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One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (novel)
Encyclopedia
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1962) is a novel
written by Ken Kesey
. Set in an Oregon
asylum, the narrative serves as a study of the institutional process and the human mind, as well as a critique of Behaviorism
and a celebration of humanistic principles. Written in 1959, the novel was adapted into a Broadway play
by Dale Wasserman
in 1963. Bo Goldman
adapted the novel for the 1975 film
directed by Miloš Forman
which won five Academy Awards.
Time Magazine
included the novel in its "100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005" list.
, who faked insanity to serve out his prison sentence, for statutory rape, in the hospital. The head administrative nurse, Mildred Ratched
, rules the ward with a mailed fist and with little medical oversight. She is assisted by her three black day-shift orderlies, and her assistant doctors.
McMurphy constantly antagonizes Nurse Ratched and upsets the routines, leading to constant power struggles between the inmate and the nurse. He runs a card table, captains the ward's basketball team, comments on Nurse Ratched's figure, incites the other patients on the ward to conduct a vote on watching the World Series
on television, and organizes a supervised deep sea fishing
trip. His reaction after failing to lift a heavy shower room control panel (which he had claimed to be able to) – "But at least I tried." – gives the men incentive to try to stand up for themselves, to do their best instead of allowing Nurse Ratched to take control of everything they do. The Chief opens up to McMurphy and reveals late one night that he can speak and hear. A disturbance after the fishing trip results in McMurphy and the Chief being sent for electroshock therapy sessions, but even this experience does little to tamp down McMurphy's rambunctious behavior.
One night, after bribing the night orderly, McMurphy breaks into the pharmacy and smuggles bottles of liquor and two prostitute girlfriends onto the ward. McMurphy persuades one of the women to seduce Billy Bibbit, a timid, boyish patient, with a terrible stutter and little experience with women, so that he can lose his virginity
. Although McMurphy plans to escape before the morning shift arrives, he and the other patients fall asleep instead without cleaning up the mess and the staff finds the ward in complete disarray. Nurse Ratched finds Billy and the prostitute in each other's arms, partially dressed, and admonishes him. Billy asserts himself for the first time, answering Nurse Ratched without stuttering. Ratched calmly threatens to tell Billy's mother what she has seen. Billy has an emotional breakdown and, once left alone in the doctor's office, commits suicide
by cutting his throat. Nurse Ratched blames McMurphy for the loss of Billy's life. Enraged at what she has done to Billy, McMurphy attacks her and attempts to strangle her to death and tears off her uniform, revealing her breasts to the patients and aides watching. He has to be dragged away from her and is moved to the Disturbed ward.
Nurse Ratched misses a week of work due to her injuries, during which time many of the patients either transfer to other wards or check out of the hospital forever. When she returns, she cannot speak and is thus deprived of her most potent tool to keep the men in line. Most of the patients leave shortly after this event. Later, after Bromden, Martini, and Scanlon are the only original patients left on the ward, McMurphy is brought back in. He has received a lobotomy
and is now in a vegetative state, silent and motionless. The Chief later smothers McMurphy with a pillow during the night in an act of mercy, before throwing the shower room control panel, the same one McMurphy could not lift earlier, through a window, and escaping the hospital.
as an orderly at a mental health facility in Menlo Park, California
. Not only did he speak to the patients and witness the workings of the institution, he took psychoactive drugs (Peyote and LSD) as part of Project MKULTRA
. From this, he became sympathetic toward the patients.
The novel constantly refers to different authorities that control individuals through subtle and coercive methods. The novel's narrator, the Chief, combines these authorities in his mind, calling them "The Combine" in reference to the mechanistic way they manipulate and process individuals. The authority of The Combine is most often personified in the character of "Nurse Ratched" who controls the inhabitants of the novel's mental ward through a combination of rewards and subtle shame. Although she does not normally resort to conventionally harsh discipline, her actions are portrayed as more insidious than those of a conventional prison administrator. This is because the subtlety of her actions prevents her prisoners from understanding that they are being controlled at all. The Chief also sees the Combine in the damming of the wild Columbia River
at Celilo Falls
, where his Native American
ancestors hunted, and in the broader conformity of post-war American consumer society. The novel's critique of the mental ward as an instrument of oppression
comparable to the prison mirrored many of the claims that French intellectual Michel Foucault
was making at the same time. Similarly, Foucault argued that invisible forms of discipline
oppressed individuals on a broad societal scale, encouraging them to censor
aspects of themselves and their actions. The novel also criticizes the emasculation of men in society, particularly in the character of Billy Bibbit, the stuttering acute who is domineered by both Nurse Ratched and his mother.
Vintery, mintery, cutery, corn,
Apple seed and apple thorn,
Wire, briar, limber lock
Three geese in a flock
One flew East
One flew West
And one flew over the cuckoo's nest
Chief Bromden's grandmother sang this song to him when he was young, and they had a game about it. A playful name for a mental asylum is a "cuckoo's nest", since a mentally unstable person can be referred to as "cuckoo". To "fly over a cuckoo's nest" is to go too far, to get yourself in trouble. Though this can refer to the character of McMurphy being too much of a free spirit and eventually angering Nurse Ratched so much that he receives a lobotomy as result; it can also refer to the ending, where two characters died, and Chief Bromden escaped the Asylum or "Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest". It is also known that cuckoo
s lay their eggs in other birds' nests, and do not have nests of their own. The cuckoo, upon hatching, throws the other birds out of the nest out of instinct.
in 1963 and a film
, starring Jack Nicholson
and winning five Academy Awards, in 1975. It was also adapted in a 1986 Malayalam language film Thalavattam
by Priyadarshan
.
cites this book as an influence on a song from their Master of Puppets
album, "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
".
British artrock band Supertramp
paid reference to this novel in their song Asylum from 1974's Crime of the Century.
In the video game series Half‐Life
, the authoritarian alien‐human alliance ruling the Earth is called the Combine, after Chief Bromden’s imaginary authority.
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
written by Ken Kesey
Ken Kesey
Kenneth Elton "Ken" Kesey was an American author, best known for his novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest , and as a counter-cultural figure who considered himself a link between the Beat Generation of the 1950s and the hippies of the 1960s. "I was too young to be a beatnik, and too old to be a...
. Set in an Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
asylum, the narrative serves as a study of the institutional process and the human mind, as well as a critique of Behaviorism
Behaviorism
Behaviorism , also called the learning perspective , is a philosophy of psychology based on the proposition that all things that organisms do—including acting, thinking, and feeling—can and should be regarded as behaviors, and that psychological disorders are best treated by altering behavior...
and a celebration of humanistic principles. Written in 1959, the novel was adapted into a Broadway play
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (play)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a play based on Ken Kesey's 1962 novel of the same name. Dale Wasserman's stage adaptation, with music by Teiji Ito, made its Broadway preview on November 12, 1963, its premiere on November 13, and ran until January 25, 1964 for a total of one preview and 82...
by Dale Wasserman
Dale Wasserman
Dale Wasserman was an American playwright. -Early life:Dale Wasserman was born in Rhinelander, Wisconsin, and was orphaned at the age of nine. He lived in a state orphanage and with an older brother in South Dakota before he "hit the rails". He later said:-Career:Wasserman worked in various...
in 1963. Bo Goldman
Bo Goldman
For the next few years, Goldman contributed uncredited work to countless scripts including Milos Forman's Ragtime starring James Cagney and Donald O'Connor, The Flamingo Kid starring Matt Dillon, and Warren Beatty's Dick Tracy ....
adapted the novel for the 1975 film
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (film)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a 1975 American drama film directed by Miloš Forman and based on the 1962 novel of the same name by Ken Kesey....
directed by Miloš Forman
Miloš Forman
Jan Tomáš Forman , better known as Miloš Forman , is a Czech-American director, screenwriter, professor, and an emigrant from Czechoslovakia. Two of his films, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Amadeus, are among the most celebrated in the history of film, both gaining him the Academy Award for...
which won five Academy Awards.
Time Magazine
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
included the novel in its "100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005" list.
Synopsis
The story, narrated by the gigantic but docile half-Native American inmate "Chief" Bromden, focuses on the antics of the rebellious Randle Patrick McMurphyRandle McMurphy
Randle Patrick McMurphy or R. P. McMurphy is a central character in Ken Kesey's novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. He appears in the play and film adaptation of the novel as well...
, who faked insanity to serve out his prison sentence, for statutory rape, in the hospital. The head administrative nurse, Mildred Ratched
Nurse Ratched
Nurse Mildred Ratched is the primary antagonist from Ken Kesey's 1962 novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, as well as the 1975 film. A cold, sociopathic tyrant, Nurse Ratched has become the stereotype of the nurse as a Battleaxe...
, rules the ward with a mailed fist and with little medical oversight. She is assisted by her three black day-shift orderlies, and her assistant doctors.
McMurphy constantly antagonizes Nurse Ratched and upsets the routines, leading to constant power struggles between the inmate and the nurse. He runs a card table, captains the ward's basketball team, comments on Nurse Ratched's figure, incites the other patients on the ward to conduct a vote on watching the World Series
World Series
The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball, played between the American League and National League champions since 1903. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff and awarded the Commissioner's Trophy...
on television, and organizes a supervised deep sea fishing
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
trip. His reaction after failing to lift a heavy shower room control panel (which he had claimed to be able to) – "But at least I tried." – gives the men incentive to try to stand up for themselves, to do their best instead of allowing Nurse Ratched to take control of everything they do. The Chief opens up to McMurphy and reveals late one night that he can speak and hear. A disturbance after the fishing trip results in McMurphy and the Chief being sent for electroshock therapy sessions, but even this experience does little to tamp down McMurphy's rambunctious behavior.
One night, after bribing the night orderly, McMurphy breaks into the pharmacy and smuggles bottles of liquor and two prostitute girlfriends onto the ward. McMurphy persuades one of the women to seduce Billy Bibbit, a timid, boyish patient, with a terrible stutter and little experience with women, so that he can lose his virginity
Virginity
Virginity refers to the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. There are cultural and religious traditions which place special value and significance on this state, especially in the case of unmarried females, associated with notions of personal purity, honor and worth...
. Although McMurphy plans to escape before the morning shift arrives, he and the other patients fall asleep instead without cleaning up the mess and the staff finds the ward in complete disarray. Nurse Ratched finds Billy and the prostitute in each other's arms, partially dressed, and admonishes him. Billy asserts himself for the first time, answering Nurse Ratched without stuttering. Ratched calmly threatens to tell Billy's mother what she has seen. Billy has an emotional breakdown and, once left alone in the doctor's office, commits suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
by cutting his throat. Nurse Ratched blames McMurphy for the loss of Billy's life. Enraged at what she has done to Billy, McMurphy attacks her and attempts to strangle her to death and tears off her uniform, revealing her breasts to the patients and aides watching. He has to be dragged away from her and is moved to the Disturbed ward.
Nurse Ratched misses a week of work due to her injuries, during which time many of the patients either transfer to other wards or check out of the hospital forever. When she returns, she cannot speak and is thus deprived of her most potent tool to keep the men in line. Most of the patients leave shortly after this event. Later, after Bromden, Martini, and Scanlon are the only original patients left on the ward, McMurphy is brought back in. He has received a lobotomy
Lobotomy
Lobotomy "; τομή – tomē: "cut/slice") is a neurosurgical procedure, a form of psychosurgery, also known as a leukotomy or leucotomy . It consists of cutting the connections to and from the prefrontal cortex, the anterior part of the frontal lobes of the brain...
and is now in a vegetative state, silent and motionless. The Chief later smothers McMurphy with a pillow during the night in an act of mercy, before throwing the shower room control panel, the same one McMurphy could not lift earlier, through a window, and escaping the hospital.
Background
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest was a direct product of Kesey's time working the graveyard shiftShift work
Shift work is an employment practice designed to make use of the 24 hours of the clock. The term "shift work" includes both long-term night shifts and work schedules in which employees change or rotate shifts....
as an orderly at a mental health facility in Menlo Park, California
Menlo Park, California
Menlo Park, California is a city at the eastern edge of San Mateo County, in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, in the United States. It is bordered by San Francisco Bay on the north and east; East Palo Alto, Palo Alto, and Stanford to the south; Atherton, North Fair Oaks, and Redwood City...
. Not only did he speak to the patients and witness the workings of the institution, he took psychoactive drugs (Peyote and LSD) as part of Project MKULTRA
Project MKULTRA
Project MKULTRA, or MK-ULTRA, was the code name for a covert, illegal CIA human experimentation program, run by the CIA's Office of Scientific Intelligence. This official U.S. government program began in the early 1950s, continued at least through the late 1960s, and used U.S...
. From this, he became sympathetic toward the patients.
The novel constantly refers to different authorities that control individuals through subtle and coercive methods. The novel's narrator, the Chief, combines these authorities in his mind, calling them "The Combine" in reference to the mechanistic way they manipulate and process individuals. The authority of The Combine is most often personified in the character of "Nurse Ratched" who controls the inhabitants of the novel's mental ward through a combination of rewards and subtle shame. Although she does not normally resort to conventionally harsh discipline, her actions are portrayed as more insidious than those of a conventional prison administrator. This is because the subtlety of her actions prevents her prisoners from understanding that they are being controlled at all. The Chief also sees the Combine in the damming of the wild Columbia River
Columbia River
The Columbia River is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, Canada, flows northwest and then south into the U.S. state of Washington, then turns west to form most of the border between Washington and the state...
at Celilo Falls
Celilo Falls
Celilo Falls was a tribal fishing area on the Columbia River, just east of the Cascade Mountains, on what is today the border between the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington...
, where his Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
ancestors hunted, and in the broader conformity of post-war American consumer society. The novel's critique of the mental ward as an instrument of oppression
Oppression
Oppression is the exercise of authority or power in a burdensome, cruel, or unjust manner. It can also be defined as an act or instance of oppressing, the state of being oppressed, and the feeling of being heavily burdened, mentally or physically, by troubles, adverse conditions, and...
comparable to the prison mirrored many of the claims that French intellectual Michel Foucault
Michel Foucault
Michel Foucault , born Paul-Michel Foucault , was a French philosopher, social theorist and historian of ideas...
was making at the same time. Similarly, Foucault argued that invisible forms of discipline
Taboo
A taboo is a strong social prohibition relating to any area of human activity or social custom that is sacred and or forbidden based on moral judgment, religious beliefs and or scientific consensus. Breaking the taboo is usually considered objectionable or abhorrent by society...
oppressed individuals on a broad societal scale, encouraging them to censor
Censorship
thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
aspects of themselves and their actions. The novel also criticizes the emasculation of men in society, particularly in the character of Billy Bibbit, the stuttering acute who is domineered by both Nurse Ratched and his mother.
Title
The title of the book is a line from a nursery rhyme,Vintery, mintery, cutery, corn,
Apple seed and apple thorn,
Wire, briar, limber lock
Three geese in a flock
One flew East
One flew West
And one flew over the cuckoo's nest
Chief Bromden's grandmother sang this song to him when he was young, and they had a game about it. A playful name for a mental asylum is a "cuckoo's nest", since a mentally unstable person can be referred to as "cuckoo". To "fly over a cuckoo's nest" is to go too far, to get yourself in trouble. Though this can refer to the character of McMurphy being too much of a free spirit and eventually angering Nurse Ratched so much that he receives a lobotomy as result; it can also refer to the ending, where two characters died, and Chief Bromden escaped the Asylum or "Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest". It is also known that cuckoo
Cuckoo
The cuckoos are a family, Cuculidae, of near passerine birds. The order Cuculiformes, in addition to the cuckoos, also includes the turacos . Some zoologists and taxonomists have also included the unique Hoatzin in the Cuculiformes, but its taxonomy remains in dispute...
s lay their eggs in other birds' nests, and do not have nests of their own. The cuckoo, upon hatching, throws the other birds out of the nest out of instinct.
Main characters
- Chief Bromden: The novel's half-American Native American narrator, the Chief, has been in the mental hospital since the end of World War IIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Bromden pretends to be deaf and mute, and he is privy to many of the ward's dirty secrets.
As a young man, the Chief was a high school footballAmerican footballAmerican football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
star, a college student, and a war hero. After seeing his father, a true Native AmericanNative Americans in the United StatesNative Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
chief, humiliated at the hands of the government and his white wife, Chief falls into despair and starts hallucinating. He is diagnosed with schizophreniaSchizophreniaSchizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by a disintegration of thought processes and of emotional responsiveness. It most commonly manifests itself as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking, and it is accompanied by significant social...
. He believes society is controlled by a large, mechanized system which he calls "The Combine." - Randle McMurphyRandle McMurphyRandle Patrick McMurphy or R. P. McMurphy is a central character in Ken Kesey's novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. He appears in the play and film adaptation of the novel as well...
: A rebellious convict sent from a normal prison. He is guilty of batteryBattery (crime)Battery is a criminal offense involving unlawful physical contact, distinct from assault which is the fear of such contact.In the United States, criminal battery, or simply battery, is the use of force against another, resulting in harmful or offensive contact...
and gamblingGamblingGambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods...
. He had also been charged with, but never convicted of statutory rapeStatutory rapeThe phrase statutory rape is a term used in some legal jurisdictions to describe sexual activities where one participant is below the age required to legally consent to the behavior...
. McMurphy is transferred from a prison work farm to the hospital, thinking it will be an easy way to serve out his sentence in comfort. In the end, McMurphy violently fights Nurse Ratched's rule which costs him his freedom, his health and, ultimately, his life.
The staff
- Nurse RatchedNurse RatchedNurse Mildred Ratched is the primary antagonist from Ken Kesey's 1962 novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, as well as the 1975 film. A cold, sociopathic tyrant, Nurse Ratched has become the stereotype of the nurse as a Battleaxe...
: The tyrannical head nurse of the mental institution, who exercises near-total power over those in her care, including her subordinates. She will not hesitate to restrict her patients' access to medication, amenities, and basic human necessities if it suits her needs. Her greatest success is with Billy Bibbitt, from whom she can get everything she wants to know under the threat of informing his mother. McMurphy's fun-loving, rebellious presence in Ratched's institution is a constant annoyance, as neither threats nor punishment nor shock therapy will stop him or the patients under his sway. Eventually, after McMurphy nearly chokes her to death in a fit of rage, Nurse Ratched has him lobotomized. However, the damage has already been done, and Nurse Ratched's rule is broken after McMurphy's attack leaves her nearly unable to speak, which renders her unable to intimidate her patients, subordinates and superiors. - The "Black Boys" Washington, Williams and Warren: Three black men who work as aides in the ward. Williams is a dwarfDwarfismDwarfism is short stature resulting from a medical condition. It is sometimes defined as an adult height of less than 4 feet 10 inches , although this definition is problematic because short stature in itself is not a disorder....
, his growth stunted after witnessing his mother being raped by white men. The Chief says Nurse Ratched hired them for their sadistic nature. - Dr. Spivey: The ward doctor. Nurse Ratched drove off other doctors, but she kept Spivey because he always did as he was told. Harding suggests that the nurse could threaten to expose him as a drug addict if he stood up to her, regardless of whether or not he actually is one. McMurphy's rebellion inspires him to stand up to Nurse Ratched.
- Nurse Pilbow: The young night nurse. Her face, neck and chest are stained with a profound birthmarkBirthmarkA birthmark is a benign irregularity on the skin which is present at birth or appears shortly after birth, usually in the first month. They can occur anywhere on the skin. Birthmarks are caused by overgrowth of blood vessels, melanocytes, smooth muscle, fat, fibroblasts, or...
. She is a devout CatholicCatholicThe word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
and presents symptoms of peccatophobia (fear of sinning or imaginary crimes). According to the Chief, she spends her time off either praying for the birthmark to disappear or scrubbing it furiously until her skin bleeds. She blames the patients for infecting her with their evil and takes it out on them. - Mr. Turkle: An elderly African AmericanAfrican AmericanAfrican Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
aide who works the late shift in the ward. The Chief notes that Turkle is far more kindly than the other aides. He agrees to allow McMurphy to host a party and sneak in prostitutes one night. He is a marijuana user, and shares his joint with some of the patients during the party.
The Acutes
The acutes are patients who officials believe can still be cured. With few exceptions, they are there voluntarily.- Billy Bibbit: A nervous, shy and boyish patient with an extreme speech impediment, Billy cuts himself and has attempted suicide numerous times. Nurse Ratched is a close friend of his overbearing mother, who treats him like a child, despite his being in his thirties. To alleviate Billy's fear of women, McMurphy sneaks a prostitute into the ward so Billy can lose his virginity. Upon being discovered the next morning, Billy speaks for the first time without stuttering. It's only after Nurse Ratched threatens to tell his mother that Billy reverts to his nervous ways. Fearing the loss of his mother's love after Ratched's threat, Billy has an emotional breakdown and cuts his own throat.
- Dale Harding: The unofficial leader of the patients before McMurphy arrives, he is an intelligent, good-looking man who's ashamed of his repressed homosexualityHomosexualityHomosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
. Harding's beautiful yet malcontent wife is a source of shame for him; he cannot please her, so she constantly emasculates him. - George Sorensen: A man with germaphobia, he spends his days repeatedly washing his hands in the ward's drinking fountain. McMurphy manages to persuade him to lead a fishing expedition for the patients after discovering that he'd captained a PT boatPT boatPT Boats were a variety of motor torpedo boat , a small, fast vessel used by the United States Navy in World War II to attack larger surface ships. The PT boat squadrons were nicknamed "the mosquito fleet". The Japanese called them "Devil Boats".The original pre–World War I torpedo boats were...
during World War II. Afterward, the staff forcibly delouseLouseLice is the common name for over 3,000 species of wingless insects of the order Phthiraptera; three of which are classified as human disease agents...
him, knowing the mental anguish this causes him. The delousing is a retribution by Nurse Ratched, rather than medical care. - Charles Cheswick: A loud-mouthed patient who always demands changes in the ward, but never has the courage to see anything through. According to Chief, he "climbs onto a soapbox" and "shouts for a following," but backs down when there are any repercussions by the Big Nurse from his demands. He finds a friend in McMurphy, who's able to voice his opinions for him. After McMurphy loses his confidence when he learns that his stay in the ward is indefinite, Cheswick drowns himself in the swimming pool.
- Martini: A patient who suffers from severe hallucinations
- Scanlon: A patient obsessed with explosives and destruction, he's the only non-vegetative patient confined to the ward by force (aside from McMurphy and Bromden); the rest could leave at any time. It's Scanlon who convinces the Chief that he should escape.
- Sefelt and Fredrickson: Two epileptic patients. Jim Sefelt refuses to take his anti-seizure medication, as it makes his hair and teeth fall out; he's plagued by seizures, which the Chief believes are controlled by Nurse Ratched. Bruce Fredrickson takes Sefelt's medication, because he's terrified of the seizures.
- Max Taber: An unruly patient who was released before McMurphy arrived, the Chief recalls how, after questioning what was in his medication, Nurse Ratched had him "fixed." He walked out of the hospital a sane man, a tribute to The Combine's terrible power.
The Chronics
The Chronics are patients who will never be cured. Many of the Chronics are in vegetative states.- Ruckly: A hell-raising patient who challenges the rules until his lobotomy. After the lobotomyLobotomyLobotomy "; τομή – tomē: "cut/slice") is a neurosurgical procedure, a form of psychosurgery, also known as a leukotomy or leucotomy . It consists of cutting the connections to and from the prefrontal cortex, the anterior part of the frontal lobes of the brain...
, he sits and stares at a picture of his wife, and occasionally screams profanities. He is kept in the ward as a reminder of what happens to patients who get out of line. - Ellis: Ellis was put in a vegetative state by electroshock therapy. He stands against the wall in a disturbing ChristChristChrist is the English term for the Greek meaning "the anointed one". It is a translation of the Hebrew , usually transliterated into English as Messiah or Mashiach...
-like position with arms outstretched. - Pete Bancini: Bancini suffered brain damage at birth but managed to hold down simple jobs until he was institutionalized. He sits, wagging his head and complaining how tired he is. The Chief remembers how once, and only once, he lashed out violently against the aides, telling the other patients that he was a living miscarriage, born dead.
- Rawler: A patient on the disturbed ward, he says nothing but "loo, loo, loo!" all day and tries to run up the walls. The Chief believes he has been wired to receive radio transmissions. One night, Rawler castrates himself while sitting on the toilet and bleeds to death before anyone realizes what he has done.
- Old Blastic: An old patient who is in a vegetative state. The first night McMurphy is in the ward, Bromden dreams Blastic is hung by his heel and sliced open, spilling out his rusty guts. The next morning it is revealed that Blastic died during the night.
- The Lifeguard: An ex-professional footballAmerican footballAmerican football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
player, he still has the cleat marks on his forehead from the injury that scrambled his brains. While he is the lifeguardLifeguardA lifeguard supervises the safety and rescue of swimmers, surfers, and other water sports participants such as in a swimming pool, water park, or beach. Lifeguards are strong swimmers and trained in first aid, certified in water rescue using a variety of aids and equipment depending on...
at the hospital pool, he remains in the disturbed ward because he occasionally tackles the nurses. It is the lifeguard who tells McMurphy that he will stay in the hospital until Nurse Ratched decides he may go, regardless of his original prison sentence. - Colonel Matterson: The oldest patient in the ward, he suffers from severe senile dementia and cannot move without a wheelchair. He is a veteran of the First World War, and spends his days "explaining" objects ("Mexico is ... the walnut."). The Chief believes there is logic to his babbling.
Other characters
- Candy: The prostitute that McMurphy brings on the fishing trip. Billy Bibbit, a boyish patient who has no experience with women, obviously has a crush on her and McMurphy convinces Candy to sleep with him.
- Sandy: Another prostitute and friend of McMurphy, she shows up with Candy on the night of the party. She and Sefelt sleep together. Sefelt has a seizure while they are having sexual intercourse.
- Vera Harding: Dale Harding's beautiful wife, who visits him faithfully but flirts with the other men while she's there. Harding mocks her lack of education and refinement; she mocks Harding's lack of manhood.
Film adaptation
The novel was adapted into a playOne Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (play)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a play based on Ken Kesey's 1962 novel of the same name. Dale Wasserman's stage adaptation, with music by Teiji Ito, made its Broadway preview on November 12, 1963, its premiere on November 13, and ran until January 25, 1964 for a total of one preview and 82...
in 1963 and a film
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (film)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a 1975 American drama film directed by Miloš Forman and based on the 1962 novel of the same name by Ken Kesey....
, starring Jack Nicholson
Jack Nicholson
John Joseph "Jack" Nicholson is an American actor, film director, producer and writer. He is renowned for his often dark portrayals of neurotic characters. Nicholson has been nominated for an Academy Award twelve times, and has won the Academy Award for Best Actor twice: for One Flew Over the...
and winning five Academy Awards, in 1975. It was also adapted in a 1986 Malayalam language film Thalavattam
Thalavattam
Thalavattam is a 1986 Malayalam drama film written and directed by Priyadarshan and starring Mohanlal, M. G. Soman and Karthika. The story is very loosely based on the english novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Thalavattam was remade in Hindi as Kyon Ki in 2005 by Priyadarshan himself...
by Priyadarshan
Priyadarshan
Priyadarshan is an Indian film director, producer, and screenwriter. In a career spanning over two decades, Priyadarshan has directed over 80 films in several Indian languages including Malayalam, Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu...
.
Media
Thrash metal band MetallicaMetallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1981 when James Hetfield responded to an advertisement that drummer Lars Ulrich had posted in a local newspaper. The current line-up features long-time lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo ...
cites this book as an influence on a song from their Master of Puppets
Master of Puppets
-Personnel:Metallica* James Hetfield – lead vocals, rhythm guitar, acoustic guitar on track 1, first solo on tracks 2 and 7* Cliff Burton – bass, backing vocals* Lars Ulrich – drums* Kirk Hammett – lead guitarProduction...
album, "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
Welcome Home (Sanitarium)
"Welcome Home " is a song by the American heavy metal band Metallica. It was released as the third and final single from their third album, Master of Puppets...
".
British artrock band Supertramp
Supertramp
Supertramp are a British rock band formed in 1969 under the name Daddy before renaming to Supertramp in early 1970. Though their music was initially categorised as progressive rock, they have since incorporated a combination of traditional rock and art rock into their music...
paid reference to this novel in their song Asylum from 1974's Crime of the Century.
In the video game series Half‐Life
Half-Life (series)
The Half-Life series of video games share a science fiction alternate history. Nearly all of the games are first-person shooters on the GoldSource or Source engines, and most are linear, narrative, single-player titles....
, the authoritarian alien‐human alliance ruling the Earth is called the Combine, after Chief Bromden’s imaginary authority.
Further reading
- L. Horst, Bitches, Twitches, and Eunuchs: Sex Role Failure and Caricature in Pratt, J, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest: Text and Criticism, Penguin Books (1996).
- M.G. Porter, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest: Rising to Heroism, Boston: Twayne Publishers (1989).
- E. Safer, The Contemporary American Comic Epic: The Novels of Barth, Pynchon, Gaddis, and Kesey, Detroit: Wayne State University Press (1988).
Editions
- ISBN 0-606-04239-3 (preboundPreboundA prebound book is a book that was previously bound and has been rebound with a library quality hardcover binding. In almost all commercial cases, the book in question began as a paperback version.An alternate term is "Library Hardcover Paperback"....
, 1962) - ISBN 0-451-16396-6 (mass market paperback, 1963)
- ISBN 0-14-004312-8 (paperbackPaperbackPaperback, softback or softcover describe and refer to a book by the nature of its binding. The covers of such books are usually made of paper or paperboard, and are usually held together with glue rather than stitches or staples...
, 1977, reprint) - ISBN 0-14-023601-5 (hardcoverHardcoverA hardcover, hardback or hardbound is a book bound with rigid protective covers...
, 1996) - ISBN 1-55651-685-1 (paperback, 1988)
- ISBN 0-453-00815-1 (audio cassette, 1993, abridged)
- ISBN 0-14-028334-X (paperback, 1999)
- ISBN 0-8220-7154-1 (e-bookE-bookAn electronic book is a book-length publication in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, and produced on, published through, and readable on computers or other electronic devices. Sometimes the equivalent of a conventional printed book, e-books can also be born digital...
, 1999) - ISBN 0-7645-8662-9 (paperback, 2000)
- ISBN 0-7910-6339-9 (library bindingLibrary bindingLibrary binding is the term used to describe the method of binding serials, and re-binding paperback or hardcover books, for use within libraries. Library binding increases the durability of books, as well as making the materials easier to use...
, 2001) - ISBN 0-14-118122-2 (paperback, 2002)
- ISBN 0-7910-7118-9 (paperback)
- ISBN 0-330-23564-8 (paperback)
- ISBN 0-14-118788-3 (paperback, 2005)
- ISBN 0-14-303690-4 (hardcover, 2005)
- ISBN 0-329-06383-9 (hardcover)
- ISBN 978-159887-052-7 (audio cdAudio CDAudio CD is an umbrella term that refers to many standards of means of playing back audio on a CD.It may specifically refer to:-Standards:* Compact Disc, an optical disc used to store digital data...
, 2006, abridged/read by Kesey; includes Fresh Air with Terry Gross interview with author) - Photos of the first edition One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest