One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Essay

1008 Words3 Pages

Insanity is defined in many ways and the definition is often subject to one’s beliefs and experiences. Mental institutions are not a big part of society as they once were due to funding and the development of psychiatric drugs. Treatment of patients varied and were subject to the individual. Regulations were overseen and patients often did not get the medical treatment needed to fix the disorders they were committed in the institution for. Mental illness was not as much of a concern in the past as it is today (Mental Disorder). These institutions were often seen as inhumane and that is very prevalent in Ken Kesey’s book, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Set in the mid-twentieth century, the book gives an insight on how mental institutions operated before the beginning of their deinstitutionalization during the 1960’s. Kesey shares his experiences working in a psychiatric hospital through several different characters, all of which are very unique, and gives a perception of how the mentally ill thought. Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is the link between society and mental institutions that shows the institutional processes and psychological standpoints of those …show more content…

Beginning a retaliation inspired the other patients to do the same, and fear would no longer hinder them. The patients receiving new hope would not let the control continue and the nurse would begin to lose her control. The turning point of McMurphy smashing the glass of the Nurse’s observing area proved that she was no longer above them. This was done to prove a point and that control was no longer a problem, which led to all the patients beginning their retaliation. The mood of the book from here on changed, which reflected the theme. The control is gone so it would no longer prevail, the Nurse would no longer be a problem psychologically for the patients and action could be

Open Document