One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Character analysis, symbolism, what is "truth"?. Lots of quotes.

Subject  > Literature Research Papers  > North American

Truth is Perception In the novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, written by Ken Kesey, we see a disturbing society where insanity, and the truth, may or may not be real. We meet characters whom society claims are "insane" and are trying to "adjust" back into the world. The people in this novel struggle with control, conformity, and lack of self-empowerment. What is truth? If truth is based solely upon one's perception of the actions around him, then that truth is in the eye of the beholder. Chief is an avid believer of this philosophy as he starts his narration with, "But it's the truth even if it didn't happen" (13). Throughout the novel, we ...

... ward, what the patients saw on TV, the lighting, and many other factors. In many ways, this parallels the "control panels" present in the real world. For example, certain people; censors, editors, and media executives moderate the media. All of these people influence what we see and what we should believe by controlling what we perceive to be reality. In the same way, Nurse Ratched uses the control panels to moderate what the men can perceive and see. When Chief Bromden finally escapes to freedom, he does so by ripping the control panel from the Nurse's office and throwing it through a window. This represents his new found freedom through

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