One of my favorite novels is One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey (1962). In the description of the book, it is written that it tells a story of a killer who pretends to be deaf and mute to escape a prison sentence. Generally, this description is correct. Nonetheless, the plot is much more complex, impressive, and even dramatic. This essay is dedicated to this novel because its end causes strong emotions and breaks the heart. In my opinion, the major value of a person’s life is freedom. Freedom to be what you are until it harms other people. The novel shows that freedom is so fragile because everyone could be easily deprived of it.
The story takes place in one of the American psychiatric hospitals in the late 1950s – early 1960s. The patient who pretends to be deaf, mute, and insane is called Chief Bromden. He is half-Native American and the narrator. The most crucial character of the novel is Randle McMurphy. He is put into the hospital as a punishment for being impulsive, rebellious, and prone to gambling and battery. McMurphy is a freedom-loving and passionate person, and he tries to break the rules that restricted him until those rules broke him.
It is also interesting to notice that Bromden frequently claims that the hospital installs wires into each patient to control everyone but McMurphy. In the beginning, it seems that Bromden is indeed crazy because, obviously, there are no wires, fog machines, and remote control. Still, by the end of the book, it becomes clear what Bromden is talking about. The character of Chief Bromden does not cause any emotions, whereas McMurphy captivates with his energy, keen mind, and internal freedom. McMurphy fights with the tyrannical Nurse Ratched, who keeps the patients and the staff members in fear and brutally manipulates them.
In the context of the book, our world is getting better because nowadays, no one could make a lobotomy to a person who is a little more feisty, humorous, and independent than others. People are fighting against violations of human rights, and biases on racial, religious, and gender grounds. However, the increased freedom of people gradually turns into a trap for humanity. If to omit this philosophical discussion, overall, life is becoming better because treatment methods are becoming more humane due to scientific progress and technological development.
Reference
Kesey, K. (1962). One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Penguin.