Bibliophilia - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey

A Story of Freedom, Power, and Self-Opression

One of my all-time favorite books, which I can warmly recommend to just about anyone living in our repressive society, is this highly acclaimed novel by Ken Kesey. Though it was written in the sixties, and it is set in a mental hospital of that time, it deals with issues that reach far beyond the confines of a psych ward. It examines the ideas of freedom, power, coercion, and allowing others to exercise control over us. Its message today is as important as ever, if not even more so. 

The book relates the struggles of the protagonist, McMurphy with the social and mental manipulation he encounters at the psychological institution. As a former gambler and brawler he had too many run ins with the law, and was placed from jail into the mental hospital, initially to determine whether his social deviance was caused by a psychological disorder. A vibrant free spirit, McMurphy has no problem seizing his individual freedom, without causing any harm to himself or his surroundings. However his constant challenging of the power system in place puts an increasing strain on his relationship with the hospital staff, particularly Nurse Ratched, who ultimately proves to be more powerful than him.

The narrator of the story is the indigenous Chief Bromden, a fellow patient at the ward. He uses MacMurphy’s example to talk about the Combine, the combination of the various systems of power, reaching from the police and military to bureaucrats, schools, hospitals, all the way to the conformist society of the time. In his narrative Chief Bromden illustrates the various ways the Combine can gain power over individuals, not only by conventional violent means, but rather in the manipulative, socially coercive way Nurse Ratched holds power over the patients.

Instead of strict but straight-forward disciplinary measures, which McMurphy is used to from the prison farm, patients at the institution are usually shamed, blamed, humiliated, pit against each other, and coerced by subtle psychological means into giving up their power voluntarily. Since McMurphy is naturally free, meaning he doesn’t care too much about what others think of him, and his respect for authority only goes so far that it doesn’t restrict him in doing what he wants, these mind-games affect him little. He maintains a cheerful, and rambunctious attitude throughout most of the book, to the great frustration of the nurse, and the entertainment of his fellow patients, as well as the reader.

Much More Than a Psych Ward Novel 

When I first read One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest as a teenager, I liked it for detailing the horrific practices at mental wards of the past. Its description of badly applied electroshock therapy and lobotomy, all in midst of white tiles and syringes had an eerie fascination on me. The next layer I enjoyed was the character of McMurphy, with his insurmountable spirit that would refuse to succumb to the usual strategy imposed on the rest. These are the two factors that also make the 1975 film adaptation of this novel so enjoyable. However, the book has a further layer beyond these, which does not really come to shine in the movie that well. This is Chief Bromden’s comparison of the practices within the ward to how his native people were subjugated by various means beyond physical violence.

Since the Combine is a very general antagonist, the reader will notice numerous parallels in the various institutions ruling over our lives. Social conformity is maybe the most subtle, but at the same time most powerful of these forces, and the interaction within the walls of the psych center reflect this very well. The examples are so numerous and varied, that the reader will no doubt be reminded of similar examples they might have experienced from parents, teachers, partners, employers, or others attempting psychological manipulation on them. The fact that these multi-faceted examples are pulled together under the umbrella of the Combine raises the point that they are not individual cases, isolated from each other, but are in fact parts of the same system, keeping us under control. Worst of all, by submitting to this subtle coercion, we are giving up our own power, essentially putting the leash on our own necks. What keeps the reader from erupting in open rebellion is the threat of actual physical violence the Combine results to if the subtler means of coercion fail, as the book clearly shows.

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My 12 Most Recommendable Permaculture Readings
Another 12 Permaculture Books - Specialized Readings
Riane Eisler – The Chalice and the Blade
William McDonough and Michael Braungart - Cradle to Cradle
Charles Eisenstein - Sacred Economics
Ken Kesey - One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Charles C. Mann - 1491
Tom Wolfe - From Bauhaus to Our House
Ideas and Concepts of Daniel Quinn
B. Traven - The Death Ship and The Cotton Pickers
Books by Wladimir Kaminer
Remembering the Good Doctor Gonzo - Hunter S. Thompson
Tom Wolfe - The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test
Robert A. Wilson Expanding His Readers' Minds
Gary Jennings' Head-dive into Mexican History