...or Is it Futile to Try and Beat the System? (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Ken Kesey)

Member Name: Katz1

Product:	One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - Ken Kesey
Date:	14/12/01 (834 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Gripping, moving, can't put down once you've started it

Disadvantages: Can't think of any

I should imagine most of you will have heard of ‘One Flew...’ in some form or another, most likely as the film starring Jack Nicholson. I haven’t actually seen the film although I know it is widely considered a classic and is one of my mum’s favourites (usually a good sign). I had, however, been intending to read this book for a while, partly out of curiosity regarding the author, and partly because I knew that the film was based on the book and not vice versa. I recently noticed it on my boyf’s bookshelf and decided that now was as good a time as any...

Okay, enough about why I’ve only just read it, let’s get on to the interesting bits – the book itself and the author.

It was originally written in 1962 by Ken Kesey. This name may ring a few bells with some of you. Kesey, in addition to being famous for writing this book (and plenty of other, not quite so successful ones), is also famous for travelling around America in a psychedelic bus in the 1960’s, dressed in extravagant outfits with a group of people calling themselves “The Merry Pranksters”, some of whom were members of the band “The Grateful Dead”. He used the money he earned from this book to fund the journey and handed out LSD to people he met on the way. Tom Wolfe even wrote a book about Kesey and this journey, called “The Electric Kool Aid Acid Test”. A lot of people, in fact, claim that Kesey and co. were responsible for the whole hippie movement and widespread use of LSD. What many people do not know is that it is the American government who carried out the original LSD tests, and that Kesey was one of their guinea pigs.
You also may or may not be aware that Ken Kesey recently passed away. He was 66 years old and died at his home in Oregon from complications after surgery for liver cancer (November 10, 2001).

Sorry if you feel that the above information is not really relevant to the
novel in question, but I often find that knowing a little about the author before you start can sometimes improve your understanding or even alter your interpretation of what you read.

All I knew about “One Flew...” beforehand, was that it was set in a mental institution, and that was pretty much it. I only realised once I’d read it, that this book seems to be a comment on the modern way of life and the futility of raging against the machine. But more on that later...

The story itself is actually set in just one ward of the mental institution. It is told from a first-person perspective, through the eyes of a half-Indian inmate of the psychiatric ward, someone everyone calls “Chief Bromden” due to his size and looks, and who has led everyone to believe that he is a deaf-mute with a passion for mopping floors. This is an ingenious device chosen by the author, as it allows this character to have access to parts of the ward that the other inmates could not possibly have – he is able to listen in on conversations between the staff, to stand right next to them in fact, without them even suspecting he can hear or understand them, let alone document their activities. The activities that he does document are pretty dubious and scary too!: the three African American aides, for example, armed with Vaseline, ready to follow the new inmates into the shower, where they strip them, and then.. well the rest is left, thankfully, to the reader’s imagination. Because you are seeing the world through the eyes of an inmate, rather than someone who does work there, you also feel like you are part of the inmates’ world, you understand what they are going through, that most of them are not “crazy” in the pantomime sense of the word, just that they have their own problems with the outside world. You can fully empathise with their fear and mistrust of the imposing authority figure, the appropriately-named ward
sister, “Nurse Ratched”, you share in their hope and muted optimism when the new inmate “Randle McMurphy”, a fiery red-haired Irish-American, appears on the scene – you will him to go into battle, metaphorically speaking, with the tight-lipped monstrosity that is the ward sister.

The picture Kesey paints of this ward is pretty bleak. He is a talented wordsmith and gives a vivid insight into life on the ward. You can feel the oppressive atmosphere and picture the manipulative ward sister on a power trip who completely rules the roost. There are two classes of inmate within the ward, the first being the “Acutes” who are generally the younger members of the group. These are the patients who are only intended as temporary inmates and whose psychiatric problems are classed as treatable. The second type of inmate are the “Chronics”. These are the patients who have been in the institution for a very long time, some of whom are vegetables (usually due to some former “treatment”), and who are unlikely ever to leave the ward. Bromden, the narrator, is actually one of the Chronics and we find that he has been on the ward for years and years, longer than all the others, in fact. This comes as a surprise to the reader, as Bromden is generally lucid and there are only certain times when you realise that he does actually have some psychiatric problems. For me as a reader, this brought a sense of unease, as I began to wonder how he ended up there in the first place and how he felt about being caught in this trap. Later, you discover that he and many of the other inmates are there of their own volition, another surprise, and you begin to ask yourself questions concerning their lives beforehand – why do they feel they need to be there? Is the outside world really that bad?

You may have noticed that I keep referring to the ward patients as inmates and the reason is that they are treated as such.
They may well be given decent food and are, in general, not being punished for crimes committed, but in many ways, they are worse off than criminals. Their life inside is completely monotonous. They are not even permitted to go outside, are played the same radio program over and over, are only allowed to watch television at a specific time each day, have to perform certain cleaning up duties and are given any number of pills whether they want them or not. You are also given an insight into the dubious “treatment” practices available at the hospital, such as EST (Electro Shock Therapy) and frontal lobe lobotomies and the justified fear surrounding them. Prison almost starts looking like an attractive option.

It isn’t all bleak though. There are some amusing moments, especially when the members of the group are able get one up on the establishment. The fishing trip, for example, is a highly entertaining sequence of events where you really share the group’s exhilaration and notice their gaining confidence with the outside world. As everything in the novel is described so vividly, however, some of the events can come as a shock to the reader, so I wouldn’t recommend this book if you are a sensitive person. I laughed, I cried, at times I felt sick to my stomach – it’s one of those books, a rollercoaster ride of emotions.

A sense of futility seeps though the entire novel, a feeling that no matter how much you might want to beat the system and how hard you try to bring down those in power, it is ultimately a futile endeavour and you are better off keeping your head down. However, this does not seem to be how the author himself lived his life. He was part of a counter-culture, a slightly eccentric character, definitely, but never one to toe the line or live a mundane existence, which makes me think that perhaps he intended this book as a trigger, an extra push to encourage others to stand up and dare to be differe
nt and to not let the powers that be rule their lives. I’m not sure how successfully this message is brought over, however, as the individuals in the novel who do have the courage to stand up and fight for their rights are usually the ones who are then beaten down in some form or another.

I have not given a complete character breakdown as I don’t want to prevent you from learning first-hand from the book itself. Suffice it to say that all of the characters (even the relatively minor ones) are three-dimensional enough for you be able to picture all of them. The characters who overpower the book are McMurphy, Nurse Ratched and Bromden, as already mentioned. McMurphy brings life to the book, as he brings life to the ward. He is a loud, brash con-man and isn’t afraid of anyone or anything. This is the character Jack Nicholson played in the film and you can see why he would have been the perfect choice. Bromden is a gentle giant and you have growing respect for him throughout the novel. Despite the fact that his role is basically an observer, you are still interested in him as a character, and you do get to understand his little quirks and humour. You know from about page two that nurse Ratched is the force to be reckoned with in the ward and from Bromden’s account can picture her large-bosomed, tight-lipped, starched figure in perfect detail. I’m glad I hadn’t seen the film beforehand, as I’m sure no director could have quite done her justice!

I’d rather not go into detail on individual events, especially those leading up to the ending, as it would, without doubt, spoil it for you. All I will say, is that if you want a gripping read which is well-written with fascinating characters and will open your eyes to life in psychiatric institutions (in America circa 1962, at any rate), then you should give this book a try.

Summary: