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Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest

Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest. Key Facts:. Allegorical novel Written in late 1950s Published 1962 First person Narrator—Chief Bromden Told as a flashback after his escape Setting—mental hospital, Oregon Protagonist—Randle P. McMurphy. Theme:.

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Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest

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  1. Ken Kesey’sOne Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest

  2. Key Facts: • Allegorical novel • Written in late 1950s • Published 1962 • First person • Narrator—Chief Bromden • Told as a flashback after his escape • Setting—mental hospital, Oregon • Protagonist—Randle P. McMurphy

  3. Theme: —the central idea or ideas explored by a literary work.

  4. Themes: • Struggle for power/control • Women as Castrators • The Power of Laughter

  5. Themes (contd.): • Imagination vs. Reality • Violence • Altruism vs. Selfishness • Fear of experience vs. Experience • Euthanasia

  6. Motifs: —recurring elements that develop and inform the major themes.

  7. Motifs: • Invisibility • Bromden’s deaf and dumb act • Fog • Hallucinations • Power of Laughter • Reality vs. imaginary

  8. Symbolism: —use of objects to represent things such as ideas and emotions —something that represents itself and something else

  9. Symbols: • The fog machine • The white whales on McMurphy’s boxer shorts • The electroshock therapy table

  10. Symbolism (contd.): • McMurphy as Jesus Christ • Other men on the ward as Christ’s disciples

  11. Foreshadowing: • The story of Maxwell Taber • Electroshock therapy table shaped like a cross • The deaths of Rawler, Cheswick, and Billy • Bromden’s dreams and hallucinations

  12. Types of Characters: • Flat or Static Characters— • Minor characters who do NOT undergo substantial change. • Round Characters— • Major characters who encounter conflict and are changed by it.

  13. Chief “Broom” Bromden: • The narrator • Six feet seven inches tall, but believes he is small and weak • Son of the chief of the Columbia Indians and a white woman • Faked being deaf and dumb • Has paranoia and hallucinations, received multiple electroshock treatments, been in the hospital for ten years—longer than any other patient in the ward • Bromden sees the hospital as a place meant to fix people who do not conform

  14. Billy Bibbit: • 31 years old • Stutters • Paranoid • Immature • Deathly afraid of his mother • Shy and impressionable • Looks up to McMurphy

  15. Charles Cheswick: • The first patient to support McMurphy’s rebellion against Nurse Ratched’s power • Talks a lot… does little • Drowns in the pool as a possible suicide

  16. George Sorenson: • Big Swede • Former seaman; recruited to captain the fishing excursion • Nicknamed “Rub-a-Dub” because of his cleanliness fetish

  17. Dale Harding: • A college-educated patient who voluntarily entered the institution • A homosexual • He checks himself out of the ward

  18. Maxwell Taber: • A former patient before McMurphy arrived • Like McMurphy, Taber questioned the nurse’s authority • Made docile by the electroshock therapy • Permitted to leave

  19. Sefelt and Fredrickson: • Two epileptic patients • They don’t receive the care they require

  20. Rawler: • A patient on the Disturbed ward • Commits suicide by cutting off his testicles

  21. Doctor Spivey: • Mild-mannered doctor • Addicted to opiates • Easily cowed; dominated by patients • Often supports McMurphy’s unusual plans for the ward

  22. Warren, Washington, Williams, and Geever: • Hospital aids • Hired because they are filled with hatred • Completely submissive to Nurse Ratched

  23. PROTAGONIST— • The main character and one the author wants you to cheer on. • ANTAGONIST— • Villain or character that causes trouble for the character the author wants you to support.

  24. Anti-hero: • ANTI-HERO—Character whose actions or morality may be flawed, yet he/she is not a villain. The Anti-hero accomplishes a useful deed or even does good deeds, so the audience supports him/her even though there are no traditional heroic qualities.

  25. Randle P. McMurphy: • Thirty-five years old, built, with red hair, a scar on his face and tattoos on his body • Transferred from a work farm • Diagnosed as a psychopath, but he is not really insane • Loud, confident, laughter • Outgoing and uninhibited

  26. Anti-hero Qualities: • Accused of Statutory Rape • Five fights • Vulgar/sexual comments • Racist behavior • Insults Dr. Harding • Uses the men • Self-serving

  27. “Big” Nurse Ratched: • The head of the ward; middle-aged; former army nurse • Very harsh and controlling • Hires staff if they are submissive, and easily controlled

  28. Antagonist Qualities: • No World Series. • No changes. • Belittles the patients. • Makes patients worried. • Offers no solutions to the problems. • Uses threats. • Causes trouble for the main character.

  29. Lobotomy: • Surgical procedure severing the nerve fibers connecting the frontal lobes to the thalamus as a relief of some mental disorders.

  30. Electroconvulsive Therapy: • A medical treatment for severe mental illness in which a small amount of electricity is introduced to the brain. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCUmINGae44

  31. Works Cited http://sparknotes.com http://www.minddisorders.com/images/gemd_02_img0087.jpg http://hvp.by.ru/IMAGES/Lobotomy2.jpg http://www.generationrxband.com/images/Lobotomy.jpg http://www.cerebromente.org.br/n04/historia/psycho-1.jpg

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