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This grim satire, first published in 1962, is set among
the patients and workers in a mental institution. It tells the story
(narrated by an inmate) of an energetic con man who seeks institutionalization
as a means of escaping the rigors of a prison work farm. Before long,
in order to reduce the sexual and emotional impotence of the men at the
institution, he began to challenge the dictatorial Nurse Ratched, irrevocably
altering the destiny of those in the ward. The story is made up of
series of skirmishes between McMurphy and Big Nurse. McMurphy became
a hero, changing the life of the inmates, but paid dearly for his individualism.
Suggested Reading Before You Begin: Literature
and Its Times, Vol 4, 288-294.
Ken Kesey, born in 1935, was raised
on farms in Colorado and Oregon. At the University of Oregon, he participated
in wrestling and theater. He married his high school sweatheart and
they had 3 children together. In 1959, when he volunteered to be a subject
in experiments with hallucinogenic drugs, his life underwent a dramatic
change. Near the end of the experiments, he began working the night
shift in a mental ward. He started to feel that the patients were
not really crazy after all, just more individualized than society was willing
to accept. Parts of this novel were written while he was under the
influence of LSD and peyote.
Kesey's
specialty at the time was green Kool-Aid laced with LSD. In 1964,
promoting his new book, Sometimes a Great Notion,
he and his friends, dubbed the Merry
Pranksters, drove from San Francisco to New York in a psychedelic painted
bus (paid for with the proceeds of Cuckoo's Nest.)
His bus, Further, was immortalized in the Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test
and On the Bus. Kesey hid 6 months (with his bus) in
Mexico to avoid imprisonment for possession of marijuana, then gave himself
up to authorities, and was jailed for 5 months. His writing changed
from fiction to autobiographical prose, although in later years he returned
to fiction with Sailor Song and Last Go Round.
One
Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest may have had more influence on society than
society had on Kesey. The book was widely read by college students
just as the baby boomers began to challenge authority. It is considered
a masterpiece. Until his death in 2001, Kesey resided in Oregon where
he had been active in the PTA :-).
Librarian talk . . . About Getting Started!
As you begin, narrow your topic to a size that you can manage. Consider keywords that will help you find the information you need. These can be names of people, literary works, events, or broader identifying terms. Use these keywords for locating information in the library catalog, electronic databases, and on the internet.
Sample Keywords:
Kesey, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, character, 'any theme with author's name', i.e.asylum, electric shock therapy, lobotomy, counterculture, hippies,. LSD, satire.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
The novel's secondary characters
were based on real-life individuals whom Kesey met while working at the
Veterans' Administration Hospital. As research for the novel, he worked
the graveyard shift in the psychiatric ward and actually subjected himself
to a real-life shock treatment. The setting of One Flew Over the
Cuckoo's Nest takes place at the end of the 1950s, when many of the
nation's younger generation began to challenge conformity. Nurse Ratched
personified the power and control exhibited by large government and businesses. The
Beat Culture began at this time and continued with other countercultures
and finally to the hippies of the 1960s.
Young
Americans began to question those in power. They formed a subgroup
in American society that historians termed the counterculture. This band of political protesters gave rise to the hippies, a collection of mostly
young people dedicated to peace, love and the search for beauty of life. Kesey was one of those hooked on a new mind-altering drug known as LSD.
LSD was considered both a blessing (medical treatment for mental disorders)
and a curse (unpleasant reactions and addiction) for American society. LSD served as a unifying vehicle that would later define the entire counterculture
of the 1960s.
One
Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nestwas hailed as a major literary
success. The movie starring Jack Nicholson
as McMurphy won the 1975 Academy Award for Best Picture.
A con man who becomes a modern-day rebel and hero
cast in the mode of the cowboy hero of the American Western. Charming
and manipulating, he is a forceful character living a generation too late.
He challenges authority. Using a strong sense of humor and comic exaggeration,
he instigates the changes at the sanitarium and teaches the inmates to be
sane.
Billy Bibbit
A thirty-one year old man, psychologically an adolescent,
is still under the control of his mother. McMurphy finds a way to bring
out his manhood.
Chief Bromden
Schizophrenic, and as narrator, holds a key position.
He is a tall and strong Native American who feigns muteness and deafness to
protect himself from pain. McMurphy rescues him from his silence.
Nurse Ratched
Big Nurse, described as 'enormous, capable of swelling
up bigger and bigger to monstrous proportions. She is the ward superintendent,
the ultimate authority demanding obedience and perfect order from everyone
Dale Harding
The best educated of the men on the ward, Dale Harding
is president of the Patients' Council when McMurphy is admitted to the hospital.
He serves a useful purpose, both for McMurphy and for us: while the Chief
with his hallucinations may give us an unusual insight into the hospital,
Harding gives us the sorts of rational explanations we're used to hearing.
It's Harding who tells McMurphy how Nurse Ratched is able to maintain her
power, how electroshock therapy works, what a lobotomy does to people. It's
Harding who helpss the new patients and the reader understand the matriarchy
directed bt Nurse Ratched. His change and cure is complete, thanks to McMurphy.
TOPICS TO CONSIDER
Physical and moral courage
What is insanity?
Group effort - The Combine
Morality - good over evil
Biblical allegory
Challenging symbols of conformity
Importance of sexuality
Anti-feminism - superiority of males
Human freedom vs control
Humor and satire, the power of laughter
Cartoon imagery
Symbolism of names
BOOKS with BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION
Librarian Talk . . .About Books!
Apply online for a library card. Use your card to:
1) Place a Hold on a book and have it sent to the library closest to you
2) Access journal and reference databases from home, and
3) Access e-Books from NetLibrary.
Online or e-Books are available at NetLibrary. Use your library card to log in.
Ref PN883 .C64. Contemporary Novelists
Overview of the author's works and writing style.
Ref PN41 .D5, Vol. 76. Dictionary of Literary Biography
Detailed biographical sketch of Kesey, his writings, and general critical
commentary.
PS3561 .E667 Z88. Ken Kesey
Criticism and interpretation of Kesey's works as well as biographical information.
HV 5825.W56. Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test
The story of the Merry Pranksters bus trip.
BOOKS to EXPLAIN THE TIMES
Ref PN50 .L574, Vol. 4. Literature and Its Times
Highly recommended to immerse the reader in the time in which the novel
takes place. Includes synopsis, social history, treatment, plot, and
reviews.
Ref BF31 .E52. Encyclopedia of Psychology
Use for descriptions of schizophrenia and other mental disorders.
Ref E169.1 .A471872, vol. 7. America in the 20th Century
Background information on the counterculture.
Ref E169.12 .A419, Vol. 7. American Decades 1960 - 1969
Background information on the sixties, with several references to Kesey.
HV5825 .J65. Hep-cats, Narcs and Pipe Dreams: A History of America's
Romance with Illegal Drugs
Background for early LSD and other drug use in America.
HV5822 .L9 S74. Storming Heaven: LSD and the American Dream
An excellent book on its subject.
BOOKS Containing CRITICISMS
Ref PN771 .C59. Contemporary Literary Criticism
Excerpts from critical essays. Also available online through Literature
Resource Center.
Ref PN523 .W67. World Literature Criticism
Similar to CLS, this book has excellent information for background reading.
Ref PR888 .P53 R43 Reader's Guide to the Twentieth Century Novel
Evaluates the novel's place in its time.
PS3561.E667 O538 . Readings on One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest.
Twelve critical essays.
FINDING
JOURNAL ARTICLES
Librarian Talk . . . About Finding Journal and Newspaper Articles!
Electronic databases are purchased by the libraries for your research use. To find articles in newspapers and journals, letters, reference books, illustrations, photographs and more, use your updated library card to login to the following databases. If you find an interesting article that is not full-text, please give the correct bibliographic information to our Reference Librarians and they will see that you get the article. They will need full bibliographic information - and your name and address. Send your phone number as well, so they can contact you if they need to. There is some overlap of articles in the following databases. However, we encourage you to use more than one. All are excellent sources for this topic.
HINT: For a full list of article databases, go to http://Library.LoneStar.edu and use your library card for login.
Includes articles from CLC
and DLB as well as some full text journal articles. MLA, the most
comprehensive literature journal index, is a subset of Literature Resource
Center.
Index to journals articles,
many full text. While similar to Proquest, it may have different articles.
INTERNET SITES
Librarian Talk . . . About the Internet!
The Internet will be a wonderful source of original documents. Browse the sites we have suggested below. Remember, you do want to find reputable sites. Look at:
Accuracy - The information should be researched and show proof that it has been.
Source - Who wrote the information? Look at the domain. .edu .gov. org .net are valid research sources.
Authority - What are the author's credentials? (Don't quote from another college freshman's paper.)
Coverage - Does the page have the information you need for your research?
Objectivity - If a work is biased, use it - just make sure your professor knows YOU know. And offer both sides of issues, where applicable.
The reviews here are short, rated, and by reader's of Kesey's books.
They are not considered literary criticism. You can buy a book online
from this site.
Support for a successful paper is more than finding the right resources. Putting it all together takes time and effort. Sometimes it takes additional help from the librarians or tutors. Please consider the following resources if you need additional help. Remember, the expert on the assignment is your professor; use the eCollege VISTA in-class email to contact her.
MLA Style Guide |
Lone Star College-Kingwood Library guide. Examples of both paper and electronic citations.
Learning
Center | Check our Learning
Center hours for in-house tutoring.
For more about the life and times of the author, watch
Ken Kesey: One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest by Peggy Whitley (approx 5 min; requires
QuickTime.
Note: this may take a few minutes to load.)
