Reconstruction of Madness in Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

Abstract

Altering the power through certain resistance, Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest ruptures the prevailing discourse of madness which was constructed by the mental institutions of the late 50s. Kesey, by portraying the constructive nature of the discourse of madness, foregrounds the nexus of the discourse with power; when the power is sifted from Nurse Ratched to McMurphy, the subversion of the discourse of madness begins. The voices of the mad also become stronger. Circulation of power, now, becomes a tool for the reconstruction of the discourse of madness. Thus, civilization for Kesey is the projection of power in the domain of the discursive practice. In the name of civilization, the people in power try to represent the ‘mad’ or ‘uncivilized’ by creating the ‘truth.’ This idea is close to Foucault’s radical thesis, “Madness and Civilization,” that highlights the essential link between power relations and their capacity to produce the truths we live by.