Theme Of One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest demonstrates a particularly recalcitrant person, McMurphy, whose sanity symbolized by his outspoken merriment, , and utter confidence stands in dissimilarity to what Ken Kesey implies ironically and catastrophically is an insane institution controlled by Nurse Ratched. The insanity of the institution is foregrounded when a man, Maxwell Taber, who asks a simple question, is tortured and rendered inhuman; although, it is not the case in Part One, Chapter Fifteen. It is a Catch-22; only a sane man would question an irrational system, but the act of questioning means his sanity will inevitably be compromised. The choice of rational decision, theme of false diagnosis of insanity, and an establishment of a collective numbering versus the individual is
The actions of McMurphy and Nurse Ratched’s standoff regarding Part One Chapter Fifteen emphasize a key theme of the novel: the significance of rational choice. The ability to choose reflects one's status as a rational, functioning human being. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest centers around the struggle between this capability for choice and Nurse Ratched’s refusal to allow the patients to make decisions for themselves. Within this detailing of structure arises Kesey’s manipulation of diction and literary ascension toward the overall goal of depicting rational choice and Nurse Ratched’s perpetual ranting. This gives it a spontaneous and reactive marathon until the end of the chapter when Nurse Ratched loses total authority and, as Bromden notes, “looks as crazy as we are” (145). This spontaneity and reactive nature from Ratched’s rampant ranting can be credited to the onomatopoeia that steer the pages, “I think how her