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One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest : Examining the Psyche of Literature and of Society

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest : Examining the Psyche of Literature and of Society. Randle P. McMurphy vs. (The Big) Nurse Ratched. Cuckoo’s Nest. The most important novel of the 20 th Century, because it helps us study the arc and progression of America’s people—and our conflicts:

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One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest : Examining the Psyche of Literature and of Society

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  1. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest: Examining the Psyche of Literature and of Society Randle P. McMurphy vs. (The Big) Nurse Ratched

  2. Cuckoo’s Nest • The most important novel of the 20th Century, because it helps us study the arc and progression of America’s people—and our conflicts: • gay vs. straight (choice? nurture? nature?) • young vs. old (age) • Christian vs. _________ (creed) • black vs. white (race) • poor vs. rich (class) • Dialectics = the study of opposing forces

  3. What were the 1950s like? • Boring, strict, dull • Post-WWII optimism • Innocence • “Leave it to Beaver” • Straight-laced (and straitjacketed) • Paranoid • Specific gender roles • Establishment-building http://www.sitcomsonline.com/photos/leaveittobeaveronline.jpg

  4. http://genderroles1950.blogspot.com/

  5. What do you know about the (late) 1960s? 1957 • Drugs • Vietnam • “Revolution” of everything, including sexual (birth control pill liberated women of this era) • Peace, love—not war • A great loosening (morals) • Tie-dyed, “Anti-Establishment” • Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Credence Clearwater Revival, Rolling Stones, Janis Joplin, The Doors, Elvis Presley, The Grateful Dead, & The Beatles— 1967 http://library.thinkquest.org/21342/pictures/led-zeppelin.jpg

  6. The Beatles Show the Difference from the 1950s to the 1960s

  7. What do you know about hippies? • Drugs • Flag burning • Bra burning • Gender role rejection • San Francisco • Flower Power • Woodstock

  8. What do you know about McCarthyism? • The ESTABLISHMENT was trying to maintain the social order it had worked so long and hard to create • The Crucible by Arthur Miller • “Witch hunts” • Red Scare • Hysteria http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAmccarthyism.jpg

  9. McCarthyism: The Age of Anxiety http://www.lambiek.net/artists/b/block_h/block_fire.gif

  10. Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters • One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is an allegory with symbolic characters. • These characters enter combat that is symbolic of the conflict in America—between the “establishment” and the “anti-establishment.” http://www.filmreference.com/images/sjff_01_img0365.jpg

  11. “Establishment” • “…term for a traditional conservative ruling class and its institutions. In this context the term may also refer to that which is mainstream.” (wikipedia.com) • “Mainstream” = old, rich, white, male, Christian • “The Man” is another term for this concept. “Tricky Dick” Richard Nixon, who was despised by hippies for continuing the Vietnam War

  12. “Anti-Establishment” • “[An entity that] goes against the conventional social, political, and economic principles of a society.” (wikipedia.com) • “Counterculture” is another term that applies here. • “Punk” • “V for Vendetta” • 1984 • Young vs. Old

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