The Allegory of Social Critique through the Major Characters in Ken Kesey's One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest.

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ABSTRACT

Dalam tugas akhir ini saya membahas sebuah novel berjudul One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest yang ditulis oleh Ken Kesey. Buku ini menceritakan

tentang pasien-pasien di sebuah rumah sakit jiwa dan seorang suster yang sangat tegas dalam menegakkan peraturan. Rutinitas berubah ketika seorang pasien baru bernama McMurphy mencoba menentang peraturan-peraturan yang berlaku. Tetapi pada akhir cerita usaha McMurphy gagal dan rutinitas kembali seperti semula.

Setelah membaca novel tersebut, saya memutuskan untuk membahas

unsur alegori melalui penokohan dalam menyampaikan kritik sosial. Saya memutuskan untuk menganalisis hubungan antara situasi politik pada kurun waktu buku ini ditulis dengan unsur penokohan karakter. Dengan memahami hubungan kedua unsur tersebut, saya akan mengungkap bagaimana kritik sosial dalam buku ini disampaikan.

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Most writers get their inspiration for writing from various sources, such as family, personal experience, history and their imagination. (“Social Criticism in Literature”). The purpose of the works can be varied; sharing experience or only

entertainment, for instance. Besides those purpose, the writers also convey their messages in their works, for example as social criticism. The writer can use different literary tools to convey their messages, such as the major characters. Major character is “an important figure at the center of the story’s action or

theme” (“Elements of Fiction”). Some examples of the famous books that use

major character to represent social critique are: George Orwell’s Animal Farm, Charles Dickens’s A Tale of Two Cities and J.D Salinger’s The Catcher in the

Rye.

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2 _{Maranatha Christian University} Between 1950s and 1960s, he wrote two novels: the first one is One Flew

over the Cuckoo’s Nest and the second one is Sometimes a Great Notion. Both

novels are written based on his own experience when he mingled with a particular society. It implies that his works contain his personal view towards some issues which happened in the U.S society.

In the 1950s, when One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest was written, the circulating major issue was the Cold War. The Cold War generated fear of communism, or also known as the “Red Scare.” Accordingly, this period became the era of conformity because the U.S society tend to obey the government to avoid accusation of being communist.

Through One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Kesey criticised that issue. The novel tells a story of mentally ill patients and a tyrannical nurse which allegorically criticised the repressive governance. The novel was controversial at the time it was published, which also becomes the reason I chose it. In addition, the major characters are portrayed uniquely with their contrasting characteristic.

The portrayal of the major characters is the most dominant element of the novel that helps conveying the social criticism. The first character is Chief Bromden, a representative of passive people in a society. Secondly, Nurse Ratched, who represents a repressive government, and Randle P. McMurphy who represents a nonconformist. Hence, each character shows an interrelation to represent a certain idea.

The characters allegorise the issue of individual freedom versus the repressive system in the U.S in the 1950s. “Allegory is a complete narrative

which involves characters, and events that stand for an abstract idea or an event” (“Definition of Allegory”). Some examples of the allegorical novels are: C.S

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Nest, is a political allegory, which is “a story that, on the surface, tells one tale, but has a hidden political meaning underneath. It is an extended metaphor that often uses a simple substitution of one element or symbol for another” (“What Is

Political Allegory?”). Kesey uses “the mad-house as a microcosm of American

society in which the internal policies reflect the order of the external world” (Holland 7). It shows that most elements in the novel might have similarities with the actual situation in the society.

Although One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest is considered a great novel, the society in the past could not accept it as well as today because it criticises the government and the society. As the impact of the Red Scare (fear of communism spread), the government was considered repressive. Moreover, with a strong peer pressure, the society rejects those who are considered nonconformist in the society. (“The Individual and The System in Kesey’s One Flew over the Cuckoo’s

Nest”). Nonconformist is “a person who refuses to conform, as to established customs, attitudes, or ideas”(“Nonconformist”). These facts clearly show a strong

interconnection between the events of the novel and the social and political situation in the U.S in the 1950s which I attempt to explore.

The approach I chose is formalism, which “focuses on the formal features

found in literature that readers must notice and name when describing and interpreting texts” (“Formalism: Method and Glossary”). I also include some

historical background to support my analysis. The book has already provided the foundation on the issue of individual versus the authority. By analysing the novel, I would like to show how the major characters are portrayed to convey Kesey’s

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4 _{Maranatha Christian University} STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The problems that I am going to discuss are:

1. How are the major characters portrayed in the novel? 2. Why are the characters portrayed in such a way?

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

Based on the above problems, the purposes of this study are: 1. To show how the major characters are portrayed

2. To show why the characters are portrayed in such a way

METHOD OF RESEARCH

The method of research that I use is library research. I begin the research by reading Kesey’s One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest. After that I analyse the

primary text by using some information and materials from the Internet that can support my analysis and help me writing a good thesis. Lastly, I draw some conclusions from what has been discussed.

ORGANISATION OF THE THESIS

This thesis consists of three chapters, preceded by the Acknowledgements, the Table of Contents and the Abstract. Chapter One is the Introduction, which consists of the Background of the Study, the Statement of the Problem, the Purpose of the Study, the Method of Research, and the Organization of the Thesis. In Chapter Two, I analyse the allegory of social critique through the major characters in Ken Kesey’sOne Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest. The third chapter is the Conclusion. This thesis ends with the Bibliography

and the Appendices, consisting of the Synopsis of the Novel and the Biography of

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CHAPTER THREE

CONCLUSION

After I finished reading and analysing the novel, I argue that Ken Kesey delivers the social critique through the allegory skillfully and effectively. Some of the major events and the characters represent the social critique towards the circulating issues in the United States society during the 1950s. A social critique novel usually ends in tragic way for the protagonist, including this novel. That kind of ending for the character makes the readers tend to pay attention to how the situation affects the protagonist and implicitly suggests that the problem remains.

The life of protagonist, McMurphy, ends tragically as he is lobotomised and then mercily killed. Through McMurphy’s death, Kesey suggests if only a few

people are fighting against the authority, they will be defeated and the tyranny will remain. This kind of ending raises an awareness of the real situation in real life.

Chief Bromden represents people in general in the 1950s U.S society. His initial characteristics are pretentious, submissive, paranoid and attentive. In the society, being pretentious is an attempt to cover any sign of nonconformity. A nonconformist would be discriminatorily treated by both the society and the government. Besides that, the government arbitrarily punished people that results in submission and paranoia. Bromden’s attentiveness, however, becomes an

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23 _{Maranatha Christian University} surroundings. Gradually, he can be himself, he is no longer paranoid and becomes rebellious. His change allegorically shows that people should be aware of the oppression and learn how to be free from oppression. Being oneself is not always in accordance with what most of the society think. Forceful conformity will restrict individual freedom. So, people need not to be afraid of the government to aspire their voices. To be free from oppression, sometimes rebellion is the only way.

McMurphy is portrayed as rebellious as the basic characteristic of a nonconformist. His rebellion is a “product” of oppression. He rebels and breaks the

rules to make the hospital life more bearable. From his actions, it can be concluded that rebellion or nonconformity will not happen if the government cooperates with their people and is willing to hear people’s aspiration. Since a nonconformist needs

support to make a change, he or she would provoke people to aspire their voices towards the government. That is also why McMurphy, who represents the nonconformist, is portrayed as a provocative person.

Nurse Ratched is portrayed as tyrannical and manipulative. By portraying her in that way, the readers, who are also the part of society at that time, might find the resemblance between Ratched’s characteristics and their government. She

controls the patients arbitrarily and makes them conform to the ward rules. As a result, her methods of curing only makes the patients worse. Her tyrannical characteristic allegorically shows that oppression and arbitrariness in a governance makes people unhappy and may trigger rebellion. Her manipulative characteristic hints at the dominating power of the government over the alleged communists or nonconformists. Misused power would bring disadvantage for many people.

The fate of the major characters in the end is the crucial part of the allegory. Firstly, Nurse Ratched’s re-controlling the ward. After McMurphy’s lobotomy, the

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return to their old routines and submissively follow the regulation. The condition allegorically implies that the society were still under the control of the government’s tyrannical and manipulative system. Secondly, Bromden kills McMurphy. On the night after the electroshock incident, Bromden finds that McMurphy's body is “ruined” by the machine. McMurphy is now in a “vegetable” state, which means that he will stay longer in Ratched’s ward. Bromden thinks that McMurphy may

suffer for the rest of his life if he stays in that condition. Hence, Bromden performs a mercy killing before fleeing from the hospital. His fleeing symbolises the regeneration of the non-conformist. Bromden is now McMurphy's successor, which also means that he will continue the struggle. McMurphy’s death does not seem to change anything, but it gives hope through Bromden’s escape. The situation at the

end of the story reminds the society that they need to keep fighting to get their freedom and change the system.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

25 _{Maranatha Christian University} Primary Text

Kesey, Ken. One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest. London: Penguin Books Ltd, 2002. Print.

References

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“Elements of Fiction.” University of New Mexico. Web. 1 Sep. 2014.

“Formalism: Method and Glossary” Writing Center at Southeastern. Web. 3 May

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High, Peter B. An Outline of American Literature. New York: Longman Inc., 2000. "Hippie."Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Merriam-Webster Online, 2013.

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“Historical Perspective.” Novel Explorer. Web. 4 May 2014.

Holland, Thomas R. One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest Notes. Lincoln: Cliffs Notes Incorporated. 1974. Print.

“Ken Kesey Biography.” Oregon History Project. 2002. Web. 28 Apr. 2014

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“Manipulative.” Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary 8th

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