Introduction to One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

Mr. BaileyWinter 2012

Stereotype vs. Reality

VS

I. 1960’s Counter Culture (AKA Hippies)

American Culture

Post WWII “Baby Boom”

Counter Culture Response

Influx of Disillusioned Affluent Adolescents

Vietnam War Pacifism

Rise of TV and FM Radio Challenging of censorship; innovation in art

Assassination of JFK Paranoia and Skepticism about Government

Persistence of Racism and Segregation

Civil Rights Activism and Protest

Popular 1960’s American Music

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6h0Od2F1wk

Counter Culture 1960’s American Music

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rywtvmWP9Xs

Popular Concernshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HpAulI64OU

Counterculture Concernshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTJgMmHZNYQ

Ken Kesey

II. Ken KeseyA. 1935-2001

1. Date rage significance? He was alive for:a. Nuclear Bomb and end of WWII (1945)

b. Vietnam War (1955-1975)

c. Assassination of Kennedy (1963)

d. Assassination of Martin Luther King (1968)

e. First Man on Moon (1969)

2. Tumultuous period in American history greatly influenced his art

Imagine Living Through Events We Only Read About In History Books!

II. Ken Kesey (cont.)B. Ken Kesey was profoundly affected by the rise of

hallucinogenic drugs.

1. 1959, participates in government-sponsored experiments with people on LSD

2. Experiments took place in a Veteran’s hospital, with often shell-shocked and mentally unstable participants

3. Experiences in this project go on to inspire composition of Cuckoo’s Nest

II. Ken Kesey (cont.)C. Ken Kesey hosted “acid tests” for friends with “Merry

Pranksters”

1. Traveling parties that advocated use of LSD in San Fran area; eventually became common part of hippie scene

2. Kesey believed LSD taught men to think in new ways

Kesey on Acid:

(from"The Beyond Within: The Rise and Fall of LSD," 1987)

I believe that with the advent of acid, we discovered a new way to think, and it has to do with piecing

together new thoughts in your mind. Why is it that people think it's so evil? What is it about it that scares people so deeply? Because they're afraid that there's more to reality than they have confronted. That there are doors that they're afraid to go in, and they don't want us to go in there either, because if we go in we might learn something that they don't know. And that

makes us a little out of their control.

Catholic School Disclaimer:

LSD is a highly dangerous narcotic that can cause permanent psychosis from even a single use. Mental instability, schizophrenia, and detachment from reality are common effects!

II. Ken Kesey (concluded)

D. Liberal, anti-government, pacifist to the end

E. Continued to experiment with LSD and journey with “Merry Pranksters” even into his 60’s.

F. Profoundly affected by 9/11, and blamed U.S. militaristic conservative government

G. Died from complications related to a liver tumor

III. Origins of Cuckoo’s Nest

A. Kesey’s Goal: present social evils symbolically as mental institution and its staff

B. Kesey aimed to attack the “uniform, unimaginative, overly conditioned mentality of corporate America.”

C. Kesey hoped to criticize societal pressures that hinder individuality

III. Origins of Cuckoo’s Nest

D. Title comes from a nursery rhyme Chief Bromden recalls

Three geese in a flock

One flew East

One flew West

And one flew over the cuckoo's nest

Cuckoo’s Nest = asylum (which symbolizes society)

To “Fly Over” = escape/depart/differ from

IV. Cuckoo’s Nest in Canon of American Literature

A. Widely considered a classic, Cuckoo’s Nest is, like most literature, a response to the literature that came before it.

Think about the major works we have read so

far this year:

Huckleberry Finn America is like a river: it is alive, constantly

changing.

The Great Gatsby America is like a valley of ashes: dead, lifeless,

empty

The Crucible America is like a crucible: a hot, painful test of

integrity and honesty

Cuckoo’s Nest America is like an insane asylum; society traps,

restricts, and condemns those who are different or unique.

Combine:

Farm machine: removes grains from the chaff of wheat and other crops. Harvests what it wants, throws away what doesn’t belong as waste.

Why do you think this device is the primary symbol of a Modernist/Postmodernist work?

A. Puritanism

1. Kesey rejects conservative, outdated beliefs about sexuality and sin

2. Nurse Ratched exemplifies Puritan values

a. “Hidden” breasts

b. Torment of Billy Bibbet

B. Age of Reason

1. Kesey believed logic could not explain all of human nature

2. LSD was means of rejecting logic and exploring subconscious

C. Romanticism1. Closest

representation of Kesey’s beliefsa. Rich in symbolismb. Exploration of

imagination and subconscious

D. Realists1. Kesey, and most hippies,

agreed that life was grim, but refused to accept that it needed to stay that way

2. Emphasis on hope and change breaks Kesey from Realist tradition

E. Modernism/Postmodernis

m

1. Disjointed, dreamlike writing style is characteristic of postmodern literature

2. McMurphy and Bromden rebel against a symbolic society

3. Patients are stripped of their individuality

ConclusionKesey’s Cuckoo’s Nest symbolically depicts counterculture opposition to

society’s constraints. Highly influenced by 60’s drug culture, Kesey rejects previous literary eras in favor

of a new approach to writing about the human experience.