the deeper political issues hidden in the book. In Chapter 10 of How to Read Literature Like a Professor, Foster makes the point that “...the fictive world is divided up into round and flat characters” (Foster 84). In stories, often there will be a few main characters
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The lifeguard, a flat character, makes a profound impact on McMurphy, a round character, when he says to him “I was picked up for drunk and disorderly, and I been here eight years and eight months” (Kesey 140). The lifeguard does not have any dynamic aspects to him whatsoever: no character progression, no feelings, and no profound impact later on. His sole purpose is to affect McMurphy, who then begins to ponder his sentencing. An example of how the round characters affect the plot is when McMurphy is first introduced and Bromden describes his aura as “it’s in his eyes, in the way he smiles and swaggers, in the way he talks.”(Kesey 11). Although McMurphy has initially been introduced to the story, his impact on the people and atmosphere is profound. Bromden acknowledges that McMurphy’s features make the room glow and affect everyone; which is exactly what a good round character does. As Foster said, the major problem with stories is the roles of characters. Too many times authors introduce too many round characters, which leads readers confused on who to focus on, or too many flat characters, which leads readers confused on if there is …show more content…
Thomas Foster says in his book that authors often will insert political underlyings in books so to draw interest from the readers who understand the problems that are taking place. The main flaw with political issues in literature though, is that many of the issues “do not age well” or lose interest as time goes on. What makes One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest still extremely relevant and successful is the issue that was chosen: female gender roles. The book was written in 1962, a time period when most women were expected to be stay at home, take care of the family, and be “the perfect housewife”. In the weeks following McMurphy’s attack on Ratched, she comes back with a new uniform which the men describe as “...it could no longer conceal the fact that she was a woman” (Kesey 276). Nurse Ratched understood that women were a symbol of weakness in the era which the book took place, so she attempted to cut ties to her gender. By masking her femininity, she was able to assert a more dominant and suppressive force on the patient's emotions. The author chooses an antagonist that is out of the norm; when people think of scary and mean, most people choose to think of a male partaking the role. This unusual antagonist provides a refreshing and alternative twist to many of the standards in society
The lifeguard, a flat character, makes a profound impact on McMurphy, a round character, when he says to him “I was picked up for drunk and disorderly, and I been here eight years and eight months” (Kesey 140). The lifeguard does not have any dynamic aspects to him whatsoever: no character progression, no feelings, and no profound impact later on. His sole purpose is to affect McMurphy, who then begins to ponder his sentencing. An example of how the round characters affect the plot is when McMurphy is first introduced and Bromden describes his aura as “it’s in his eyes, in the way he smiles and swaggers, in the way he talks.”(Kesey 11). Although McMurphy has initially been introduced to the story, his impact on the people and atmosphere is profound. Bromden acknowledges that McMurphy’s features make the room glow and affect everyone; which is exactly what a good round character does. As Foster said, the major problem with stories is the roles of characters. Too many times authors introduce too many round characters, which leads readers confused on who to focus on, or too many flat characters, which leads readers confused on if there is …show more content…
Thomas Foster says in his book that authors often will insert political underlyings in books so to draw interest from the readers who understand the problems that are taking place. The main flaw with political issues in literature though, is that many of the issues “do not age well” or lose interest as time goes on. What makes One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest still extremely relevant and successful is the issue that was chosen: female gender roles. The book was written in 1962, a time period when most women were expected to be stay at home, take care of the family, and be “the perfect housewife”. In the weeks following McMurphy’s attack on Ratched, she comes back with a new uniform which the men describe as “...it could no longer conceal the fact that she was a woman” (Kesey 276). Nurse Ratched understood that women were a symbol of weakness in the era which the book took place, so she attempted to cut ties to her gender. By masking her femininity, she was able to assert a more dominant and suppressive force on the patient's emotions. The author chooses an antagonist that is out of the norm; when people think of scary and mean, most people choose to think of a male partaking the role. This unusual antagonist provides a refreshing and alternative twist to many of the standards in society