One Flew Over Cuckoo's Nest (Part II)

SAne, Insane, Sick, & Healthy

Kesey has a way to make the reader question the accepted definitions of “sane,” “insane,” “sick,” and “healthy”. Bromden sees modern society as an unfair, mechanizing force, and he views the hospital as a repair shop for the people who do not fit into their roles as cogs in the machine. Sounds familiar doesn’t it? Today we watch TV and we see what the appropriate way to dress and act looks like, the cool way, the geeky way, etc. Between all these labels we choose to make ourselves fit in. Most try to be cool and get caught up in the “repair shop.” His way of interpreting the world emphasizes the social pressure to conform. Those who do not conform to the rules and conventions of society are considered defective products of the “schools, churches, and neighborhoods.” Such people are labeled mentally ill and sent for treatment. The hospital is normally defined as the place where the ill go to be cured. However, in the cases of Ellis, Ruckly, and Taber, the cure is much worse than the disease. Ellis and Ruckly are considered “failures,” but Taber is considered a success. However, it is hard to tell the difference between the cured and sick patients. Taber, the cured patient, functions like a robot incapable of independent thought after he leaves the hospital; as such, he fits perfectly into society. All these representations of different people are given to us by Kesey to show the sane, insane, sick, and healthy. He chooses to represent all of them and show different sides of all of them to help the reader see his point of view more clearly.