Ken Kesey shows disgust for people in power; the prime example is Nurse Ratched who uses fear and her natural dominance to manipulate and control her patients. Using a combination of these she was able to easily put down any uprising against her totalitarian rule before McMurphy can conjure anything. Working alongside others... she is a veteran of adjusting things" The power Kesey gave Nurse Ratched in her role corrupted her into the pseudo-megalomaniac she was. McMurphy is the only patient who has the courage to voice his opinions and this could ultimately have been his down fall.
Additionally Kesey generalizes that those in positions of power are evil and abuse their position of power, while this is correct in his novel, it is a generalization that should not be applied to reality after all Communism started great under Lenin but he being an idealist was quickly surpassed by pseudo-dictator Stalin who abused his power and brought the general chaos to the masses. Those in power who abuse their position are victims of their own power and beliefs; they want to structure the world as they see fit but in doing so crush all that had opposed them.
Kesey tried to pursue the theme of sexuality and how it can be used against influential forces. McMurphy uses his raw sexuality and holds no indisgressions, this is seen as humanizing and natural to the ward’s patients and opens their minds to ideas of friend and decapitulation, and that they aren’t social rejects. Nurse Ratched is the strongest example of sexuality and as such she represses it completely as she may feel vulnerable as a woman and doesn’t want her power contradicted because of it. Ken Kesey used Nurse Ratched and Doctor Spivey to show that there was an opposing woman in charge but that she still had the mannerisms and disposition of a male.
Before the arrival of McMurphy most of the patients lived bland lives with no real existence. McMurphy brings common human laughter to the ward and breaks the monotony of their day-to-day lives. Kesey uses laughter as a life line and as an escape in this novel. McMurphy has an affinity for laughter and uses it to heal and bring the other patients out of the drug based stupor the nurse has placed them under. Humour signifies the success of the ego and the fulfillment of the pleasure principle, in other words the patients learnt to possess something that gives them the freedom to be people again, and the power to control their own emotions and actions.
The most effective technique Kesey uses is that of microcosm – a small universe representative of a larger one. In the mental institution we see a suppression of individualism much like the outside word with its conformist ideals. In the hospital the men are expected to act within strict guidelines, but they must also suppress the urge to express themselves. They are limited to doing menial, repetitive and are never given the chance to choose their own pathways for physical, intellectual or emotional development. If they attempt to act other than how they are expected to they are punished by a barrage of physical abuse (EST and Lobotomies) but also like psychological torture. In much the same way this oppression is present in society. We are forcefully encouraged to develop our potential along certain accepted routes. If people deviate too far from selected routes they can expect some form of retribution and punishment in return.
Kesey presents many different psychological, sociological and mental issues in his novel and explores them and their cross currents with little effort and ease. The conclusion of the novel brings us to one of the main points he was trying to make: People that don’t conform either are forced to conform, or end up emotionally and physically scarred trying to avoid it; McMurphy is the prime example of the effect of this trait of society.
Bibliography
One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, Ken Kesey, Micador Print 1973
Spicers Chapter Summaries OFOTCN, Macmillan Press, 1999
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Ken Keesey, Page 97
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Ken Keesey, Page 31
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Ken Keesey, Page 30