One Flew Over the Cukcoos Nest
One Flew Over A Cuckoos Nest was written by Ken Kesey and published in the United States in 1962. (First Signet Printing, February 1962). Ken Kesey was born in Oregon on September 17th, 1935 in La Junta, Colorado. He was raised in a religious home and grew up believing strongly in Christian ethical thoughts and beliefs. He had three children with his high school sweetheart and attended University of Oregon with a degree in speech communications. Kesey became the proponent of a local band known as the "Warlocks," which later became the Grateful Dead. Kesey and his Merry Pranksters became notorious for their "Acid Tests" and use of LSD and other drugs. When the government made LSD illegal, Kesey fled to Mexico. When he returned to the United States for a final performance, he was arrested on a marijuana charge. Kesey died on November 10, 2001 after cancer surgery on his liver. The novel is set in a mental institution in Oregon. Most of the book takes place in the mental institution with the exception of of scene when the main character takes the mental patients on a fishing trip. This scene is set on the boat. There is no given time that this book is set in. Randle P. McMurphy is the main character in the
This novel is very strong in all aspects. Many things in this novel can be connected to different things in life. The author is very good at describing and the imagery in the novel is excellent. He puts you in the novel. "While McMurphy laughs. Rocking farther and farther backward against the cabin top, spreading his laugh out across the water- laughing at the girl, at the guys, at George, at me sucking my bleeding thumb, at the captain back at the pier... and the Big Nurse and all of it. Because he knows you have to laugh at the things that hurt you just to keep yourself in balance, just to keep the world from running you plumb crazy. He knows there's a painful side; he knows my thumb smarts and his girlfriend has a bruised breast and the doctor is losing his glasses, but he won't let the pain blot out the humor no more'n he'll let the humor blot out the pain." Chapter 25, pp. 211-12. This is a wonderful quote that shows McMurphy in a new light and describes many aspects of life all in one sentence. This sentence gives you an idea of McMurphy's insight into life and gives you a whole new opinion of McMurphy. "'What worries me, Billy,' she said- I could hear the change in her voice- 'is how your mother is going to take this.'" Chapter 29, pg. 264. This is said by Nurse Ratched after they throw a party and Billy sleeps with a girl and is caught. The nurse is trying to make Billy feel guilty and scared, and it works very well. Billy gets very scared and commits suicide because of her. This is a terribly sad scene and brings out all kinds of emotion. It brings out great anger towards the nurse. This is a very strong book that I recommend to everybody. The author decided to use the chief as a narrator. Since the narrator is insane t
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1187
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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