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Adam asked this question about One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest:
I have long thought of this book as one of my favorites, but noticed some heavy racist and misogynistic undertones when I re-read it. Much of this was left out of the film. Does old fashioned sexism sully an otherwise great work of literature?
Allmyowngums It cannot be denied that there are racist overtones in this book, specifically regarding the depiction of the hospital orderlies. Bearing in mind that…moreIt cannot be denied that there are racist overtones in this book, specifically regarding the depiction of the hospital orderlies. Bearing in mind that i am male and therefore probably less aware of the sexist references than I should be, I do think that it is worth bearing in mind that the principal protagonists have all been diagnosed with some sort of mental health issues. However, the whole novel is a complex and ambiguous examination of the nature of reality. Is McMurphy faking his diagnosis or does his unremittingly self centered behaviour at the start of the novel prove that he really is a psychopath ? The central irony of the novel lies in the fact that the more time he spends in the institution the more he realises that his fellow patients are rounded human beings rather than " marks " to be exploited for his own ends, Thus one might argue that the care he receives in the hospital is actually working insofar as he is beginning to see himself as a social animal rather than a self serving entity. The irony ( that word again ) is that the more he overcomes his psychopathic tendencies the more hostile his carers become. In the end, the erstwhile psychopath self destructs in a quasi christ like gesture that brings about the liberation of the narrator and the transformation of the microcosmic world which is the hospital ward. this is probably the most pretentious load of twaddle that any of you will ever read but PLEASE, PLEASE,PLEASE, don"t let it turn you off the novel. The fact that it flawed should not distract from the fact that this novel is a modern classic !!(less)
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One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
by Ken Kesey
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