One Flew over the Cuckoos Nest by Ken Kesey

The story is the confrontation of feeling and reason

The book has a very interesting heading that transfers into some fictional world with awkward creatures depicted by the author. To my mind, the novels goal is to show that what people consider normal is uninteresting. Instead, the author reveals his own vision of the essence of life. Hence, I was really impressed by the plot as it is rather extraordinary and usual, as the novel is the proof that normality is the way the majority of people behave and any deviations are regarded as something inadmissible. Anyway the story is about the confrontations of feeling and reason.To my mind, Randle could be regarded as the symbol of freedom and self-determination. Though he is framed within the walls of his ward, he still manages to surpass the boundaries and create his own world with his own rules. To my mind, his desire to enjoy life and to manipulate the fate of others is like a game for him. His own fate resists the mental hospital rules; Randle constantly seeks the satisfaction of his rebellious nature.

I see Nurse Ratched as a woman that tries to behave like a woman but she fails to do that. In my opinion, she is the embodiment of mechanization and dehumanization that becomes a part of corrupt mental system. Through dishonesty and mechanism deprived of humanity manifest that the current society experience the crisis of moral values thus converting in rational machine. Ratched has an absolute control over each ward of the hospital, because possession of power gives her superiority among the others. Certainly, I enjoyed the book greatly because it reveals many modern problems such as morality and law, friendship and self-sacrifice. The book also highlights societys demoralization and dehumanization where the patients of the mental hospital are the only humans.

Randles outlook on life

McMurphy is explicitly opposed to his friends in mental hospital, Chief Bordem who is deaf and Billy Bibbet who stutters. These two antagonists of the novel seem to be rather boring in comparison with McMurphy but I should agree that they must be present in the story to highlight the excessive eccentricity of the protagonist. Chief Bordem chooses life of an observer in the mental hospital as if hiding from the reality. His passiveness and constant chase for calmness and solitary life could be only fulfilled in this place. What strikes the most is that his physical appearance contradicts his inner world. I am a bit disappointed with this giant Chief Borden that could not admit all the advantages of life and enjoy it as Randle does it? It seems to me that Bordem seems to be tired of behaving like a giant whom everybody is afraid of. This character is rather oppressive and forces me to think that he was tired of his past life so that his present life is just a parody (Kesey 44).

At first sight, the protagonist of the story seems to be immoral person that possesses no hint of nobility and respect for other people. I could not admit his strange outlook on life as it considerably deviates from my traditional point of view. On the other hand, McMurphy is a confident and bright person that knows what he wants from his life. I love those rebellious features of his character that make him a rather attractive and eccentric personality. Some may say that such people are merciless and indifferent to other peoples problems but in a mental hospital, he proved that he is capable to keep friendly relationships with patients. Moreover, he also revealed his readiness for self-sacrifice that shocked me even more.