One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, with its meaningful message of individualism, was an extremely influential novel during the 1960's. In addition, its author, Ken Kesey, played a significant role in the development of the counterculture of the 60's; this included all people who did not conform to society's standards, experimented in drugs, and just lived their lives in an unconventional manner. Ken Kesey had many significant experiences that enabled him to create One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. As a result of his entrance into the creative writing program at Stanford University in 1959 (Ken 1), Kesey moved to Perry Lane in Menlo Park. It was there that he and other writers first experimented with psychedelic drugs. After living at Perry Lane for a while, Kesey's friend, Vik Lovell, informed him about experiments at a local V.A. hospital in which volunteers were paid to take mind-altering drugs (Wolfe 321). Kesey's experiences at the hospital were his first step towards writing Cuckoo's Nest. Upon testing the effects of the then little-known drug, LSD, "...he was in a realm of consciousness he had never dreamed of before and it was not a dream or delirium but part of his awareness (322)."

This awareness caused him to believe that these psychedelic drugs could enable him to see things the way they were truly meant to be seen.

As a result off his rambunctious behavior, the inevitable battle between McMurphy and Nurse Ratched begins. During group therapy meetings, McMurphy does not let Nurse Ratched have complete control as she has had in the past and as she would like to continue. He disrupts the meetings by provoking the other patients to excitement when they make comments about their respective problems. It also infuriates Nurse Ratched when McMurphy diverts the attention directed at other patients towards himself. Also, one particular scene displaying the beginning of the battle between Nurse Ratched and McMurphy occurs when McMurphy wants to watch the World Series. He convinces the inmates to resist Nurse Ratched by watching a blank TV screen, even when she turns off the World Series (140). The things that McMurphy does early in the novel to battle Nurse Ratched are selfish and have the intention of being chaotic.

Using the Chief as the narrator of the novel, as opposed to McMurphy, allows the reader to examine McMurphy's actions as being heroic, not mere braggadocio. Chief Bromden, through his behind-the-scenes analysis of everything that occurs in the ward, is able to portray McMurphy's saga much more subtly than if McMurphy had been the narrator. By using the Chief's point of view, Kesey enables the reader to see a patient (severely weakened by the hospital's control over his individuality) eventually cured through the persistence of another patience to make him realize his true self. Because Kesey does such an effective job in creating the Chief's schizophrenic state early in the story, the reader is able to see him slowly regain his sense of identity and thus one can truly understand the significance of McMurphy's help in changing him.

In order to make himself as comfortable as possible, McMurphy initially tries to defy authority and gain the inmates' trust for his own personal gain. He is immediately a threat to the order that Nurse Ratched has created and maintains. While there is not supposed to be gambling on the ward, one of McMurphy's first goals is to get the other patients to play cards with him for money. This is expressed when McMurphy says "...I came to this establishment...to bring you birds fun an' entertainment around the gamin' table (Ken 12)." Another way that he is able to disrupt the hospital's order is through his bold laughter. This is very disturbing because no one ever laughs in the mental hospital. The inmates are controlled and mechanized; the laughter suggests personality, which would break down this order. According to Chief Bromden, he had not hear a laugh in years (11). McMurphy makes it obvious right away that he has no intention of letting the hospital's machine-like order consume his identity.

Eventually, this all begins to change as McMurphy begins his struggl

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Approximate Word count = 1986
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)