One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, by Ken Kesey, is a brilliantly written novel that shows his view of the world. Kesey uses a quiet and overlooked upon character named Chief Bromden, to show his point of view of the ward. The ward is ran by a Matriarchy. A Matriarchy is something that is ruled or ran by women. As you know, the book was published in the 60’s, and men and women had to strongly different views of political power. Men thought that women should not be in charge, and women thought the…

Literature is often said to belong to one of four genres: romance, tragedy, comedy, and satire/irony. However, in some cases, a piece of literature can be argued to be placed in more than one genre. A prime example of this is the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey. The novel takes readers behind the scenes of what life in a totalitarian-like mental hospital is like through the eyes of Chief Bromden, a schizophrenic Native American man who is perceived to be deaf and mute. Chief…

In “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” Ken Kesey uses various aspects of the narrator, Bromden, to define identity and the struggles faced with finding identity. Kesey introduces various characters throughout the novel to challenge the reins society takes in restricting personal identity and ultimately uses these struggles to portray how the characters preserve through strength. Society is what defines identity, humans need to fit certain parts for society to work and function properly much like…

This novel, “One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” starts with the narrator, Chief Bromden, a schizophrenic patient, waking up in a psychiatric ward of a hospital, where he’s been living for the past ten years. Chief Brodmen describes the hospital as an enormous machine, called the “Combine,” which controls the patients and imposes obedience on them. He pretends to be deaf and dumb allowing him to hear all the secrets on the ward and remain mostly unnoticed in the ward. Nurse Ratched, also known as…

desks and reattach the tires onto their cars. In Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, people do in fact “go nuts,” and wrenches are indeed used, but not in the exact same ways. Randle McMurphy, the main character of this novel, frequently causes mishap in the insane asylum he lives in, causing him to go “nuts”; he constantly messes with its orderly and mechanical schedule. In other words, in Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Mr. McMurphy is the wrench in the machine that is the…

A deep analysis of Ken Kesey’s novel One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest reveals the intriguing development of Randle McMurphy. McMurphy is the bold protagonist of the novel who exemplifies sexuality, freedom, and confidence. Kesey established a depressing atmosphere within the psychiatric ward where most of the story takes place. Throughout the novel, McMurphy experiences difficult situations that lead to his development as a role model the other patients follow. As the novel progresses, patients…

In One Flew Over the Cuckoo´s Nest by Ken Kesey, they patients and/or characters are often compared to and made reference to the Bible and to the religion of Christianity. Kesey creates the topic of the enviroment in the ward to be religious and Christian by comparing multiple incidents and situations to the characters and the plot itself. Scenarios where he creates the mood of religion was with the situation with Ellis a biblical reference, the fishing trip that they all went on, and the time…

McMurphy causes a rather large disturbance to the regular and mechanised schedule of Nurse Ratched’s ward. During his time there, McMurphy manages to change the scene in the ward so that the patients become more empowered. In Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, McMurphy evolves from a regular gambling con man to a hero to a saviour, characterised by his many selfless acts to protect and bolster the other patients. Although McMurphy seems to be just another reckless, selfish, and…

In One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, Kesey uses the emasculation of the patients at the hands of Nurse Ratched paired with the wild abandon and rebellion of the criminal, McMurphy, to illustrate the opposing forces of control and freedom, along with demonstrating the controlling nature of society. Kesey uses the introduction of McMurphy and the depiction of the ward along with the change after McMurphy’s introduction to illustrate the emasculating effect of control. The introduction of…

norms of society. In the book, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey, the treatment of the patients to become “normal” in the asylum is voluntarily and involuntarily. Some of the patients are in the asylum due to their sexual orientation, having distorted speech and having physical and mental disabilities. The men that are in the ward are afraid to leave because of the judgment from the public or society. Nurse Ratched is powerful and attempts to exert her will over Randle McMurphy and…