Catholic Forums discussion on Cuckoo's Nest

I was browsing the internet for modern-day Cuckoo's Nest references and came across this thread on catholicforums.com where a high schooler about our age discussed his opinion on the "filth" of Cuckoo's Nest from a religious standpoint. To be honest, I'm Catholic and still found his feelings a bit ridiculous, extreme, and hilarious. One of the people who responded did point out that almost every classic story has some Christ-like figures or God symbolism, such as Harry Potter and the Chronicles of Narnia. I've thought of that idea before and find it interesting. I'll post the link to the conversation if you need a laugh or are interested in opinions of religious symbolism.

http://forums.catholic.com/showthread.php?t=136490

Cuckoo's Nest Effect on World

I was reading an article about the history of electro-shock therapy and there was a reference to Cuckoo's nest and how Kesey's depiction of the horrors of shock therapy helped to discredit the procedure and eventually lead to its outlaw. I have attached the article. I find it very interesting to look at how Cuckoo's Nest effected not only the literary, but the medical world. What other effects do you think the book and/or film had on the world at the time?
http://www.electroboy.com/electroshocktherapy.htm

Art for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Our illustrated copy of One Flew is awesome! I don't know about you guys, but I missed picture books! It's not exactly the same as first grade art, but having a break now and then with a picture that describes a scene is great.

For a post, I wanted to pick out one famous piece of art that went well with One Flew. The thing is...

there's a lot of art out there, so I couldn't decide. And so, in no particular order, paintings I think mesh well with One Flew: 

The Scream

1. This was the piece I thought of first. A lot of the men at the ward deal with the anxiety that is shown in this painting. By Edvard Munch.

The Persistence of Memory

2. When I imagine shock therapy, this is what I think about. Melting time and confusing outlines of faces. Chief recalls many moments of his childhood during shock therapy. Shock therapy sounds like a really persistent memory to me. By Salvador Dali. 

The Blind Man's Meal

3. This painting reminds me of Harding who, before McMurphy, blindly supported Ratched. Also, he's  blue when his wife is around. By Picasso. 

If you think of a painting that connects to One Flew write a comment or make a post!

Crown of Thorns

I was looking for religious allusions in the chapters we read over the weekend. One jumped out to me in particular. As the technicians are readying McMurphy to undergo shock therapy, he says: "Anointest my head with conductant. Do I get a crown of thorns?" (244).

In Christianity, a crown woven of thorns was placed on Jesus's head before his crucifixion. Using this imagery further cements McMurphy as a sort of controversial Christ figure. Jesus's crucifixion is seen by Christians as the ultimate symbol of his sacrifice for man. In a similar way, entering the feared "Disturbed" ward seems to be McMurphy's last sacrifice for the ward.

Did you guys catch any other religious allusions or want to elaborate on this one?

Moonrise Kingdom- Cuckoo

For anyone who hates the most miniscule of SPOILERS please read this after finishing the book.


Has anyone seen "Moonrise Kingdom"?  It's one of my favorite movies of 2012.  There's a song from the movie called "Cuckoo!".  So, there I was reading One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, when I remembered the song.  After listening to it on Youtube, I thought just how perfectly appropriate the song is for the novel.

Here are the lyrics (from Metrolyrics.com):

Cuckoo, cuckoo...
What do you do?  
In April, I open my bill. 
In May, I sing night and day.  
In June, I change my tune.  
In July, far, far i fly... 
In August, away! 
 I must... cuckoo, cuckoo... 

The song summarizes the novel very well.  
McMurphy comes
He sings
He changes the ward
The Chief escapes

Nurse Ratched's Effect on the Combine

In response to Shira's questions:

Is Nurse Ratched's inhuman way of treating her patients causing the ward to be inhumane? Or, does the ward have to be inhumane (in order to help the patients) and that is what makes Nurse Ratched's actions inhuman?

My answer and reasons:

 1. I believe Nurse Ratched's ways of treating her patients is causing the ward to be inhumane.  Her actions are toxic to the patients.  When dealing with the mentally unstable, Nurse Ratched treats them like children, which is precisely what not to do.  One example of this is when the nurse took away the patients' cigarettes, something far too similar to taking a toy away from a kid. 

2. Although not apparent in the book, the actress who plays Nurse Ratched in the movie gives a number of people cold glares.  People, whether stable or insane, are never at ease when being stared down by someone.  The atmosphere she sets for the ward is cold and makes the patients unsure of what to expect.  How could anyone get better in such an environment?

3. The best way to heal someone mentally ill is to treat him/her as if he/she is like any normal human being.  This does not include keeping a person cooped in a psychiatric ward.  However, it does include going out fishing like any Joe Schmoe and seeing and dating girls.

The Chief

This is just something small that I was thinking about while reading. I think that McMurphy coming to the ward was possibly the best thing that could have happened for the Chief because due to his arrival, the Chief believes that he is big and strong again. Also, if McMurphy hadn't been put in the ward, the Chief would not have started talking to the other patients, and I think that this is an important thing to help the Chief begin to recover.