by Ken Kesey
p. 1962
[Aye, there be spoilers in this review. I have blacked them out accordingly and if you wish to read them, simply highlight the text.]
Ken Kesey’s 1962 novel, One
Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is an American literary staple, but it flew
under my radar until just recently. I
had never read the book, seen the Broadway musical or even the notorious 1975
film version starring Jack Nicholson (though, by the description I’ve read, it
sounds like a fairly accurate adaptation). It’s really been my loss all these
years, because this novel is an experience that you can sink your teeth into,
and it’s easy to see not only why it’s so popular but also why it is so widely banned
for its controversy.
One Flew Over the
Cuckoo’s Nest is the story of a psychiatric ward under the strict
supervision of the emasculating ‘Big Nurse’ Mildred Ratched, who comes into
conflict with brash, fast-talking, hard-drinking newcomer, R.P. McMurphy, a man
faking insanity to escape from the work farm he’d been sentenced to for gambling and fighting. It is clear
from the start that McMurphy is not expecting the challenge brought before him
by the harsh, disapproving Nurse Ratched, but it does not deter him from his
goal.
McMurphy and Ratched really possess this novel, yet it is
told entirely through the eyes of Chief Bromden, a Native American man who has
spent over a decade on the ward pretending to be a deaf-mute and witnessing the
inner workings of ward politics firsthand. Bromden, who ruminates often on the
subjugation of his father and his people as their land is slowly taken over by
what he refers to as the Combine, is the only one who is allowed to see through
the secret window into the person McMurphy really is. The Irish rogue is at
first a curiosity to the ward’s inhabitants, then a hero as he teaches them to
stand up for themselves against the Big Nurse and learn to laugh again,
bringing life to the ward where before any semblance of joy or disorder was
immediately silenced. What ensues is a battle of wits and willpower as McMurphy
and Ratched fight for control of the ward.
It took me a while to get into this book. I found Part 1
(over 100 pages and roughly half of the novel) to be a bit dull. Apart from
eliciting a few laughs here and there at McMurphy and Ratched’s posturing, not
much happens aside from your typical stage-setting. It isn’t until Part 2 when
McMurphy realizes the reality of his predicament—that he could be kept long
past his original sentence if he continues to get on Ratched’s bad side—and
scales back his antics, that the story perks up. And it isn’t until the end of
Part 2, when McMurphy makes the conscious decision to say ‘to Hell with it’ and
continue his crusade against the nurse’s conformity, that the character truly
comes alive. That McMurphy stayed on knowing his freedom was at stake because
he knew the other patients needed to see his rebellion turned the jokester into
a true hero, while still making him endearingly human.
I must admit, even though I saw McMurphy’s eventual fate
coming from a mile away, it was still so devastating to see him martyred like
that. The entire final act of this book is just demoralizing in general. I felt
terrible for all the patients and furious at Big Nurse who defied the most
basic rule of healthcare provider in order to maintain her aura of power. It’s
all a very potent allegory for society and the book is rich with metaphor to be
picked apart. It’s a shame that the idea of a hard-drinking, womanizing rogue
as a Christlike figure is so offensive that the book has been widely banned
over the years, because it would make an excellent teaching subject.
I strongly encourage fans of the movie and people who’ve
never experienced either book or movie to read this novel. It is surprisingly
satisfying and an American classic. It’ll make you laugh and cry and all the
other emotions that the ‘Big Nurse’ would rather you just keep to yourself. But
that’s exactly why we need characters like McMurphy in our lives—to remind us
to never take life too seriously.
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