One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Ken Kesey
BY KEN KESEY
Picture Slide
Class Activity: Aesthetic
● Get into a group of 3-4
● Select one image, pick one that appeals to you
emotionally.
● Write at least 3 sentences as a creative response to
accompany the image.
● 1 min to choose an image
● 5 minutes to free write
Activity Discussion
● With your group:
● Discuss which image you choose, and why.
● Please do share what you’ve written
● Share with the rest of the class.
Novel Background
This theme is reflective of the social climate of the 1960’s. Some of the
language and content in this novel may be offensive to minorities and
women.
“The overall theme of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is that of a man’s right
to be an individual versus society’s need to make him conform.
It is important to remind the students that in 1962, when this story was written,
the civil rights movement and the women’s movement were in their infancy.
Author: Ken Kesey
The 1960’s was a decade of social rebellion including
the Civil Rights Movement, the beginnings of the
women’s movement, and the protest against the
Vietnam war. Many people sought their individuality
through free love, drug experimentation, or through
organized rebellions such as sit-ins.
After attending the University of Oregon and
Stanford, Kesey joined this rebellious generation
by volunteering for drug experiments at a mental
hospital. He used these experiences as the basis
for his rst novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoos
Nest, published in 1962.
Later, Kesey traveled the country in a wildly painted
bus, taking drugs, and rebelling against authority. He
spent ve months in prison for possession of
marijuana before returning to his farm in Oregon
Children’s Folk Rhyme
Allegory of a Mental Hospital
“Three geese in a flock.
One flew east, one flew west,
One flew over the cuckoo's nest.
O-U-T spells OUT,
Goose swoops down and plucks you
out.”
Age/Grade Range
● Dense/mature
content and
vocabulary
● Senior grade
levels, grade
11/12
https://youtu.be/EYDP3nBh_E4?t=1m27s
Brief Plot Overview
● Set in a mental health
facility, around the 1960s.
● “Chief” Bromden –narrator
● Randal Patrick McMurphy
– focus character
● Nurse Ratched – primary
antagonist
Themes and Motifs
Fog
(mental health)
A Pecking Party
(chicken frenzy)
“A term for when a flock of hens pecks one to death, usually the one that’s hurt”
Rabbit and the Wolf
(strong vs. weak)
Outside
(insane asylum vs. outside)
The Combine
(machine-like order)
Essential Questions
Life’s Journey: What does the individual learn from success and failure?
Will to Power: Is power, by its nature, corruptive?
Indomitable Human Spirit: How do individuals respond to adversity and how
does their response affect the greater society?
Inhumanity and Alienation: What causes societies to become unjust and how
do individuals respond to injustice?
Attitudes Towards Mental Health: How are our thoughts about mental illness
shaped from cultural/societal perceptions?
Important Quotes
Madness:
They don't bother not talking out loud about their hate secrets when I'm nearby because they think I'm deaf
and dumb. Everybody thinks so. I'm cagey enough to fool them that much. If my being half Indian ever
helped me in any way in this dirty life, it helped me being cagey, helped me all these years. (Chief)
Power and Order:
"Aide Williams tells me, Mr. McMurry, that you've been somewhat difficult about your admission shower...,
but everything in its own good time, Mr. McMurry…. you do understand: everyone... must follow the rules."
(Nurse Rachet)
Rebellion
“Didn't you see the way the man acted out there today? ...on the verge of violence. You tell us, Doctor Spivey,
what do his records say about violence?"
"There is a marked disregard for discipline and authority," the doctor says.
Appeal for Readers: BANNED BOOK
● "They can choose the best books, but they keep choosing
this garbage over and over again.“
● [Complainant parents] say their sons will be reading
alternative books that will teach "good morals and values
with heroes.“
● Experts and other parents agree that children are easily
influenced by what they are exposed to, but they say that is
what makes proper education about controversial issues
all the more important.
Challenges
● Victim of it’s time: use of the N word, 60’s sexism,
● Cisgendered, white, male author
● Controversial aspects: anti-hero, criminal aspects,
alcoholism, murder, electroconvulsive therapy/shock
treatment, suicide, prostitution, misogyny, course
language, drugs, racism.
Merits
● Good gosh, it’s just beautiful writing.
● Alternative perspective
● Originated from real lived experience: Ken Kesey
worked graveyard shifts at a mental facility. It’s
noted that this is where he got his inspiration from.
● Unpack controversial subjects and interpretations
● How this book affected therapy practices.
● Discuss what heroism is and the greyness of Right vs.
Wrong.
Showing the Film
● Can be an interesting comparison
● What was visually represented,
what was left out and what was
changed?
● Shift in protagonist - Jack
Nicholson as primary actor
● It is rated R, do all the
precautionary measures
(permission slips, from VP,
parents, etc) before showing the
film.
Resources
● Tran, Mai. (2000). Parents Ask School District to
Ban 'Cuckoo's Nest.‘ Los Angeles Times. Retrieved
from:http://articles.latimes.com/2000/dec/03/local
/me-60611
● Prestwick House, Inc.
http://www.tpet.com/media/productPDF/200616.pdf