A Critical Analysis of the Social Institutions in - PowerPoint Presentation

A Critical Analysis of the Social Institutions in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest By Samantha Johnson

Author:Ken Kesey 1935-2001 Born in Colorado, raised in Oregon Attended the University of Oregon, the Stanford UniversityWhile in graduate school, participated in experimental study with LSD and other mind-altering drugs that changed his lifeSpent time as a volunteer orderly at a psychiatric ward The basic premise for Cuckoo’s Nest began as a drug-induced hallucinationThrew famous parties at his “bohemian” farm with lots of illegal drugs and started the anti-war group the “Merry Pranksters” *Google Images*

Other Works: Though One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest was by far Kesey’s more successful novel, he also has one other published novel, Sometimes a Great Notion*Google Images*

Literary Movement: Modernism→Postmodernism “subvert” traditional forms of writing that were conventional during their respective time periods, breaking the previously established sanctions of “narrative continuity” and “modes of thought” (Abrams 167, 168) Themes of artwork became increasingly concentrated on existentialism and the idea that one’s “supposed security is… precariously suspended” (168).

Main Characters in Cuckoo’s Nest Chief Bromden: Half-Indian narrator of the novel. Has been in the hospital the longest of all the patients. Puts forth the illusion of being “deaf and dumb” (Kesey 3). Classified as Chronic. Nurse Ratched: More frequently known as the Big Nurse. Head nurse at the hospital. Referred to by Bromden as high-ranking within the Combine (Kesey 26).

Main Characters in Cuckoo’s Nest (cont.) R. P. McMurphy: Referred to as McMurphy. Newest patient on the ward, transferred from a penitentiary. It is heavily implied that he has no real mental illness. Represents the Outside. The 12 Acutes: Consist of twelve of McMurphy’s loyal followers, whom he aides in escaping the institutionalized regularity of their day-to-day lives.

Important Terms to Know “Acute” vs “Chronic” Acute: a patient who is still mentally disabled enough to be in the hospital, but is higher functioning; has the assumed possibility of being cured Chronic: a patient who is deemed broken beyond repair; often in wheelchairs and unable to perform basic functions for themselvesThe Combine The larger social entity that the hospital is in and the Big Nurse works for. Includes the government and other social institutions. Basically an all-encompassing institution that Bromden has created in his mind ** kind of synonymous with “the Man” or “the Power” or terms of similar nature**

Basic Plot of Cuckoo’s Nest The outspoken and chaotic McMurphy is committed to the mental ward inhabited by Chief Bromden, the twelve Acutes, and several other men. McMurphy is the antithesis to the rigid institutional standards of the hospital, its leader, the Big Nurse, and ultimately, the Combine. A major power struggle ensues.

Major Themes Institutionalization Dehumanization Inside vs OutsideUnreliable Narrator

Thesis Throughout his debut novel, Kesey comments on the oppressive nature of both physical and social institutions through various motifs of dehumanization, a thematic dichotomy of inside versus outside, and the voice of an unreliable narrator.

Dehumanization: “Caginess” “I’m cagey enough to fool them that much. If my being half-Indian ever helped me in any way in this dirty life,it helped me being cagey, helped me all these years” (Kesey 3). The motif of “[caginess]” is repeated throughout the novel. Bromden has been so long institutionalized that he refers to himself as less than human, using specific animalistic diction, behaving as though he is in a figurative cage.

Dehumanization: “Caginess” (cont.) “To be cagey is to be restrained, unobtrusive, vigilant: in short, to think not of maximum profit, like the gamester but of minimum loss” (Foster 117). Bromden uses his silence as protection from the harmful institutions around him, beginning with racism in his childhood, and then primarily in the hospital in his adult life.

Dehumanization: Invisibility “I remembered one thing: it wasn’t me that started acting deaf; it was people that first started acting like I was too dumb to hear or see or say anything at all” (Kesey 198). At first, Bromden does not decide to act “deaf and dumb;” he is ignored. Before even entering the hospital, Bromden experiences the harmful social institution of racism (Kesey 3).

Dehumanization: Invisibility (cont.) “The Chief vanished into the background the way society wants troublesome minorities to do” (Foster 117). Bromden’s prolonged silence is a reflection of the oppression from the social institutions in his life, including racism and the Combine.

Dehumanization: Emasculation “I’ve heard that theory of the Therapeutic Community enough times to repeat it forwards and backwards-- how a guy has to learn to get along in a group before he’ll be able to function in a normal society; how the group can help the guy by showing him where he’s out of place; how society is what decides who’s sane and who isn’t, so you got to measure up” (Kesey 47). “And if you hear a friend say something during the course of your everyday conversation, then list it in the log book for the staff to see. It’s not ‘squealing’, it’s helping your fellow” (Kesey 47) Dale Harding is the first patient (one of the 12 Acutes) who is highlighted as the focus of group therapy. During the session, the men and the Nurse dissect his feelings of sexual inferiority as a large group. After the session, he says, “Failures, we are- feeble, stunted, weak little creatures in a weak little race. Rabbits, sans whambam; a pathetic notion” (Kesey 64).

Dehumanization: Emasculation (cont.) The concern for the patients’ welfare is actually a patronizing (in this case matronizing) interference in their affairs through a Big Brotherish refusal to grant them respite from administrative vigilance, as though they were children” (Foster 121) Harding is “matronized”(Foster 121), publicly humiliated, and verbally castrated in front of a large group of men as part of his “treatment” (Kesey 47). Kesey uses this clear theme of emasculation to show the destruction of the institutions of the hospital and ultimately the Combine.

Characteristics of the Inside “What she dreams of there in the center of those wires is a world of precision efficiency and tidiness like a pocket watch with a glass back, a place where the schedule is unbreakable and all the patients who aren’t Outside, obedient under her beam, are wheelchair Chronics with catheter tubes run direct from every pantleg to the sewer under the floor” (Kesey 27). The Inside (the literal inside of the hospital) is characterized by institutionalization in a unique way. Kesey creates Bromden to use mechanistic diction as both a symptom of his mental illness and a side effect of the institution.

Characteristics of the Outside “The wind was blowing the boats at their moorings, nuzzling them up against their wet rubber tires along the dock so they made a sound like they were laughing at us. The water was giggling under the boards” (Kesey 230). Though this imagery may seem insignificant, in comparison to the robotic description, the Outside is a literal and figurative breath of fresh air for the men. With the help of McMurphy, they are able to escape from the monotonous hospital routine and briefly into freedom.

Inside Versus Outside “ The machine images, moreover, express his constant fear and sense of helplessness in the face of a system that seems unbeatable and, when used in what appears to be their literal sense, reflect his view of reality distorted by paranoia” (Semino 157). The Nurse and Combine and their machines characterize the Inside while,“McMurphy embodies the free and natural humanity lacking or repressed in the inmates of the hospital” (Semino 161). Juxtaposing the two entities draws further emphasis to Kesey’s message that the social institutions on which he bases Cuckoo's ’ Nest are overly controlling and oppressive.

The Importance of a Human Narrator “ The entire ‘tone’ of Kesey’s novel is a rather ‘humanistic’ reaction to the conservative view that sees the individual as a small component in a highly mechanical society” (Lena 128) Seeing this scene from the movie is very different that the depiction of the same scene in the book. Because the book is narrated by one of the men on the ward rather than portrayed through an objective camera like the movie, the book has a more “Humanistic” tone. This is the same scene from the book: “The guys file by and get a capsule in a paper cup- throw it to the back of the throat and get the cup filled with water by the little nurse and wash the capsule down. On rare occasions some fool might ask what he’s being required to swallow (Kesey 32). * One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest *

Unreliable Narration “Before noontime they’re at the fog machine again but they haven’t got it turned up full; it’s not so thick but what I can see if I strain real hard. One of these days I’ll quit straining and let myself go completely” (Kesey 39). “That’s not even happening now. You see? There’s nothing you can do about a happening out of the past like that” (Kesey 132)The entire novel is written in the style of Bromden’s stream of consciousness narration. The ambiguity of the truth is essential in forcing the reader to choose a side in this fight of the patients against the Combine. The aforementioned juxtaposition between and Inside and Outside sheds light on this issue. The fog machine only exists within the hospital. While on the Outside, Bromden never experiences any of his characteristic hallucinations, showing the careful reader that much of Bromden’s unreliability is due to his institutionalized state.

Conclusions Through the motif of dehumanization, Kesey embodies the characteristically modernist and postmodernist attitude of existential questioning, implying that within greater society, individuals are of little importance. The thematic dichotomy of Inside versus Outside further exemplifies the stark contrasts between a life restricted by institutions and a life of freedom. With the ambiguity of truth created by Chief Bromden, Kesey blurs the lines of insanity of men and the insanity of institutionalization, but ultimately leads the careful reader to the sound conclusion that the institutions within Cuckoo’s Nest are excessively harsh and oppressive. Through Cuckoo’s Nest, Kesey establishes an effective, humanistic critique of social institutions that is not only fitting to the era of postmodernism it was written in, but relevant in modern times.

Works Cited Abrams, M. H. A Glossary of Literary Terms. 7th ed., Earl McPeek, 1999.Foster, John Wilson. “Hustling to Some Purpose: Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”. Western American Literature, vol. 9 no. 2, Summer 1974, pp. 115-129. Kesey, Ken. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Penguin Books, 1976. Lena, Hugh F., and Bruce London. “An Introduction to Sociology through Fiction Using Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” . Teaching Sociology, vol. 6 no. 2, Jan 1979, pp. 123-131. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Directed by Milos Forman, Performances by Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher, Michael Berryman, Fantasy Films, 1975. Semino, Elena and Kate Swindlehurst. “Metaphor and Mind Style in Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest”. Style, Reading Style, Reading Fiction, vol. 30 no. 1, Spring 1996, pp. 143-166. Stripling, Mahala Yates. Bioethics and Medical Issues. Greenwood Press, 2005.