Insanity In Ken Kesey's 'One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest'

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Recommended: Social norms within cultures

Abraham Bravo AP Literature P. Hood 21 April 2014
The Insanity That Is Society
Throughout history, people have determined who's insane or not by their social behaviors, which were created by codes and belief systems. Yet, there can be so many created rules and expected qualities and attitudes, to the point where it is impossible to not seem insane. There were and still are views held by the majority that isn't beneficial to the rest of society. For example, with homosexual people, people believed that could be cured with religion and were deemed insane by society and shunned. Authors all around have spoken against these social systems, among them the American writer Ken Kesey. In Kesey's book One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest, he creates characters that are flawed or are deemed flawed by society to show the impossible to fulfill demands of society. With this novel, Kesey is making a statement about society in the 50's.
Chief Bromden is the narrator and the protagonist in this story, and he has suffered the most by society compared to the other characters. As far back as we are shown in the story we have been able to establish that Chief Bromden has been an outcast to society. "Bromden's mixed heritage is at the root of the chiefs problem of identity" (Wa £). He is born half Native American and half White, so he doesn't quite fit into the heritage from his fathers side (Native American). He's had to watch his father, who was a strong and powerful man, sell the tribe's native lands to white

Bravo 2 men. Then, he had to watch his father spiral into alcoholism, and he has to witness war and all the repercussions of it (death). Then later on he was admitted to the ward, because he was not meeting what society believed was acceptable. ...

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...nough to fit in with society. A major theme in this book was the loss of humanity; McMurphy was affected by this in the story when he had the most intense therapy conducted on him. Though he did conform to society's standards, he became lifeless in the process and stayed like that even after. Except Chief Bromden is an example of how a loss of humanity can lead to the freedom of another, and with that happening to McMurphy he had saved Chief in the process.
Ken Kesey was a countercultural author using words against a hypocritical society, One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest is a piece of work that shows how society

Bravo 5 can shun and impose on those who don't fit into their created society. The 1950's were a big time for society in history where society had created homophobes, racists, and sexists. Ken Kesey makes us aware of all this and all the effects it can have.

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