One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest: Conformity, Oppression as a Juxtaposition Between Sanity, Insanity

Henry David Thoreau believed that "the only place for a just man is. . . a prison." As he spent his time in a jail, the famous writer concluded that majority rules in a society "not because [it is] most likely to be in the right. . . but because [it is] physically the strongest." Perhaps the dysfunction of the prisons is a mirror image of the hidden, buried troubles in all people. It is society who dictated norms and urges conformity, while those individuals who reject societal views and pressures are the ones deemed insane. Ken Kesey wove a similar mirror image of society and asylums into his novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest which tells the story of a cowboy-like outlaw named Randall McMurphy who is introduced into a mental institution to contain his behavior but instead incites rebellion among the patients who suffer under the overbearing Big Nurse and aides like Doctor Spivey. McMurphy, Chief Bromden, and Harding represent a uniqueness or variation of humanity and personality discarded by society and pressured into conformity by Big Nurse, a puppet of modern "truths," and Doctor Spivey, a bystander resembling the typical American.

Nurse Ratched's position as the final authority and chief guardian of the mental hospital extends beyond the literal duty. She represents the only link between the insane men and the society living beyond their cage, taking on the role of the preserver of modern society and its structure. The woman is introduced as a "smooth, calculated, and precision-made" entity that carries a purse filled with cogs, springs, and other tools that would allow the machinery of the institution to run smoothly (Kesey 13). In fact, the narrator notes that the only humane features of the Nurse are her breasts, which must account for an error that was made in manufacturing. Even at a time when the nurse's colored red lips, a highly feminine feature, leave a lipstick stain on a cup, it is recognized as "heat," since the "touch" of her machinery "set is smoldering" (Kesey 72). Kesey's choice to portray Ratched as a tool rather than simply a living dictator alludes to the notion that she symbolizes the power, influence, and motives of the society employing her.

Such a conclusion becomes evident when Nurse's tactics of control are exposed. Rather than seeking a cure for the patients' ills and offering them the assistance they need in dealing with the social issues that plague them, the woman responds by using "therapy sessions" that more closely resemble a "pecking party" to incinerate the masculinity of the patients under her watch (Kesey 27). As seen in the therapy session with Harding, the nurse aimed for his "vitals" by highlighting the fact he cannot satisfy his wife, a point meant to undermine the most intelligent patient's confidence (Kesey 29). When the Nurse does not receive the compliance she is engineering, she threatens patients to "cooperate with the staff policy which is engineered for [their] cure" or"end up over on [the Chronic]side" (Kesey 8). Ratched "recognizes this fear and knows how to put it to use" (Kesey 8). Each day the Acutes, or treatable patients, are reminded of the woman's warning by the presence of the "Vegetables," or lobotomized patients, sprinkled in their midst. Such threats offer little positive reinforcement for the patients to change their socially unacceptable behaviors and "toe the line" (Kesey 28); instead, they emphasize the societal pressure for all to succumb to the definition of sanity and become uniform members of a community.

In addition to mental and emotional aggression, Big Nurse at times employs more physically destructive means to root out patient thoughts and behaviors that are supposedly unacceptable. In most cases the woman prefers to use the "Shock Shop," a treatment which exposes free-thinking patients to sessions of electrocution, to train the patients to suppress their thoughts in a Pavlovian manner. In severe cases of non-conformity and violations of her wishes, Big Nurse sends men off to "filthy brain-murdering room[s]" where they undergo a lobotomy, a surgical removal of the frontal lobes of the brain that harbor basic thought processes (Kesey 7). The symbolism in the lobotomy is undeniable, since the removal of a portion of the human brain is the ultimate way to root out individuality and resistance to external authority.

Interestingly, while the Nurse herself is portrayed as a piece of "machinery, humming hate and death," she attempts to turn the patients under her watch into mechanized beings as well, indicating her own loss of individuality as she became an agent of society (Kesey 2). By referring to some of them as "bleeding rust in some vacant lot," Kesey allows the Nurse to allude to the emotional fate of conformity (Kesey 7). Ratched's entire role in the asylum portrays the relationship between the misuse of power in the ward with the same misuse beyond the hospital's walls.

McMurphy reveals himself to be a living symbol of the noble traits forgotten by the modern people, characteristics which Nurse Ratched sets out to correct. McMurphy embodies the brazen traits that were once admired in early American culture. As this cowboy swaggers into the asylum it is clear that "he's no ordinary Admission" (Kesey 5). Such an observation alone foreshadows that McMurphy represents the coming of change. Through his handling of Big Nurse and his battling with the authority of the institution, McMurphy proves to be an instigator and a revolutionary who aims to topple the controlling mechanisms of the Combine. After winning several small battles over rights for the patients in matter like allowing card games and basketball, the apex of McMurphy's career as a revolutionary leader surfaces through the World Series. Since the event is not televised during "regulation TV time," McMurphy decides to negotiate with Big Nurse in an unprecedented move towards change in policy (Kesey 56). After some negotiation, a voting session is introduced among the patients with the baseball issue at hand. Although the vote is lost the first time, McMurphy successfully introduces the idea of democracy into the closed, totalitarian atmosphere of the mental hospital. Rather than having each part of the day dictated for them, the patients for once were able to voice their own wishes through democratic processes of free voting, majority ruling, and some free speech on Mac's behalf to shatter the "delicately balanced" structure of their prison (Kesey 56).

After a victorious second round of voting where the men overcome their fear that "if [they] raise [their] hand[s] that old buzzard [Ratched] will cut [them] off," Mac leads the way to another revolutionary confrontation with Nurse Ratched (Kesey 57). After refusing the woman's command to stop watching television, the instigator-of-conflict Mac reveals his rebellious influence as he and the other patients remain seated in front of the screen. Such action unravels the connection between control and the individual will and power, with Mac and his group of men revealing their desire for independence. Even after the television is turned off, McMurphy and the other Acute patients remain seated staring at a blank screen. With the powers of democracy liberated and firmly strapped to his belt, Mac took a step toward the philosophy of passive resistance through his actions. Following the steps of Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr., McMurphy and the patients defy societal commands and pressures by defiance rather than violence.

Despite such noble defiance, society seems to have trouble handling the revolutionary sense that created the foundations of the people's own country. While Americans often associate revolution with heroic icons like the Founding Father who risked their lives for freedom and change, they imprison and punish the man who rises for equality among men who have suffered for years as a result of societal labels and stereotypes of those different than the majority. The Founding Fathers were deemed insane by the British for the ideas they instituted into their new government but raised the foundations of the most powerful nation; similarly, McMurphy's struggle in the asylum could have transformed the institution into a more beneficial entity. The call of change brought in by Mac is present even in his name, since the initials of Randall P. McMurphy yield "RPM," an acronym for "revolutions per minute." The man does in fact move the gears of change by the call that "[he's] starting to spin" (Kesey 127). Had society not enclosed concrete walls around him, McMurphy's wheels of revolution would have carried the men to a greater life.

Finally, Kesey injects a dosage of irony into McMurphy's persona by allowing him to rise among the patients as an important symbol in American culture, Jesus Christ, and having society itself cage him in a mental asylum. Mac's representation as a savior begins with the fact that his defiance as a revolutionary has inspired the people of his lands, his fellow patients. For example, Chief overcame his silence as he spent his night in a cell near Mac while Bibbit overcame his low self confidence as he had sex with McMurphy's female friend. As a whole, each of the men evolved from a "rabbit" by confronting the troubles that haunted him through Mac's guidance. Like Jesus, McMurphy arrived at the asylum and preached a new lifestyle to the people he encountered, one that supported equality, freedom, and self-worth. In the same manner that Christ defied the Roman authorities and caused social unrest in Jerusalem, Mac interrupted Big Nurse's machinery and inspired the patients to shed away their old selves. McMurphy became the other men's savior since he took upon himself their problems and sins by giving them the taste of freedom.

The Christ figure in McMurphy surfaces and shines brightest in the final moments of the savior's life. Before his final return to the asylum, Mac chooses to go on a fishing trip with twelve other patients, echoing the story of Jesus' twelve disciples at the last supper. As the men found themselves, Mac became "dreadfully tired and strained and frantic," since he could no longer support the price he had to pay for the troubles of others; like Jesus, McMurphy knew that death was imminent, as symbolized by his grabbing one of the very few life jackets on the fishing trip. After inspiring the men he had met for so long and teaching them "to laugh at the things that hurt [them,]" Mac is tragically crucified like the symbol behind him (Kesey 114). Rather than dying on a crucifix, the hero is sprawled upon a table for a "brain burning," the lobotomy (Kesey 86). Before his procedure the man asks for a "crown of thorns" (Kesey 129); this crown is the most powerful religious symbol that can be associated with Christ, since he, too, wore such a crown at the final moments before his death.

On the other hand, Chief Bromden, a Native American Acute, represents the ancient and earthy way of life of humanity before it was shed away by modernization paired with globalization. The Indian represents a link to the Earth and a time when society focused on nature through worship of wild deities and animals as seen before the European colonization North America. Over the centuries, however, globalization and the spread of ideas sent the Indian values into dusty social corners. The most prime example of society's transformation from a free forest-dwelling spirit of the Indian into a "finely calculated" and destructive force that threatens the wild is through a key aspect of American economy and politics: Social Security. As Bromden tells the story of how his father, "the pine that stands tallest on the mountain," was tricked by his white wife and government officials into selling his tribal lands, he recalls his mother's attitude (Kesey 99). Rather than expressing respect for the culture of her Indian husband, she states that they "ain't Indians" but are "civilized" people who should move to a town where they can "[get] a Social Security card" (Kesey 130). The Social Security program symbolizes the modern uniformity of citizens; rather than evaluating the uniqueness in each person, the federal program changes millions into simple strings of meaningless digits. Even the basic entity of one's individuality, a name, is erased as databases of digits rob diversity from life. Moreover, the mother's response that the family is civilized indirectly states that the Indian lifestyle is savage and beastly. However, the Native Americans may be more civilized because of the respect they give to their environment and their spiritual connections.

Bromden's behavior in times of fear or conflict further illustrate the way in which nature's beings live through this man. When he is sought by a black aide, Chief hides in a closet as his enemy is "smelling and. . . hunting around," much like the bird hid from Chief's father and hunting dog in a childhood memory (Kesey 4). Chief takes on the role of the animal in this instance and resorts to primitive cowardly tactics for protection. Like the bird "hunched up" in the tree, Chief is "safe as long as he keeps still" in his closet (Kesey 5). He knows that to survive in today's world, he must keep his head out of sight and his mouth shut. Such a life strategy not only implies physical safety but also mental welfare, since survival for Bromden can only be guaranteed by the suppression of his individuality. Chief alludes to the suppression of Indians by American society by sharing with the reader that his "being half Indian" had "helped [him be] cagey. . . all these years" (Kesey 2). Kesey appreciated the strength of the Indians and their struggle against modernization; the preservation of the culture that this group achieved lives on through the author's characters, despite society's bias and impression that they are uncivilized.

Nature's lack of voice in modern society is further highlighted by Chief's pretense as a deaf and mute. The Indian uses silence as a cover and a voiceless barrier against the threats he faces. The forests, gods, and animals of Bromden's tribes are silenced and rooted out to allow modern mechanized society to expand, as exemplified by the relocation of "Papa's" tribes and the deforestation of the country. Such destruction is seen in the morality of modern man as well, since businesses and admirable leaders in the community at times employ deceit and fraud for their own betterment.

In addition to McMurphy and Bromden, one of the prime examples of society's tendency to reject anyone different than the majority is the patient Harding, who speaks with McMurphy in secret and implies his struggle with homosexuality. Harding struggles with his inability to satisfy his "ball-cutter" wife and confesses to have "indulged in certain prac­tices that our society regards as shameful" (Kesey 141). Harding's file holds no recollections of true mental disorders or physical disabilities, leaving only a man who cannot confront his personal insecurities and problems in the household. With his true identity, passions, and feelings contained in an inner prison of the heart and mind created by "the pointing finger of society," Harding becomes haunted by "the great voice of millions chanting" about the "shame" and disgrace that such a minority creates (Kesey 141). Forty years since, society is still struggling with accepting homosexuality into mainstream thought, exemplified by the conflicts over gay rights. Even today some consider the lifestyle to be a personal choice or mental illness, a factor which relates back to Harding and his status as an Acute who is hospitalized until he corrects the insane behavior which landed him in therapy.

Finally, although he is a representative of the Combine and an aide to Big Nurse, Doctor Spivey embodies the effect that modern American culture has brought upon the people. The official works alongside the ultimate tyrannical force in the asylum but seems to have a humane side that surfaces during the first therapy session with the patient Harding. As McMurphy releases a witty joke into the air about touching Harding's wife's breasts, Spivey laughs despite Big Nurse's disgust. The man enjoys McMurphy's courage and defiance. The instance may be a simple case of good humor on McMurphy's part, but the doctor's sympathy again resurfaces in his support of the airing of the World Series for the patients as proposed by McMurphy.

However, the Doctor's amicability is only a disguise for the fact that "the doctor is just as helpless against [Nurse Ratched] as the [patients] are" (Kesey 30). Although the doctor sees no harm in allowing the men to watch baseball, he refuses to truly defy Big Nurse or allow his opinions to clash with the supervisor's motives. In a heated debate between Mac and the other patients, Spivey is portrayed as a "rabbit" while Big Nurse stands guard as a vicious "wolf" (Kesey 31); such metaphors create the image of a powerless doctor dangling between the sharp-toothed jaws of a hungry Big Nurse. Moreover, the doctor hides his secret weakness, an addiction to the drug Demerol, which is supplied to him solely by Big Nurse. The drug, Demerol, represents the doctor's addiction to his own power and position in society. Recognizing the humanity in each patient does not push Spivey to refuse or to challenge Big Nurse and society's perception of the insane. Since challenging the ultimate authority, Big Nurse and the foundation of modern America, would endanger his well-being and growth, he chooses to remain silent and reap the benefits of his personal luxuries and freedoms. Spivey is dependent on Ratched, since the woman can "pick up that phone" and destroy his life instantly (Kesey 30).

In conclusion, the narrator notes that Nurse is like a "motor pulling too big a load," hinting at the fact that society cannot contain all of its hidden secrets (Kesey 3). Such an attempt would overload the system with the amount of people deemed "unstable" and would cause this motor to explode under the pressure. But the point remains that modern society needs no such mechanism. Instead, individuality and diversity should be embraced, since globalization and the melting pots that cities have become threaten the variety of people that was once so common. People can only learn from diversity and allow the society prospers with fair opportunity for all.

Ken Kesey, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." Penguin Classics.