One Flow over the Cuckoo's Nest

“One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest”

“One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” by Ken Kesey was an astonishing novel about an asylum and the powerful Randle Patrick McMurphy. When McMurphy entered the asylum, he changed the patients, the workers, and the overall atmosphere of the place. Whether his intentions were for the bad or good, McMurphy’s motives and actions saved the patients, or “loonies,” as he called them from losing their souls. McMurphy was questioned by the employees several times, but I consider him a hero because he helped the other patients stand up for themselves as well as appreciate themselves. One familiar object used as a symbol in this novel were the cigarettes.

The cigarettes were a representation of freedom for the patients in the asylum. The men used the cigarettes throughout the novel for different reasons. They used cigarettes as chips in blackjack, and each represented a dime. The cigarettes were used as money because there was no other way of spending money like they wished. They were also used to place bets and taking ricks, which made the patients feel like men not children. Toward the middle of the novel, one of the patients, Cheswick; had his cigarettes confiscated by Nurse Ratched because she was informed that McMurphy was winning all the mens’ money. When Cheswick reacts to her action, he loses control and yells that taking his cigarettes is making him like a little boy. Proving that the cigarettes did have an impact on how the patient’s dignity was high for themselves.

In addition, the cigarettes also changed the characters mindset and how they treated eachother. These cigarettes served as the patients currency in the asylum. The cigarettes reveal that the patients needed something to sought after in order to value themselves. They give the patients confidence in themselves and manlihood amongst each other. The theme also changes because of the cigarettes. Instead