One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Ken Kesey
Without doubt this is one of my all-time favorite books. Kesey’s first novel,
written in 1960, One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest was a response to the
author’s experiences in testing mind-altering drugs for the federal
government and his later tenure as a nurse’s aide in the same facility.
Even if you could care less about how Cuckoo’s Nest fits into American
cultural history (the Cold War, the plight of Native Americans, the remnants
of McCarthyism, the reliance of psychiatry as a cure-all for social
problems), you will hardly fail to notice the overarching theme of the novel:
the tensions and conflicts between the individual and the state, between
those trapped in an industrial society and those who wish to live free.
I was first exposed to Cuckoo’s Nest as a play in San Francisco in the
early 1970’s. It played in a small playhouse in the city for nearly 7 years. I
think I saw it at least 3 times. I have read it every few years since that time
and each time I am taken away by the depth of the characters and the
excellence of the writing. The movie, with Jack Nicholson as protagonist
Randel McMurphy, was as good a book-to-movie movie as I have seen
(except perhaps for a small unknown film made from Jack London’s To
Build A Fire)
The tale takes place in a mental asylum. The inmates in this particular
ward fall into categories of “acute” or “chronic”, depending on whether there
is hope for their recovery or whether they are irrevocably ill. The name of
the game is acquiescence to the myriad rules and regulations of the
institution. Those inmates who violate the rules earn a trip to the disturbed
ward or a quick visit to the electroshock room. Repeated disobedience
could lead to a lobotomy. Predictably, fear is the perpetual state in which
most of the patients live. But with the appearance of a nonconformist
named Randle McMurphy, fear starts to give way to a burgeoning hope that
life will become better in this hospital.
Chief Bromden, the narrator of the story and a mixed-blood Indian, is a
patient in the ward. Chief spends his days mopping and sweeping the
floors while seeing and hearing everything that goes on around him.. The
staff and patients believe that he is a deaf mute. Since no one thinks the
Chief can hear or speak, he becomes privy to every activity in the
institution. The staff speaks freely around him because they feel they have
nothing to worry about. His cleaning duties allow him full access to every
area of the floor, including the room where the staff meets to discuss other
inmates.
The Chief fears that something called the `Combine' controls the world. For
him, the `Combine' is the machinery that fills the walls and floors of the
hospital, constantly spying on and controlling the men in the ward. He
believes that those who work in the asylum are actually full of cogs and
gears, are part of this giant, controlling machine.
The central figure in Bromden's `Combine' theory is Nurse Ratched,
sometimes referred to as `Big Nurse.' This seemingly grandmotherly
woman personifies the Chief's fear of control. Ratched runs the floor from
her little glass booth, her hands on the levers of the machinery that controls
the lights, the music, the group therapy sessions, and even most of the
doctors. Her voice alone controls the destiny of the inmates. Ratched
enforces the rules and regulations, and she decides who receives
punishment or release. Big Nurse encourages stool pigeons and belittles
the patients with implied threats and stony glares, often masked under an
ersatz exterior of patience and cheerfulness. With the arrival of McMurphy,
Ratched prepares for a battle of wills that by extension is a war between
the individual and the state.
Randle McMurphy is a boisterous, tattooed, redheaded troublemaker
ducking a sentence on a work farm by acting crazy. Right from the get-go,
McMurphy undermines the rules and regulations of the hospital. He
gambles for money, wanders the hall wearing nothing but towels, sings,
and challenges Ratched's authority by going to the floor doctor to receive
rule waivers. But McMurphy's effect on the other inmates in the institution is
the source of the major conflict in this tale. His spirit and tenaciousness
encourages others to demand changes in the daily routine. Randle is a
subversive of the worst type, and Ratched will do anything in her power to
slap down this upstart to her fascistic rule. The end of the story seems to
mark a significant defeat for the concept of individualism, but if one reads
closely it is apparent Kesey keeps the dream of freedom alive however
transient it may be.
Kesey’s characterization in Cuckoo’s Nest as well as the humorous,
sometimes inspirational writing makes this a permanent favorite for anyone
who has ever read it. I recommend you run, not walk, to the nearest
bookstore and grab a copy. you won’t be disappointed.
/tdw/
Ken Kesey
Without doubt this is one of my all-time favorite books. Kesey’s first novel,
written in 1960, One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest was a response to the
author’s experiences in testing mind-altering drugs for the federal
government and his later tenure as a nurse’s aide in the same facility.
Even if you could care less about how Cuckoo’s Nest fits into American
cultural history (the Cold War, the plight of Native Americans, the remnants
of McCarthyism, the reliance of psychiatry as a cure-all for social
problems), you will hardly fail to notice the overarching theme of the novel:
the tensions and conflicts between the individual and the state, between
those trapped in an industrial society and those who wish to live free.
I was first exposed to Cuckoo’s Nest as a play in San Francisco in the
early 1970’s. It played in a small playhouse in the city for nearly 7 years. I
think I saw it at least 3 times. I have read it every few years since that time
and each time I am taken away by the depth of the characters and the
excellence of the writing. The movie, with Jack Nicholson as protagonist
Randel McMurphy, was as good a book-to-movie movie as I have seen
(except perhaps for a small unknown film made from Jack London’s To
Build A Fire)
The tale takes place in a mental asylum. The inmates in this particular
ward fall into categories of “acute” or “chronic”, depending on whether there
is hope for their recovery or whether they are irrevocably ill. The name of
the game is acquiescence to the myriad rules and regulations of the
institution. Those inmates who violate the rules earn a trip to the disturbed
ward or a quick visit to the electroshock room. Repeated disobedience
could lead to a lobotomy. Predictably, fear is the perpetual state in which
most of the patients live. But with the appearance of a nonconformist
named Randle McMurphy, fear starts to give way to a burgeoning hope that
life will become better in this hospital.
Chief Bromden, the narrator of the story and a mixed-blood Indian, is a
patient in the ward. Chief spends his days mopping and sweeping the
floors while seeing and hearing everything that goes on around him.. The
staff and patients believe that he is a deaf mute. Since no one thinks the
Chief can hear or speak, he becomes privy to every activity in the
institution. The staff speaks freely around him because they feel they have
nothing to worry about. His cleaning duties allow him full access to every
area of the floor, including the room where the staff meets to discuss other
inmates.
The Chief fears that something called the `Combine' controls the world. For
him, the `Combine' is the machinery that fills the walls and floors of the
hospital, constantly spying on and controlling the men in the ward. He
believes that those who work in the asylum are actually full of cogs and
gears, are part of this giant, controlling machine.
The central figure in Bromden's `Combine' theory is Nurse Ratched,
sometimes referred to as `Big Nurse.' This seemingly grandmotherly
woman personifies the Chief's fear of control. Ratched runs the floor from
her little glass booth, her hands on the levers of the machinery that controls
the lights, the music, the group therapy sessions, and even most of the
doctors. Her voice alone controls the destiny of the inmates. Ratched
enforces the rules and regulations, and she decides who receives
punishment or release. Big Nurse encourages stool pigeons and belittles
the patients with implied threats and stony glares, often masked under an
ersatz exterior of patience and cheerfulness. With the arrival of McMurphy,
Ratched prepares for a battle of wills that by extension is a war between
the individual and the state.
Randle McMurphy is a boisterous, tattooed, redheaded troublemaker
ducking a sentence on a work farm by acting crazy. Right from the get-go,
McMurphy undermines the rules and regulations of the hospital. He
gambles for money, wanders the hall wearing nothing but towels, sings,
and challenges Ratched's authority by going to the floor doctor to receive
rule waivers. But McMurphy's effect on the other inmates in the institution is
the source of the major conflict in this tale. His spirit and tenaciousness
encourages others to demand changes in the daily routine. Randle is a
subversive of the worst type, and Ratched will do anything in her power to
slap down this upstart to her fascistic rule. The end of the story seems to
mark a significant defeat for the concept of individualism, but if one reads
closely it is apparent Kesey keeps the dream of freedom alive however
transient it may be.
Kesey’s characterization in Cuckoo’s Nest as well as the humorous,
sometimes inspirational writing makes this a permanent favorite for anyone
who has ever read it. I recommend you run, not walk, to the nearest
bookstore and grab a copy. you won’t be disappointed.
/tdw/
| Thom's Review One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest |
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