Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a testament to human independence. Through the eyes of a schizophrenic and pretend mute-deaf man named Chief Bromden, he details the life in a mental hospital, especially the life of a man named Patrick McMurphy. Starting from a distance second-person perspective, Bromden's actions slowly transition from a man who hid within the shadows to the bravest soul who escapes the rule of Nurse Ratched. It is a crazy book, but one that shakes up someone.
I finished the book on a plane to London a few months ago. It was fitting: Bromden's adventure overcoming his own in the hospital leaving secretly as I left school to travel across the Atlantic Ocean. Deranged and a little sleep deprived, the ending crashed onto me, but it left me thinking. What does it mean for a person to be independent? And what is the extent that a person can break free?
Kesey's depiction of a Bromden's journey is subtle, because until Bromden sheds his shell of being pretending to be death and mute, there is not many clear signs that Bromden is changing. It is only through the reflection of McMurphy where Bromden changes. As McMurphy's power of rebellion becomes more normalized, others around him find the confidence to resist the power of Nurse Ratched. But even though Bromden's journey becomes the highlight and the driving force of the book, the downfall of McMurphy reveals that strong person is not bulletproof but a person able to be broken down. The swaggering confidence of the man is a formidable challenge to Nurse Ratched, but is slowly broken by the fact that he may never escape the hospital, the electrocution treatment, and lobotonomy. Additionally, McMurphy's death by Bromden is the last effort to rebellion in freedom, against the mental hospital. However, it was necessary for McMurphy for fall in order for Bromden and others to seek their freedom. Of course, McMurphy is not perfect and is one of the most flawed characters within the story; however, the distance between the narrator and McMurphy to be the hero.
One of the problems or serious critiques I have of the book is its approach to race and gender. Many portrayals of women are seen as threats to male power or subservient to it. Additionally, African American characters are portrayed as "Black boys" and similarly degrading comments. Yes, in the context of the time period, such discrimination was more present. However, it was uncomfortable reading some parts of the book even though the message and many of the characters were valuable.
Overall, the book One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a definite recommend, especially with messages of independence and opportunity. However, there are parts that may be uncomfortable by the depictions by the author. I must go watch the movie now.
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