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Monday, October 19, 2015

Plot Synopsis: One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

     One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey is a novel about a certain Randall P. McMurphy, who transferred to the local mental institution to serve the rest of his prison term. Originally, he was sent to stay on a work farm, but by request and persuasive techniques, McMurphy finds his way into the local mental institution.
    The institution runs much like a machine, with the main cog in the machinery being the head nurse, Nurse Ratched. Nurse Ratched has bent the will and terrified the souls of the institution's patients and other staff. Even the lead doctor is scared of the head nurse. As soon as McMurphy enters the institution, he starts to take charge of the lost patients and test the nerves of Nurse Ratched, by establishing his self as leader of this small society.
     Through constant speaking out against the head nurse's ways and challenging of her pre-set standards, McMurphy eventually ends up being put in shock therapy (which they call the Shock Shop), and eventually (spoiler) receiving a lobotomy.
     The story is told through first-person perspective of Chief Bromden, an Indian chief committed to the institution who has fooled the staff throughout the years to be deaf. Bromden only reveals his secret to McMurphy, becoming a close friend of his near the end of the novel.


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