This is a 5 page paper that provides an overview of race and gender in Kesey's "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest". The argument is made that the racial and sexual elements of the book are symbolic representations of freedom and power. Bibliography lists 1 source.
Name of Research Paper File: KW60_KFcuckoo.doc
Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
institutional controls. Additionally, many critics have identified a number of themes related to race and gender throughout the text, which is appropriate for a work from 1963, when the United
States was at the height of the civil rights movement and race relations were at the forefront of academic and intellectual discussion. Consequently, the novel is ripe for examination through
the lens of gender studies, as its thematic elements, narrative, characters, and symbolism all work together to cohesively present the idea of subtle control by societal power structures (including gender
and race-related structures). This section of the paper will help the student address how Keseys novel handles the issues of race and gender. Several different aspects of Keseys work
invite an examination of the text on the basis of race and gender. For example, the story contains a number of references to masculinity and the idea that masculinity is
undermined by women; notably, all of the women in the book are defined by their role in either facilitating or inhibiting the value of masculinity. This can be seen in
the prostitutes who facilitate Billys "becoming a man" near the end of the text, as well as the example of Chief Bromdens mother, whom he remembers as continuously emotionally abusing
his father, "emasculating" him (Kesey 1963). This had led some critics to suggest that the book is sexist. However, this belies a complete reading of the thematic undercurrents at work
in the story. Throughout the text, "masculinity" is used as a symbolic placeholder for human freedom in general; while a character like McMurphy would obviously emphasize masculinity as a primary
value, it is really the ability to exert individual identities of any type whatsoever that has been repressed and destroyed by the institution of the hospital. Sex is also used