Ken Kesey's 'One Flew Over The Cuckoo'

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In On the Road, Jack Kerouac places Sal Paradise, the narrator, to the side so that the narrative focuses on Dean Moriarty. It is only through the use of this narrative structure that makes it evident to the reader how much the narrator idealizes the hero. Through a subjective narration, it becomes apparent that Sal believes Dean knows how life is supposed to be lived. Moreover, this narrative framework allows the juxtaposition between the narrator and the hero to be illuminated thus allowing the reader to fully visualize how much the narrator admires and glamorizes masculinity. Evidently, Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest makes use of the same narratology but has his narrator, Chief Bromden, achieve the goals that Sal ultimately …show more content…

Although Sal in On the Road is inevitably central to the novel, in a unique shift, Dean is the novel’s principal protagonist. One of the most significant scenes in the book is when Sal retells the conversation that occurs between Dean and Corso. Sal feigns being asleep so that he spends “the whole night listening to them like a man watching the mechanism of a watch,” thus literally and metaphorically positioning himself as someone who is present physically but is more interested in the story of another person (Kerouac 50). Moreover, it is significant that it is Dean, and not anyone else, who realizes that Sal has “been awake all this time” because it showcases the intimate emotional relationship between the two men (Kerouac 50). It is clear that Sal believes there to be a bond between the two and it is this bond that contributes to his admiration for Dean. This scene also functions as a symbolic representation of how Sal believes Dean understands him in a way that no other person does. In fact, Sal establishes himself as a follower by stating, “I shambled after as I’ve been doing all my life after people who interest me, because the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved” (Kerouac CITE). His interest in Dean’s madness is central to the …show more content…

He evidently models the narrating framework established by Kerouac. Chief Bromden, like Sal, relies on performance and pretends to be “deaf and dumb,” thus inadvertently granting him access to all of the details that take place in the ward (Kesey 3). Yet, it is his sole interest in McMurphy that dictates his story. Additionally, the reader is also presented with a similar symbolic moment where the narrator establishes an emotional connection to the hero. When the Chief notes how McMurphy, the heroic figure of the novel, is “not fooled for one minute by [his] deaf-and-dumb act” he is surprised because it is the first time anyone has paid him any attention (Kesey CITE). Considering that this is the first time the two meet, it is also apparent to the reader that the Chief regards McMurphy as different from everyone else for his ability to see through the performance and thus, automatically attributes a heroic quality to him. Although the two novels utilize a similar narrating structure, they differ in the way the narrators idolize the

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