Prostitution In One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

The 1960s were a time of great social transformation. With the advent of feminism at the time, the role of women in society was starting to change from tools for men to exploit at their convenience, to members of civilization relatively equal to their male counterparts. Women were starting to obtain positions of power in society that were previously considered the job of men. In the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, the author, Ken Kesey, clearly portrays that he is not in favour of these social progressions. Throughout the entirety of the novel, Kesey consistently demonizes women. He characterizes dominant women as devils and tyrants, while describing submissive women as compassionate and caring. Through these portrayals, Kesey endorses

the misogynistic view that powerful women need to be tamed, as it is not natural for women to have control over men. This can be seen in the troublesome relations that some of the men have with their smothering mothers, the effects that Nurse Ratched’s asphyxiating leadership style has on the men, and the fact that the prostitutes are portrayed in a positive light.

A major way in which Kesey argues that the role of women in society is to be subjugated to the wishes of men is through his depiction of overwhelming mothers. Through these representations, Kesey argues emasculating mothers cause men to withdraw into insanity. Kesey clearly represents this idea through his depiction of Bromden’s relationship with his mother, Mary Louise Bromden. Bromden’s mother constantly overshadows his father by acting in a way that is inconsistent with the stereotypical way that a woman is expected to. She uses her last name as the family name, rather than using her husband’s. The fact that Bromden’s father accepted this symbolizes her control over him. This causes her to figuratively grow “twice” the “size” of her husband (Kesey 188). Furthermore, Bromden’s mom pressures his dad into selling the tribe’s land, even though he “fought it a long time” (Kesey 188). This enfeebling gesture made Bromden’s father “too little to fight anymore” and he subsequently “gave up” trying to gain control of the relationship back from her (Kesey 188). Bromden, who looks up to his father, begins to withdraw into insanity when he

realizes that his mother is controlling his father. This would not have been the case if Bromden’s mother had fulfilled the stereotype of the traditional wife, tame and obedient. Billy Bibbit, another patient in the ward, faces comparable issues. Similar to Chief Bromden, Billy Bibbit also has an extremely dominant mother and is completely undermined by her. He is repressed and kept in a child like state due to the strong grip his overbearing mother has over him. Billy even admits that “the first word” he ever “stuttered” was “m-m-m-m-mam-ma”, proving his fear of her (Kesey 116). Billy’s mom has such a strong stranglehold over him, that when Nurse Ratched hints about telling his mother about him sleeping with a prostitute, he “cut his throat” out of fear of disappointing her (Kesey 274). In blatant terms, fear of his mother’s disapproval causes Billy to end his life. Through the depictions of Bromden’s mother as well as Billy’s mother, Kesey shows that domineering females are detrimental to the mental health of otherwise sane men, and thus, it is not favourable for them to be in positions of power in society.
Another way in which Kesey argues that women should be subservient rather than dominant is through his portrayal of Nurse Ratched. She is described as nothing short of a nightmare for the men. Through Bromden, Kesey describes her as “cold” and “mechanical” (Kesey 4, 26). Her character represents conformation, suppressed individuality and a restricted sexuality and thus, she is the premiere persecutor of the men’s natural impulses. McMurphy even goes as far as to state that the Nurse is a seasoned “ball-cutter” and that her primary objective is to castrate the men by “peckin’” at their “everlovin’ balls” (Kesey 53). Furthermore, after Rawler kills himself by cutting off his testicles, Bromden comments that “all the guy had to do was wait”, suggesting that Nurse Ratched would have eventually castrated him herself (Kesey 112). Through this, it is shown that women being in control of men have the same effect on them as that of literal castration; it removes a man’s personality as well as capability for sexual expression.
Kesey also argues that women should be obedient towards men is through his description of the prostitutes. The vast majority of women in the novel are described as devilish. On the other hand, the prostitutes, Candy and Sandy, are portrayed in a positive light. Although there is usually a negative stigma associated with sex workers, Candy and Sandy are depicted as aides to the men. This is because they help the men regain their masculinity and sexual identity. Through this, they abide by what Kesey believes is their natural role as females. When Billy loses his virginity to the prostitute, Billy was “pleased with his success” (Kesey 271). While his mother and Nurse Ratched smothered him into insanity, the prostitute freed him. Similarly, when the men left for the fishing trip, McMurphy brought along Candy. By making herself sexually available to the men, she allowed them to express themselves in their natural state. The prostitutes empower the men while Nurse Ratched emasculates them to the brink of insanity. Through this, Kesey argues that women should be supportive to men, rather than dominant over them.
Over the course of the novel, Kesey argues that the role of women in the world is to be subservient towards men and assist them in expressing their individuality.

Through his unflattering portrayal of authoritative female characters, he argues that emasculating women are a detrimental force that leads to insanity and thus, they need to be domesticated. This is made clear through his depiction of the effects that over-controlling mothers have on their sons, the portrayal of Nurse Ratchet as a sadistic tyrant, and through the positive representation of the prostitutes as benefactors to the men. The 1960s were a time of great social progressions, with the advent of second-wave feminism at the time. After analyzing the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, it is clear to see that Kesey was wholeheartedly against the role of women in society changing to a more empowered

one.