Mental Illness inKen Kesey's One Flewover the Cuckoo's NestDedria Bryfonski, Book Editor

GREENHAVEN PRESS

A part of Gale, Cengage Learning

* GALECENGAGE Learning'

Detroit • New York-- San Francisco • New Haven, Conn • Waterville, Maine • London

Contents

Introduction 11

Chronology 15

Chapter 1: Background on Ken Kesey1. The Life of Ken Kesey 21

Stephen L. Tanner and Laura M. ZaidmanA transitional figure between the Beat and Hippie move-ments, Kesey was the leader of the Merry Pranksters, asixties countercultural group who advocated the use ofpsychedelic drugs and confrontations with conventionalsociety. His works celebrate the mythic hero who engagesin a transcendental quest for freedom, spontaneity, andindividuality while battling a rigid, technocratic society.

2. Kesey Clarifies the Role Drugs Played in the 31Creation of One Flew over the Cuckoo's NestRobert Faggen and Ken KeseyKesey says that the drugs he took while working in amental hospital gave him an altered perspective on thepatients—he came to believe that the patients were morenormal than their environment, a perspective reflected inOne Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest. Drugs, however, did notcreate his narrative, they were simply a tool to get itwritten.

3. Kesey Was the Seminal Author of 43the Psychedelic EraChristopher Lehmann-HauptThere were two Ken Keseys—the public and the private.The public was the leader of a lively band of countercul-ture figures. The private authored two notable books—Sometimes a Great Notion and One Flew over theCuckoo's Nest—and in his middle years lived a secludedlife on an Oregon farm.

4. Defying Terror Was a Kesey Hallmark 51Douglas BrinkleyThroughout his life and writings, Kesey warned readersof the likelihood of global catastrophe and the responsi-bility of the individual to meet disaster with courage andfortitude. He lived to see the terrorist attacks on Septem-ber 11, 2001, and took the unpopular, but personallyconsistent, view that it would be immoral to declare waras retaliation against the attacks.

Chapter 2: One Flew over the Cuckoo'sNest and Mental Illness1. Kesey's Realistic View of the World of the Insane 57

Janet R. SutherlandOne Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest is not obscene, racist, orimmoral. Rather, it uses obscenities and racist languageand describes immoral behavior to make the point thatsociety's treatment of minorities and those it deems dif-ferent can cause mental imbalance.

2. McMurphy Helps Chief Bromden Regain 64His SanityBarry H. LeedsIn the novel, Randle McMurphy functions as a psychia-trist to Chief Bromden. Prompted by McMurphy, Brom-den dredges up and deals with traumatic memories fromhis past. With McMurphy's example of emotional health,Bromden is able to confront his demons and recover hismanhood.

3. The Patients in Cuckoo's Nest Regain Their 75Manhood by Banding TogetherTerence MartinMcMurphy enters the matriarchal world of the mentalhospital and brings a sense of freedom and possibility tothe patients. He breaks down the walls that isolate themen and forges a supportive community that enablessome to regain their manhood.

4. <McMurphy Is a Psychopath, Not a Hero 86Robert ForreyCritics like Terence Martin who praise McMurphy's hero-ism are ignoring the fact he is a psychopath who struggleswith latent homosexuality.

5. Chief Bromden Conquers His Fears 96and Becomes a HeroAnnette BenertAs narrator of Cuckoo's Nest, Chief Bromden lives in anightmare world where he fears women, blacks, and ma-chines; however, the novel is not antiwoman, antiblack,or antimachinery. The real problem is within Bromdenand the other inmates who give up their own power be-cause of their fears.

6. One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest Questions 107the Meaning of SanityEllen HerrenkohlThe mental institution in Cuckoo's Nest is portrayed asdehumanizing—depriving the patients of their individual-ity. Kesey sees the patients as complicit in their own lackof power—they are refusing to exert their power to makechoices. Sanity is regained when Chief Bromden assertshis own identity.

7. The Insane Are More Rational than the Sane 114Barbara Tepa LupackMaking a schizophrenic, mute Native American his nar-rator in One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest was a stroke ofgenius on Kesey's part. The first-person narration ofChief Bromden with its hallucinatory, nightmarish over-tones gives the novel a powerful emotional force.

8. Kesey Creates an Oedipal Triangle 130in Cuckoo's NestRuth SullivanKesey dramatizes the Oedipal conflict in Cuckoo's Nest.Nurse Ratched is the mother who emasculates her sons;McMurphy is the father who shows his sons how to be aman. The battle that takes place is ultimately in the mindsof the sons, who ultimately need to take responsibilityfor their own fates.

9. Mixed Ethnicity and Gender Issues Present 143Challenges to ManhoodRobert R WaxierOne Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest offers a uniquely west-ern twist on the Oedipal theme. Kesey explores issuesof gender and ethnicity in this first novel but ultimatelyfails to address the primary cause of the conflict—a so-ciety that judges a minority male to be inferior to awhite female.

10. Kesey Critiques a Society That Uses Fear 154and Conformity to Emasculate MenMichael MeloyAlthough Kesey wrote Cuckoo's Nest as a critique againstthe post-World War II society that he believed emascu-lated men by forcing them to conform, his message re-mains relevant in a twenty-first-century society of in-creased surveillance, violations of civil liberties, andthe loss of individuality.

Chapter 3: Contemporary Perspectiveson Mental Illness1. People with Severe Mental Illness Can 167

Live Productively in SocietyKate SheppardCommunity-based programs for people with mental ill-nesses have proven effective in getting patients out ofhomeless shelters and mental hospitals and back into so-ciety.

2. Psychosurgery Raises Ethical Issues 177Lauren SlaterAlthough neural implants have provided relief to psychi-atric patients, their use raises ethical questions. Amongthese is the absolute control over the patient that it putsin the hands of the physician and the danger of that con-trol being misused.

3. Brain Surgeries Banned Elsewhere Are 190Performed in ChinaNicholas ZamiskaChinese neurosurgeons are using brain surgery as a treat-ment for a number of mental conditions, includingschizophrenia, a use banned in the United States andother countries. The bonus system in China plays a rolein the excessive number of psychosurgeries performedthere, as the brain center in the hospital has become aprofit center.

4. Electroshock Therapy Can Help Cure Depression 199Mind, Mood & MemoryAlthough electroshock therapy—as used in One Flewover the Cuckoo's Nest—has a reputation as a primitiveand brutal treatment for mental illness, modern methodshave made it a more viable option for patients whose de-pression is not helped by drugs or psychotherapy.

For Further Discussion 203

For Further Reading 204

Bibliography 205

Index 210