does mcmurphy transfer his individualistic spirit into that o

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest takes place in a mental hospital in which the patients' individuality is suppressed by the head nurse, Nurse Ratched.. Initially, McMurphy is a very selfi

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, with its meaningful message of individualism, was an extremely influential novel during the 1960's In addition, its author, Ken Kesey, played a significant role in the

development of the counterculture of the 60's; this included all people who did not conform to society's standards, experimented in drugs, and just lived their lives in an unconventional manner Ken Kesey had many significant experiences that enabled him to create One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest As a result of his entrance into the creative writing

program at Stanford University in 1959 (Ken 1), Kesey moved to Perry Lane in Menlo Park It was there that he and other writers first

experimented with psychedelic drugs After living at Perry Lane for a while, Kesey's friend, Vik Lovell, informed him about experiments at a local V.A hospital in which volunteers were paid to take mind-altering drugs (Wolfe 321) Kesey's experiences at the hospital were his first step towards writing Cuckoo's Nest Upon testing the effects of the then

little-known drug, LSD, " he was in a realm of consciousness he had never dreamed of before and it was not a dream or delirium but part of his awareness (322)." This awareness caused him to believe that these psychedelic drugs could enable him to see things the way they were truly meant to be seen After working as a test subject for the hospital, Kesey was able to get a job working as a psychiatric aide This was the next significant factor in writing the book "Sometimes he would go to work high on acid (LSD) (323)." By doing so, he was able to understand the pain felt by the patients on the ward In addition, the job allowed him to examine everything that went on within the confines of the hospital From these things, Kesey obtained exceptional insight for writing One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest To make the novel seem as realistic as

possible, he loosely based the characters on the personalities of people

in the ward; also, his use of drugs while writing allowed him to make scenes such as Chief Bromden's (The Chief is the narrator of the story

He is a Native American who happens to be a paranoid schizophrenic.) dreams much more vivid (Ken 2) As mentioned in The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, " certain passages 3/4 like Chief Broom [Chief Bromden] in his schizophrenic fogs 3/4 [it] was true vision, a little of what you could see if you opened the doors of perception, friends (Wolfe 328) Ken Kesey's altered mental state while he wrote Cuckoo's Nest is what truly makes it unique The novel's message of rebelling against authority was very influential to the counterculture generation of the 1960's Kesey and his writing became a key factor in a decade filled with drugs and

anti-establishment feelings One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest takes place in a mental hospital in which the patients' individuality is

suppressed by the head nurse, Nurse Ratched When a sane con-man (Randle P McMurphy) has himself committed to avoid a prison sentence, the machine-like order that had previously existed on the ward is

immediately challenged Initially, McMurphy is a very selfish man whose only desire is to cause problems for authority figures, Nurse Ratched in particular, and to make life for himself as easy as possible Eventually, this all changes as the battle between himself and Nurse Ratched

becomes their battle for the souls of the inmates McMurphy's struggle to

"free" the other inmates is a difficult one, ultimately resulting in his own

destruction; however, through his death, the other patients are able to realize their own sense of self and they escape the ward Although

McMurphy works to save all the inmates, the schizophrenic, Chief

Bromden, is the main target of his attentions The Chief is the largest, most powerful man on the ward, but is made to feel weak and inferior by staying there Upon realizing his own value at the end of the novel, Chief Bromden participates in the mercy killing of McMurphy which allows for his own complete liberation, as well as that of the other patients

Entering the mental hospital a sane man, R.P McMurphy only looks out for himself; however, this all changes when he realizes the permanence

of his residency on the ward if he does not conform This motivates him

to begin working to save the other inmates on the ward and transfer some

of his high spirit into them His struggle to help them realize their

individuality results in his own mental decay and he is ultimately

destroyed In order to make himself as comfortable as possible,

McMurphy initially tries to defy authority and gain the inmates' trust for his own personal gain He is immediately a threat to the order that Nurse Ratched has created and maintains While there is not supposed to be gambling on the ward, one of McMurphy's first goals is to get the other patients to play cards with him for money This is expressed when

McMurphy says " I came to this establishment to bring you birds fun an' entertainment around the gamin' table (Ken 12)." Another way that he is able to disrupt the hospital's order is through his bold laughter This is very disturbing because no one ever laughs in the mental hospital The inmates are controlled and mechanized; the laughter suggests

personality, which would break down this order According to Chief

Bromden, he had not hear a laugh in years (11) McMurphy makes it obvious right away that he has no intention of letting the hospital's

machine-like order consume his identity As a result off his rambunctious behavior, the inevitable battle between McMurphy and Nurse Ratched begins During group therapy meetings, McMurphy does not let Nurse Ratched have complete control as she has had in the past and as she would like to continue He disrupts the meetings by provoking the other patients to excitement when they make comments about their respective problems It also infuriates Nurse Ratched when McMurphy diverts the attention directed at other patients towards himself Also, one particular scene displaying the beginning of the battle between Nurse Ratched and McMurphy occurs when McMurphy wants to watch the World Series He convinces the inmates to resist Nurse Ratched by watching a blank TV screen, even when she turns off the World Series (140) The things that McMurphy does early in the novel to battle Nurse Ratched are selfish and have the intention of being chaotic Eventually, this all begins to change as McMurphy begins his struggle to help save the other inmates

He begins to conform slightly when he recognizes the power that Nurse Ratched wields; he learns that he cannot be dismissed from the hospital without Nurse Ratched saying he has been cured However, the other inmates are not satisfied; they want him to lead a rebellion McMurphy's rebellious nature goes from that of self-interest to that of devotion to helping the other inmates find their freedom and individuality By doing

so, he also sees a means of escape for himself The first display of his

new strategy for defying authority occurs on the fishing trip that the

inmates take This trip, which is organized by McMurphy, helps the

inmates realize that they can act for themselves and returns to them some sense of self-respect Another example of McMurphy's change from a nuisance to a savior is how he and the Chief resist Nurse Ratched

in the disturbed ward (a section of the hospital for those patients who are considered the most insane or dangerous) Trying to evoke an apology from McMurphy and Chief Bromden for keeping another patient from having an enema, Nurse Ratched fails and angrily sends the two men to have electro-shock therapy Although McMurphy is weakened by this, the Chief takes his first step towards being cured by telling the other patients

of McMurphy's heroics (277) This is the first time that he has ever talked

to anyone other than McMurphy In an obvious response to McMurphy's devotion to him, the Chief starts to realize his true self In the end, McMurphy's struggle leads to his destruction; however, he still becomes the inmates' savior By finding McMurphy's weakness, which is his

uncontrollable urge to always trick the other inmates out of their money, Nurse Ratched is able to defeat him This is evident when McMurphy tricks the other men into not believing that the Chief could lift the control panel As a result of this unfair bet, McMurphy wins money from the other men, but loses much of their faith in him (256-257) However, McMurphy eventually regains their trust and the inmates join him in the big party on the ward Because the party involves breaking hospital rules, the inmates are forced into a situation in which they will have to defend themselves This is McMurphy's final attempt at leading the inmates to their freedom As a result of all his efforts to help them, he has become worn-out, both physically and emotionally Taking on the responsibility for the other patients has drained McMurphy of all his vibrancy and

individuality; however, it is almost as if his liveliness has been transferred into the souls of the inmates Just as in the law of the conservation of energy (energy can neither be created nor destroyed), McMurphy's vitality must be sapped in order to give the other patients life In effect,

McMurphy has sacrificed his own sanity to make the others sane The final conflict between Nurse Ratched and McMurphy occurs when

McMurphy attacks her and reveals her sexuality by uncovering her large breasts(305) McMurphy is taken away to be given a lobotomy 3/4 a surgical operation in which a lobe of the brain, usually the frontal lobe, is cut out for the treatment of psychoses 3/4 but Nurse Ratched no longer has control over the other patients By concealing her womanly nature, she has been able to have power over the inmates To them, Nurse Ratched previously symbolized the cold, unfeeling, and mechanized nature of the hospital; by revealing her womanhood, this facade is

destroyed and the men realize her weakness Now, although she defeats McMurphy physically, he has actually won the battle because the other patients are able to escape In order to ensure the Nurse's overall defeat, Chief Bromden proceeds in the mercy killing of McMurphy His death finalizes the transference of his spirit into the other patients;

consequently, this allows for the complete liberation of all the inmates

Using the Chief as the narrator of the novel, as opposed to

McMurphy, allows the reader to examine McMurphy's actions as being

heroic, not mere braggadocio Chief Bromden, through his

behind-the-scenes analysis of everything that occurs in the ward, is able

to portray McMurphy's saga much more subtly than if McMurphy had been the narrator By using the Chief's point of view, Kesey enables the reader to see a patient (severely weakened by the hospital's control over his individuality) eventually cured through the persistence of another patience to make him realize his true self Because Kesey does such an effective job in creating the Chief's schizophrenic state early in the story, the reader is able to see him slowly regain his sense of identity and thus one can truly understand the significance of McMurphy's help in changing him One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest should definitely be included in

a list of works of high literary merit It's message of fighting for

individuality and self-expression is portrayed with immense skill Kesey's willingness to experiment with the revolutionary style of writing in an altered state of consciousness should be highly regarded This novel is a symbol of the 1960's counterculture and should be considered a classic

of its time Not only were its issues important during its own decade, but many are still relevant today