One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest

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One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, by Ken Kesey, was a novel about an insane asylum in Oregon. The characters in this book are faced with many issues caused by both the “big nurse” and their own mental problems. The setting of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is based in Oregon during the 1950s and 1960s. The main character of the story, Chief Bromden, is introduced in a small hallway of the ward as he is cleaning up. In the story, Chief says, “I’m the one been here on the ward the longest, since the Second World War,” (Kesey 14) this proves that the story was written around that time. The interior of the asylum is very bland and boring, plain tile floors shown by the narrator in saying, “[Mr. McMurphy] rocking up on his toes to keep off the cold tile as much as he can” (Kesey 79). In the beginning of the story, the atmosphere of the ward is a very dark, gloomy, and depressing place. As the story progresses a new character is introduced, he brings in a new revitalizing feeling to the ward. With his presence, he gives life to patients and gives the nurses a hard time allowing patients to laugh and have fun. The setting is critical to the novel because it allows the reader to feel the emotions of the patients as the story progresses. The characters in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest are crucial to the meaning of the story and to the understanding of the life of the people in the mental ward. Chief Bromden is the main character of the story. He is a Native American man and stands about six feet seven inches tall. In the beginning of the story, he is extremely closed off from the rest of the residents at the asylum. He is so closed off that people think he is deaf and dumb while in fact, he is very smart. Chief says, “They do not bother not talking out loud about their hate secrets when I’m nearby because they think I’m deaf and dumb.
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