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The 1950s seemed like a perfect decade. The rise of suburbs outside cities led to an expansion of the middle class, thus allowing more Americans to enjoy the luxuries of life. The rise of these suburbs also allowed the middle class to buy houses with land that used to only be owned by more wealthy inhabitants. Towns like Levittown-one of the first suburbs- were divided in such a way that every house looked the same (“Family Structures”). Any imperfections were looked upon as unfavorable to the community as a whole. Due to these values, people today think of the 1950s as a clean cut and model decade. This is a simplistic perception because underneath the surface, events that took place outside the United States actually had a direct effect on our own country’s history. The rise of Communism in Russia struck fear into the hearts of the American people because it seemed to challenge their supposedly superior way of life. In the novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Ken Kesey argued that this presumed model society was actually quite the opposite. Kesey argued this through the use of the characters in the novel. Nurse Ratched was a character who symbolized the communist rule in Russia, and she displayed absolute power over the patients in the ward. She was depicted as what was wrong with society, and the patients feared her as the Americans feared communists. Randle McMurphy retaliated against Nurse Ratched in order to challenge her control, just as the Americans fought against Communism in the Cold War. Although it seemed as though there were some positive aspects of domestic life in the 1950s, Ken Kesey argued that American society at the time was tainted due to the roles of fear, the rejection of those who were different, and t... ... middle of paper ... ...int. Parker, Richard. "Richard Parker." Richard Parker. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 May 2014. "Space Race." Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum Home Page. Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum. Web. 9 May 2014. “The effect of World War II” 1950s vol. 4. Danbury: Grolier, Scholastic Library Publishing, 2005. 120-121. Print. “The ‘Red Scare’” 1950s vol. 3. Danbury: Grolier, Scholastic Library Publishing, 2005. 173-174. Print. "Welcome to Bikini Atoll." Welcome to Bikini Atoll. Web. 7 May 2014. Whissen, Thomas Reed. "One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest: Ken Kesey (1962)."Classic Cult Fiction: A Companion to Popular Cult Literature. Westport, Conn: Greenwood, 1992. 164-69. Rpt. in Contemporary Literary Criticism. Ed. Jeffrey W. Hunter. Vol. 341. Detroit: Gale, 2013.Artemis Literary Sources. Web. 5 May 2014.
In One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, there is much controversy and bias present throughout the characters in the Combine. The patients have been rejected and forgotten about by society and left to rot with the antithesis of femininity: Nurse Ratched. But even Ratched isn’t immune to the scrutiny of the outside world, and she has to claw her way into power and constantly fight to keep it. With his own experiences and the societal ideals of the 1960’s, Ken Kesey displays how society isolates and ostracizes those who do not follow the social norms or viewed as inferior to the white american males.
Society in America during the 1950’s was one that portrayed men and women in very different, but rigid roles. Women were housewives, secretaries, and mothers. Men were providers, war heroes, and businessmen. Television, newspapers and magazines played an important role as well in determining ways men and women should behave. Advertisements for real estate were designed to sell to the “All-American” family. For example; Dad would be the returned home veteran who is now running the company, Mom is an ideal housewife who works a couple days a week for extra vacation cash, little Billy likes baseball and his sister Susie plays with dolls. Houses designed with this type of family in mind would prove very effective in luring away many from the city to live in suburbs like this at a rapid pace. Most jobs in the work place were gender divided. Help-wanted ads placed in newspapers in the 1950’s were very gender biased as well. Some ads with attention getting headlines could have read: “Sales Girl,” and “Brides! Housewives!” Occupations offered to women at this time were very limiting.
...simov. Ed. Joseph D. Olander and Martin Harry Greenberg. N.p.: Taplinger, 1977. 32-58. Rpt. in Contemporary Literary Criticism. Ed. Jean C. Stine. Vol. 26. Detroit: Gale, 1983. 41-45. Print.
...Literary Criticism. Ed. Dedria Bryfonski. Vol. 12. Detroit: Gale Research, 1980. Literature Resources from Gale. Web. 3 Mar. 2014.
in the Postwar United States.” Ed. Kevin M. Kruse and Thomas J. Sugrue. The New
in Twentieth- Century Literary Criticism. Ed. Janet Witalec. The. Vol.
The innovational time of the 1950s was known for the uprising of mass culture within America. Due to the financially fluctuating years prior, Americans were unable to spend much and were excited to take advantage of the new consumer goods introduced in the 1950s. There were new movies, television programs, genres and superstars of music, new products and new ways to get them that all became frenzies with the American people. Mass culture was responsible for bringing the nation new diversity in many different areas of society, bringing out a new idea of societal a...
Ganzel, Bill. "Society in The 1950s." Shmoop.com. Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 17 Feb. 2014.
The 1950s was a period of both consensus and discontent, which impacted the political, social, and cultural history of the decade. There were numerous things that the people agreed and disagreed on, like anticommunism and McCarthyism, the Korean and Vietnam wars, and the Civil Rights Movement. The country seemed divided about almost every event that occurred during this time period because the air was filled with so much tension from the Cold War.
During the years between 1920 and 1960, America saw change in many aspects of life. The United States was a part of two major wars and a crash of the banking system that crippled the economy greater than ever seen in this country’s history. Also the country had new insecurities to tackle such as immigration and poor treatment of workers. These events led to the change of America lives socially, economically, and politically. The people of America changed their ideas of what the country’s place in the world should be. The issues challenging America led the country to change from isolation to war, depression to prosperity, and social change. The threats to American way of life, foreign and domestic, were the changing forces to the country in the twenties to the sixties.
The 1950’s were a deeply nostalgic time period for many Americans. This was a time of new technologies, economic expansion, a better standard of living and a growing middle class. By 1960, an estimated sixty percent of Americans enjoyed what the government defined as a middle-class standard of living. An increasing amount of people had access to television, air conditioning, dishwashers and air travel. America was being cultivated into a suburban nation because of cookie-cutter housing developments like the Levittowns. The number of homes doubled during this decade. While the white working class saw their status and wages improve,not everyone was reaping the benefits of this uplifting time. Many people were excluded from the prosperity of the
During the post WWII period in America, the face of the nation changed greatly under the presidency of Truman and Eisenhower. America underwent another era of good feelings as they thought themselves undefeatable and superior over the rest of the world. Communism was the American enemy and American sought to rid the world of it. Because of the extreme paranoia caused by Communism, conformity became an ideal way to distinguish American Culture from the rest. Conformity became a part of every American Life to a large extent. It became evident through the medium of culture, society and politics throughout the era of the 50s.
"Ernest J. Gaines." Contemporary Literary Criticism. Ed. Jeffrey W. Hunter. Vol. 300. Detroit: Gale, 2011. N. pag. Artemis Literary Sources. Web. 9 May 2014.
Rpt. in Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism. Ed. Linda Pavlovski. Vol.
Century Literature Criticism. Ed. Jay Parini. Vol. 14. Detroit: Gale Research, 1987. Literature Resource Center. Web. 24 Jan. 2012.