One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
By Ken Kesey
Author Bio
Name: Kenneth Elton “Ken” Kesey
Born: Sept. 17, 1935 in La Junta, Colorado
Death: Nov. 10, 2001
Brief Life History: Kesey was born to dairy farmers in Colorado, then moved with his family to Oregon.He
attended University of Oregon then Stanford University (creative writing) where he enrolled in a study called
Project MKULTRA—this program analyzed the effects of psychedelic drugs. Kesey also worked as a night aide
at the veteran’s hospital, where his work inspired him to write One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.
The book was a huge success—it was a critical piece of the current literary movement, and it exposed the
treatment of the mentally ill. Memoirs of mental illness and subsequent treatments have since become
incredibly popular—Susanna Kasen’s autobiographical novel, Girl, Interrupted, is a famous example with
many striking similarities to how a psych ward is run, even almost 30 years after Cuckoo was written.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest was written in the late 1950s when Kesey was enrolled at Stanford; the
book was published in 1962 during the Beats literary period. The Beats movement rejected conventional
social norms and protested the government’s lack of concern for certain neglected categories of society—the
insane, the criminal, the homeless—as well as the government’s intervention in the Vietnam War (1955-75).
The Beats culture celebrated drugs (psychotropic) that “freed the mind,” while chastising drugs that meant to
control behavior (such as those given in a mental institute or addictive substances that made individuals
dependent).
Novel Themes
Sanity vs. Insanity—What does it mean to be sane or insane? Who defines these qualities?
Conformity vs. Nonconformity/Institutional Expectations—Who dictates whether or not humans must
conform? What is more important, conforming or human dignity? Why does conformity often sacrifice human
dignity?
Novel Motifs
Invisibility/Disconnection from Reality
Machinery/Mechanics
Importance of Laughter
Emasculation
Literary Techniques/Terms
Allusion
Irony (dramatic, situational, verbal)
Foreshadowing
Motif
Dark Humor
Point of View
Flashback
Symbol
Hero
Theme
Reliable Narrator
*Unreliable Narrator
Syllogism
Novel Characters (please take notes here to help you process)
Chief Bromden
Martini
Randle McMurphy
Ellis
Nurse Ratched
Ruckly
Dale Harding
Colonel Matterson
Doctor Spivey
Ole Pete Bancini
Billy Bibbit
Scanlon
Charles Cheswick
Sefelt
Chief Tee Ah Millatoona
Fredrickson
George Sorenson
Maxwell Taber
The Lifeguard
Old Blastic
Mr. Turkle
Rawler the Scrawler
Williams, Warren, Washington, and Geever
Sandy Gilfillian
Nurse Pilbow
Public Relation
Candy Starr
Parts 1 & 2 Questions
Part 1
Chapter 1 - pgs. 1-8
Introduction: The first scene sets up the novel. It is an example of “in medias res” or beginning in the middle of
things.
• This first part of the novel takes us through the daily life of the ward and the exposition.
• Be patient with your narrator, the Chief. He has had too much electroshock and drugs.
1.
Who is the narrator, and how did he get this name?
2.
What does the narrator believe the black aides are talking about? What else does he accuse the black
aides of?
3.
What episodes does the narrator suffer that suggest to the reader that he is genuinely psychologically
disturbed?
4.
Describe Nurse Ratched’s physical appearance.
Chapter 2 - pgs. 8-14
1.
What do the black aides do with the chief’s breakfast?
2.
What does the Public Relations man say to visitors that the Chief notices? How is this important to
the story?
3.
What disturbing implication does the Chief make about what happens when the aides get a new
admitted patient?
4.
How does McMurphy differ from other patients as he enters the ward?
5.
Why is McMurphy in the hospital?
6.
McMurphy is the central and most interesting part of this entire novel. Find a brief passage that
seems to describe him perfectly and write the page # and paragraphs below.
Chapter 3 - pgs. 15-26
1.
What are the differences between Acutes and Chronics? Why do the Acutes write down information,
much like spying, about each other in the nurse’s book? Why does the Chief think the Big Nurse really
wants this? How does the narrator explain the condition of the Chronics?
2.
What two procedures used by the hospital have changed Acutes into Chronics? Briefly explain each
procedure. What does this say about the attempts at physical therapy used in mental institutions at
this time?
3.
What does the “dwarf black boy” do to Ruckly to upset him? Briefly explain its significance.
4.
What veiled threat does the Nurse make to the Acutes when they act out of order?
5.
What does McMurphy try to do as he comes on the ward? What position does he consider
establishing for himself?
Chapter 4 - pgs. 27-42
1.
What is a “manipulator”? Why does Nurse Ratched smile to herself thinking about Mr. Taber?
2.
How does the Chief describe the aides, and their suitability to Nurse Ratched?
3.
Explain what Nurse Ratched means by the following comment: “Maybe after that take him to the
electroencephalograph and check his head - we may find evidence of a need for brainwork.”
Writing The Chief sees everything as a metaphor. When he is bored, time creeps by, Literally. One
commentator thought that this novel would make a tremendous cartoon and you can see why.
Try to describe my room as if you were using the Chief’s eyes. Use a separate sheet of paper.
Chapter 5 - pgs 42-75
1.
What issue does the group discuss at the beginning of the meeting? What can we infer about
Harding’s “illness”?
2.
What reason does McMurphy suggest the Nurse mispronounces his name? How does he counteract
this?
3.
Who has the power in the meeting - the Nurse or the doctor?
4.
What is the theory behind the Therapeutic Community? What event in the Chief’s memory shows
how the Nurse has perverted this theory? What does the Chief believe is the reason the men do this?
5.
What one act of true defiance did Pete Bancini do? What did the aides do? Who finally solved it?
6.
Why is McMurphy upset at the meeting? How does Harding try to explain it? What is McMurphy’s
explanation? How does Harding change his story?
7.
Why does the Nurse have so much power in the hospital?
8.
What is Harding’s rabbit and wolf analogy? Is it accurate? What is McMurphy’s response to this
analogy?
9.
How does Harding explain the severity of Ellis, Ruckly, and the Chief’s illnesses?
10. What bet does McMurphy make to the others? In reasoning his bet, what does McMurphy admit
about his illness?
Chapter 6 - pgs. 76-84
1.
What is the significance of the Chief’s account at the very beginning of the chapter?
2.
What details of the Chief’s illness are introduced in this chapter?
3.
What happens between McMurphy and Nurse Pilbow? What kind of irony is this?
4.
Comment on the heavy symbolism at the end of this chapter. Consider the Nurse’s birthmark, her
crucifix and why she uses this as her defense against attack, McMurphy’s tattoos, and the co-ed at
Oregon State’s comment that McMurphy is a symbol.
5.
What does McMurphy discover about the Chief? How does this comment on perception in this story?
Chapter 7 - pgs. 85-90
1.
Why does the Chief think the staff gives him pills at night?
2.
Describe the disturbing vision the Chief experiences while in bed. What is the symbolic importance
of the extent of the machinery? How is the Chief’s hallucination of the worker being cast into the
furnace similar to William Blake’s The Marriage of Heaven and Hell? As a result, what is the
importance of this?
3.
Whose death does the Chief prophesize in his vision? How does the Chief view the public relations
man’s role in this? How true is this?
4.
Pick three or four consecutive paragraphs in the reading that seem to be the ultimate in Nurse
Ratched. Write the page #s and paragraphs below.
Chapter 8 - pgs. 91-101
1.
What seemingly harmless activity is McMurphy doing that disturbs the ward? How does this relate to
the aides and Nurse Ratched’s control?
2.
What is the ward policy regarding toothpaste? What comment does McMurphy’s reaction make
about the underlying issue of control in this hospital?
3.
How does McMurphy inadvertently but happily set Nurse Ratched into fury and against the aides?
What does the Nurse threaten to do to Washington, and what are the implications of this threat?
4.
What olfactory (smelling) “imagery” does the Chief use to contrast McMurphy to the hospital?
Comment on its significance.
Chapter 9 - pgs. 102-113
1.
How does Nurse Ratched get McMurphy back for the towel incident? What ward policy does she
employ? Why does this policy exist? What do you feel might be its true intent? How does music
match the Chief’s ideas of the Combine?
2.
What cheerful idea does McMurphy have? Who supports it? How does Nurse Ratched quash it? Why
would she want to quash such an idea?
3.
What is the importance of the Nurse’s small twitches of the face? When do they occur?
4.
How does McMurphy gain the upper hand in this chapter? What does the Chief know about how this
will finally end up?
Chapter 10 - pgs. 114-116
1.
Describe what role McMurphy plays in the Monopoly game. How does this comment on his
character?
Chapter 11 - pgs. 117-125
2.
What temporary change to the ward schedule does McMurphy propose? How does Nurse Ratched
argue against it? Why does McMurphy get angry at the other patients? Who supports him? How do
the patients explain themselves?
3.
Why does McMurphy make the bet to life the hydrotherapy unit? Why does he bet so much that he
could lose all he has won from the men? How is his attitude important in this scene? What is the
blood on his hands symbolic of? What do his last words mean to the patients’ situation?
Chapter 12 - pgs. 126-127
1.
Why does the Chief feel so connected to the painting? What is the significance of this? How is it
significant that the fisherman isn’t fishing properly?
2.
Why does the Chief portray the visiting doctor as a skeleton? Why does the Chief suppose the doctor
feels the cold wind from the mountain in the painting?
3.
Explain the irony of the public relations man’s comment: “A man that would want to run away from a
place as nice as this ... why, there’d be something wrong with him.”
Chapter 13 - pg. 128
1.
How does the Chief perceive McMurphy’s attempts to drag them “out of the fog”? How do you think
McMurphy perceives it?
Chapter 14 - pg. 129
1.
Of all the ways a person could kill himself, what is significant about the fact that Old Rawler cut off his
own testicles and bled to death? Why does the Chief think he didn’t need to bother?
Chapter 15 – 130-145
2.
What do we learn about the Chief’s past at the beginning of the chapter? How might this past
employment have contributed to his mental illness?
3.
What insight do we gain into the Chief’s apparent, but false, deafness and dumbness, and how is EST
related to it?
4.
How does the fog relate to the public relations man and Nurse Ratched’s control fixation? What is the
symbolic importance of the fog?
5.
What example of a syllogism does Colonel Matterson use? What comment does this make about the
validity of logic?
6.
What does the Chief say about helping friends? How does this comment on what McMurphy is doing
in the hospital?
7.
What new vote does McMurphy call? How does Nurse Ratched defeat him? Who saves the vote, and
why? How does Nurse Ratched preserve her victory?
8.
How does McMurphy win in the end? How do the others support him? What important keywords
give away the Nurse’s true nature? How does Nurse Ratched’s behavior at the end of this scene
comment on how ridiculous the hospital is?
Part 2
Chapter 1 - pgs. 149-158
1.
With the opening of Part 2, how has the balance of power changed on the ward?
2.
What is the Chief afraid of now? Why? How does he trick the aide?
3.
How does the extent of Nurse Ratched’s great power in this hospital show itself in the staff meeting?
Comment on the validity of the doctors’ supposed diagnoses of McMurphy. How do they reflect upon
psychology as a science? In what way does Nurse Ratched surprise them all, and reveal her true
nature at the same time?
Chapter 2 - pgs. 156-166
1.
How does McMurphy’s behavior positively affect the Chief’s mental illness?
2.
What important experience does the Chief have when he wakes up at night? What is significant about
the Canada geese? What happens to the dog, and how is this significant?
3.
What symbolic meaning does the Chief attribute to the nurse with the birthmark on her chest? How
does this comment on the conflict between society and nature?
Chapter 3 - pgs. 167-175
1.
Why is the dorm room locked on weekends? How does McMurphy use this to criticize the therapy?
2.
What complaint does Cheswick raise about another of Nurse Ratched’s use of power? How does she
explain this, and how valid is this explanation? How is this affected by her reputation of abusing
power?
3.
What is ironic about the lifeguard, considering why he is there and the importance of his job? How
did he get there in the first place? How long had he spent there? Assess the validity of this.
4.
What sobering, even frightening, fact does McMurphy learn? How does he adjust his behavior? How
do the other patients react towards this?
5.
What happens to Cheswick? For you lifesavers and lifeguards out there, how could this have been
avoided (if you don’t know, find out!)? How does this comment on the quality of the staffing at the
hospital?
Chapter 4 - pgs. 176-180
1.
What happens to Sefelt at the beginning of the chapter? Why does this happen, and why does Sefelt
insist on doing what he does? How does Nurse Ratched exploit this event to her own ends?
2.
What is Scanlon’s comment, and how does it relate to McMurphy?
Chapter 5 - pg. 181
1.
What is the essence of this short chapter?
Chapter 6 - pgs. 182-187
2.
How does the design of the library, with rickety bookshelves and disorganized books, comment on
society’s body of accumulated knowledge?
3.
What is Harding’s wife’s name? What insinuation does Harding’s wife make about his friends?
4.
At this point in the novel, what can the reader extrapolate about Harding’s supposed “illness”? Is this
an illness worthy of treatment in this hospital? Why is Harding voluntarily in this hospital to treat
this perceived illness?
5.
After Vera leaves, how does McMurphy fail to emotionally support Harding in the way Harding
expects? What is McMurphy really thinking about here?
6.
What was hydrotherapy? Does it seem to have had the ability to work, or did it appear to just be a
fancy method of appearing to address mental illness? In the Chief’s opinion, who benefited the most
from it?
7.
In the earlier Monopoly game, McMurphy most patiently endures Martini’s hallucinations and keeps
him in the game. In what way does McMurphy act differently toward Martini at the end of this
chapter, and why?
Chapter 7 - pgs. 188-196
1.
What irony does Sefelt observe about the use of EST? What is the origin of EST, as Harding explains it,
and why is this also ironic? What does McMurphy compare it to?
2.
What is the significance of Harding’s comment, “Frontal-lobe castration”? Who appears to make the
decision to use this procedure, and why does that seem out of order?
3.
Compare the following two passages, one by The Chief, and one by Simon in Lord of the Flies, by Sir
William Golding. What is similar about their thematic implications?
a. The Chief: “McMurphy doesn’t know it, but he’s onto what I realized a long time back, that it’s
not just the Big Nurse by herself, but it’s the whole Combine, the nation-wide Combine that’s the
really big force, and the nurse is just a high-ranking official for them.”
b. Lord of the Flies: (Simon) “maybe there is a beast .... maybe it’s only us.... Simon became
inarticulate is his efforts to express mankind’s essential illness.”
4.
What does McMurphy learn about his own status in the hospital compared to the others? What is so
shocking about this? What is the others’ explanation? How does McMurphy accept this?
Chapter 8 - pgs. 197-201
1.
What privilege does Nurse Ratched revoke, and why? Is this justified?
2.
What defiant act does McMurphy do? What is the symbolic importance of the glass? What is
McMurphy’s message? What effect does this have on the men?
3. MacMurphy works hard at giving the men their “manhoods” back. Find a passage where the men are
becoming whole again and write the page # and paragraph below.