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Ken Kesey: One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

M

mialeah

New Member
So I just finished reading One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. I absolutely loved it. The symbolism of struggle vs. oppression and "a sane man in a crazy institution" reallly stood out in my mind. If you've read the book, what elements did you particularly find interesting? Also, I was wondering about the possible Christian undertones... I was disussing it with someone I know and they claimed there was no correlation. I've looked it up and it seems many people agree that there could be possible Christian symbolism, such as "martrydom" at the end.
 
Hey
I have heard a lot about this book. (mostly bad things, to be honest).
I havent read it, but in my literature class last year, we were studying a play called 'Cosi' which was also set in a mental home. I had to write an essay on lobotomies and related things and my teacher said to get most of my information on this book. So I got online and read up heaps about it. It sounded interesting, something I would like to eventually read.

Lani
 
Oh my gosh, I'm reading One Flew Over the Cukoo's nest right now, I'm about a quarter of the way through it and it's great so far.
 
I studied this book for literature and loved it.

Not sure about the Christian undertones thing, but I was discussing this with my brother the other day (he's Christian, I'm not), that you can probably find elements of Christianity in most stories, if you choose to see Christian writings as "fables" for lack of a better word.

I found the novel's approach to the categorisation of people into 'sane' and 'insane' interesting, as psychology is my major. I think it was brilliant of the author to tell the story through the eyes of an 'insane' person speaking as though the system is corrupt. We're never quite sure what is in his paranoid mind and what abuse is actually being dealt to the patients (I loved the bit about turning the clocks back!!)
 
I read this book a few months ago and loved it. I had seen the movie, which was great, but just doesn't compare.
Personally, I liked the symbolism pertaining to the sink...when McMurphy tries to lift it he can't, then says, "well I tried, didn't I?" Or something along those lines...he is always trying to change things in the ward and beat the system but ultimately fails as he recieves a labotomy...however the chief is able to lift the sink and escapes. I don't know, I just found that scene powerful.
Also I really liked the ending, I thought it was one of those books that when you finish reading it you're just like "wow."

I don't know about the christian symbolism though :confused:
 
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a good book, and the sane/insane theme is an interesting one, especially since it gradually seems that a large part of the bunch really are not insane in the traditional sense.

I think their is a certain degree of Christian symbolism in it, especially if
you read the part where McMurphy receives the electric-shock treatment with Bromden. There is some comparison to Jesus there, I feel.

Also, try counting McMurphy's "disciples" ;)
 
I am about 3/4 of the way through Cuckoo's Nest. This is a wonderful book. McMurphy may be one of the "great characters". I just love his mood swings, hilarious comments, brilliant conniving, empathy with the other patients.

Kesey's POV, the big chief, is brilliantly constructed and really adds a lot of texture to the story. What really strikes me about the chief is that his observations about the hospital and the patients are so vivid and accurate. I wish I could think of an exact example, but I'm writing this at quarter to two in the morning :eek: and I've had a couple of glasses of wine. He'll say something like "[So and so] was reinflated", or "His hands were nailed to the wall", "He melted out of his clothes across the floor" His descriptions read as poetic and beautiful. That's not what makes them so cool though. It's the fact that he is being quite literal, just describing what his damaged psyche is seeing.

Hmm...maybe creativity is closer to insanity than I thought.

God I have got to get to bed
 
I didn't detect any Christian undertones in this book, although thinking about it you probably could compare McMurphy to Jesus. Honestly the only thing I really kept thinking about while reading this book was "When does it end?" I liked the character of McMurphy, but that was it.
 
McMurphy actually compares himself to Jesus when they are prepping him for the EST. He's really being sarcastic about it so I'm really not sure how much to make of it. Not really a Christian undertone IMO.

Well I just finished up. Great book. Great characters.
What a showdown between McMurphy and Ratchet. He really forced the conclusion didn't he? Of course what choice did he have? I really found the ending uplifting. Do ya'll think the chief's last EST actually helped "cure" him? I mean in reading his description of his recovery how it was so short and how he wasn't going to let them get him again. How he refused to let the fog suck him back in and how his thoughts became so much clearer. I guess it's a bit ironic that Ratchett's punishment, of course coupled with McMurphy's encouragement and friendship, ended up lifting him out of his disease.
 
I've only seen the film but have been meaning to read the book for a while now. Fantastic film. Am I right in thinking that the book is written from the chief's perspective?
 
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