Normal is a complicated word despite literally meaning ordinary and regular. Within a social perspective, normal is always changing and being redefined. However, as the definition evolves, there will be individuals who do not fit within the designated parameters, also known as the nonconformists. This struggle, between those who want to fit in and have a society filled with people just like them versus those who just want to be themselves, is at the center of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey. By portraying the perspective of the patients on the ward and highlighting the brutality against men who are supposedly insane, but really are just uniquely human, Kesey accentuates the dangers within the doctrine of conformity- how although
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After all, the unity under American ideals of democracy and freedom can be seen as conforming under one political doctrine, yet this behavior prevents instability. However, conformity can be damaging to society when taken too far- when individuals’ liberties are eliminated under the guise of the majority’s security. Within Cuckoo’s Nest, many of the men are regular people, feeling the same emotions of fear, joy, and lust as their equivalent on the outside. While some of them are truly mentally ill and incapable of integrating within society because they physically would not be able to fend for themselves, most of the men are within the asylum because they do not fit into the masculine role set apart for them by society as a whole- a notable example being Harding. This inmate admits to not being sexually satisfying to his wife, later suggesting that he is homosexual. He doesn’t fit the 1950s mold of a masculine breadwinner, but other than that, he’s still a normal person that “can’t adjust to [his] rabbithood,” referencing a metaphor that Harding conjures up to explain the goal in the ward: conformity. The men are supposed to be dutiful rabbits, obsequious and wary of the wolf in charge, yet they challenge their designated position, their roles, their place in life in different ways (Kesey 62). In the case of the men in the asylum, their nonconformity, whether voluntarily decided like McMurphy’s or a byproduct of human nature, like Harding’s, has secluded them from regular society and allowed them to be subjected to cruel torture until they cry mercy, deciding to hide their “flaws” for the sake of society. The healing process in the ward isn’t meant to cure the men of their schizophrenia, their PTSD, their phobias- Ratched’s job is to train the men to respect their place in society and not challenge what is defined as normal. While Kesey supports the idea the
After all, the unity under American ideals of democracy and freedom can be seen as conforming under one political doctrine, yet this behavior prevents instability. However, conformity can be damaging to society when taken too far- when individuals’ liberties are eliminated under the guise of the majority’s security. Within Cuckoo’s Nest, many of the men are regular people, feeling the same emotions of fear, joy, and lust as their equivalent on the outside. While some of them are truly mentally ill and incapable of integrating within society because they physically would not be able to fend for themselves, most of the men are within the asylum because they do not fit into the masculine role set apart for them by society as a whole- a notable example being Harding. This inmate admits to not being sexually satisfying to his wife, later suggesting that he is homosexual. He doesn’t fit the 1950s mold of a masculine breadwinner, but other than that, he’s still a normal person that “can’t adjust to [his] rabbithood,” referencing a metaphor that Harding conjures up to explain the goal in the ward: conformity. The men are supposed to be dutiful rabbits, obsequious and wary of the wolf in charge, yet they challenge their designated position, their roles, their place in life in different ways (Kesey 62). In the case of the men in the asylum, their nonconformity, whether voluntarily decided like McMurphy’s or a byproduct of human nature, like Harding’s, has secluded them from regular society and allowed them to be subjected to cruel torture until they cry mercy, deciding to hide their “flaws” for the sake of society. The healing process in the ward isn’t meant to cure the men of their schizophrenia, their PTSD, their phobias- Ratched’s job is to train the men to respect their place in society and not challenge what is defined as normal. While Kesey supports the idea the