One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey was written in 1959. The novel focuses on a male psychiatric ward which is ruled by a nurse. The piece supplies the reader with plot development, thick characterization, and various themes. All of these elements add to Kesey’s overall commentary of society’s control.
Chief Bromden is the narrator of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Bromden is half- Indian. He has been a patient at a male psychiatric hospital for over ten years and pretends to be “deaf and dumb” in order to hide and be overlooked by the orderlies, despite being over six feet tall. Bromden suffers from paranoia, hallucinations, and delusions. Bromden’s “... insanity appears to stem from a paranoid belief in the existence of a machine, …show more content…
For example there is Bancini, Billy Bibbit, Cheswick, Harding and Martini. All of these men are mistreated by the workers of the ward and are emasculated by Nurse Ratched. Bancini is a chronic member of the ward and repeats phrases such as “I’m tired”. Billy Bibbit, another patient, is the youngest male on the ward. He suffers from anxiety and has a stutter. Nurse Ratched makes him powerless by holding her relationship with his mother against him. During the night that the men sneak prostitutes into the ward, he sleeps with one. When they are caught, “Nurse Ratched guarantees that Billy's mother will hear about his rebellion, [causing] Billy to kill himself in the nurse's station” (Constantakis). Furthermore, the patient named Cheswick often complains and is very loud when he is uncomfortable. He admires McMurphy very much and drowns in the pool during recreation time after an argument with McMurphy. Nextly, there is Harding who is an intelligent man and “... has trust issues concerning his attractive wife” (Constantakis). It can also be inferred that he is homosexual. Harding is debatably the sanest patient in the ward alongside McMurphy. Lastly there is Martini. Martini is fairly childish and interrupts others as they are …show more content…
The hospital is made up mostly of classes of people who are discriminated against in society. For example, the aids, which are the lowest jobs in the hospital, are African American. The novel was written during the time of the civil rights movement and discrimination against African Americans. The aids try to fight back this discrimination by abusing the patients and treating them with disrespect. Another race that is present in the ward is Native Americans. Bromden’s dad was a Native American chief and even his own mother discriminated against his father. Throughout American history, this group has been forgotten and mistreated in society. The female gender also plays a role in this theme. Nurse Ratched hides her femininity in order to come off as more powerful and strong. She castrates and emasculates all the patients, aids, and doctors in the hospital. She feels that otherwise she will not be in control because she is a women. Furthermore the patients of the ward are discriminated in
Chief Bromden is the narrator of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Bromden is half- Indian. He has been a patient at a male psychiatric hospital for over ten years and pretends to be “deaf and dumb” in order to hide and be overlooked by the orderlies, despite being over six feet tall. Bromden suffers from paranoia, hallucinations, and delusions. Bromden’s “... insanity appears to stem from a paranoid belief in the existence of a machine, …show more content…
For example there is Bancini, Billy Bibbit, Cheswick, Harding and Martini. All of these men are mistreated by the workers of the ward and are emasculated by Nurse Ratched. Bancini is a chronic member of the ward and repeats phrases such as “I’m tired”. Billy Bibbit, another patient, is the youngest male on the ward. He suffers from anxiety and has a stutter. Nurse Ratched makes him powerless by holding her relationship with his mother against him. During the night that the men sneak prostitutes into the ward, he sleeps with one. When they are caught, “Nurse Ratched guarantees that Billy's mother will hear about his rebellion, [causing] Billy to kill himself in the nurse's station” (Constantakis). Furthermore, the patient named Cheswick often complains and is very loud when he is uncomfortable. He admires McMurphy very much and drowns in the pool during recreation time after an argument with McMurphy. Nextly, there is Harding who is an intelligent man and “... has trust issues concerning his attractive wife” (Constantakis). It can also be inferred that he is homosexual. Harding is debatably the sanest patient in the ward alongside McMurphy. Lastly there is Martini. Martini is fairly childish and interrupts others as they are …show more content…
The hospital is made up mostly of classes of people who are discriminated against in society. For example, the aids, which are the lowest jobs in the hospital, are African American. The novel was written during the time of the civil rights movement and discrimination against African Americans. The aids try to fight back this discrimination by abusing the patients and treating them with disrespect. Another race that is present in the ward is Native Americans. Bromden’s dad was a Native American chief and even his own mother discriminated against his father. Throughout American history, this group has been forgotten and mistreated in society. The female gender also plays a role in this theme. Nurse Ratched hides her femininity in order to come off as more powerful and strong. She castrates and emasculates all the patients, aids, and doctors in the hospital. She feels that otherwise she will not be in control because she is a women. Furthermore the patients of the ward are discriminated in