Sane Versus Insane

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Recommended: What did Ken Kesey want the reader to think about in One Flew Oer the Cuckoos Nest

Whether it is called a mental hospital, insane asylum or sanatorium, there are negative connotations connected to these titles. Your head is immediately filled with images of people off their rockers, some drooling and others moaning or crying out while others are being strapped down to gurneys being transported behind dark doors. When one thinks of the patients at these hospitals, one’s mind may wander to inquire about those behind the scenes, running it all. In One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Ken Kesey hints that Nurse Ratched is herself insane. It provides irony throughout the novel and social commentary about the corrupt system of mental institutions for the audience. By taking Ratched’s behavior and reactions throughout the novel into consideration, it becomes more apparent that she may fit in with the patients more than with her colleagues. Also, Kesey worked as a janitor at a mental hospital and began to think that the patients “were not really crazy after all, just more individualized than society was willing to accept” (Whitley). Through first hand experience, Kesey was able to write this satire on both the patients and staff. Nurse Ratched displays paranoiac tendencies throughout, which push her closer and closer to the edge as her limits are tested by the patients. Her desire and need for the strict routine is the first sign. She “tends to get real put out if something keeps her outfit from running smooth” (28). When something goes wrong she is infuriated, but only on the inside, for she has an odd ability to constantly keep her temper in check. The routine is what keeps everything predictable for her and she is in a constant fear of something getting off its track. Her paranoia is the reason that she detests McMur... ... middle of paper ... ... social commentary for the audience. He is putting the corrupt system of mental institutions on display in a crafty way. Because Kesey has worked in mental hospitals in the past, he is a liable source to give a first hand look into that world that few citizens are aware of. The fact that these hospitals have someone employed that is potentially mentally incapable or unstable is not a comforting thought to anyone, let alone the families of the patients. In the 1960’s, mental hospitals were notorious for having unorthodox methods and sadistic caretakers, which provides a nice little category for One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest to fit into. Kesey is using this medium to make his option that mental institutions are run under a corrupt system and staff known. Since then, more investigations were done and regulations put in place so that the patients treatment improved.

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