One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, written by Ken Kesey in 1962, tells the story of a man who fought his way out against an oppressive society and as a result is labeled as insane. One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest is an intelligent and satirical novel about how we treat and mistreat people who don’t fit in and the consequences of not conforming. One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest is narrated by Chief Bromden, a big man with “the eyes of dead buffalo” (Kesey 20). It’s important to note that as a schizophrenic Indian, Chief Bromden does not see himself as an Indian but rather he “ain’t no [sic] indian,” (Kesey 11).
No matter how hard he tries to deny it, he is still subjected to the trials and tribulations of a Native American in white society. Chief Bromden plays the role of the every man and speaks for all people who feel they do not truly belong. Chief Bromden serves as a means for Kesey to get his point across about society and how we treat people who don’t fit into society’s standards or life’s plan. One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest is told from Chief Bromden’s perspective; this allows us to get into the mind of an individual who feels like he doesn’t belong and must fight against society to survive.
One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest is meant to be a novel about the conflict between conformity and nonconformity (Coe 201). We’re introduced to Chief Bromden when he has just turned eighteen, in 1948. He was then committed to this mental institution for evaluation, at which point it became clear that “he seemed sane enough except for one thing: he claimed never to have been sick a day in his life, not even when the doctors examined him,”(Kesey 1). This seems plausible since up until this point Chief Bromden had worked in logging camps where he cut down trees for a living, which is very dangerous work.
However, it’s believed that he may have been faking his illness because he was able to think and follow orders, but at the same time not taking responsibility for what he says or does—a symptom of schizophrenia (Smith). One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest made me realize that people who don’t quite fit into society are often looked over and punished for being different. Society can be a scary place when you’re an outsider looking in. One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest tries to convey this idea by using Chief Bromden as its mouthpiece when telling how he feels about modern American culture.
Later on, Bromden tries to escape; he’s caught, but not before breaking his foot. Since then, “he had to wear a cast that went up past his knee, and he could only shuffle along” (Kesey 9). Then in his sophomore year Chief Bromden escapes again—this time he is away for two days. When apprehended, the doctors decided that Chief Bromden should be hospitalized for three years since “it was well-known that Indians often become violent when their brains are unbalanced by age or alcohol…the county hospital would hold him until it could prove beyond doubt that he was either cured or hopelessly insane” (Kesey 7).
So when considered dangerous because of his prior attempts at escaping, Chief Bromden was sent to the mental asylum, which is where One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest takes place. Since he doesn’t fit in with society yet seems to be “normal” enough to understand what’s going on around him, One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest paints a complete picture of how people who don’t conform are often labeled as something other than human. Chief Bromden sees himself as an Indian even though he hates his heritage and all that it represents for him (he cannot escape).
Chief Bromden struggles with this throughout One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest; his views on life prove that society forces people into one category another and there’s no room for diversity. One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest tries to convey this idea by using Chief Bromden as its mouthpiece when telling how he feels about modern American culture. One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest focuses on two things: Jack and Chief Bromden, who at first seem like they couldn’t be more different, yet they share common ground that allows them to understand each other better than anyone else in the novel.
Chief Bromden is a Native American patient of an Oregon psychiatric hospital (Ward) who suffers from hallucinations (he sees things such as fog and animals). He was committed because doctors believed him to be dangerous due to his “history of pretending to be sick in order to get out of prison work” (Cram). One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest is narrated by Chief Bromden, who felt like an outsider in society even before entering the mental institution.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is a novel written by Ken Kesey, which takes place in an asylum. One of the characters in this novel is Chief Bromden, who tells the story from his own perspective. One day during therapy, he reveals that his name is not actually ‘Chief Bromden’ but rather “it” (pg 98). When speaking to Nurse Ratched, who stands up for herself and belittles him for being rude, he admits he has called himself Chief Bromden since birth but also says it was not until recently that anyone else had taken notice.
He explains these lies as a result of what he calls Big Mother inside of his head, controlling everything he does. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is a narrative novel, which gives readers insight into Chief Bromden’s state of mind. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest truly shows the power of freedom and self-perception. The main protagonist is Chief Bromden who tells the story. He also claims his name isn’t really “Chief Bromden” but rather it, which adds to the air of mystery this novel has.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is written in a first person point of view by Chief Bromden, who is an extremely obese Native American man. One Flew over the cuckoos nest takes place at the ward at an asylum for mental patients. Chief Bromden is an Indian man who comes from Eastern Oregon. Chief has a very long history of being in and out of mental institutions after his mother got sick, so he was sent to live with white people who never accepted him as their own. One day he found himself in prison for false accusations of killing his mother, but later escapes by running through a window before being caught again.
