One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Critical Analysis

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“You’re weird.” “What is wrong with you?” “Why can't you just be normal?” “Stop acting weird.” These are phrases many of us hear again and again, especially while growing up. In modern day society, the sanest people are the ones who conform and are normal. However, in the novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, by Ken Kesey the idea that “Much madness is divinest sense” can be seen. This shows the idea that the sanest people are the people who are the most different and do not conform to society.
Society portrays the “perfect” person as one who does everything the same as others, but when individuals stand up and do things their own way, they are seen as dangerous. Throughout the novel, the other patients notice a few odd things about McMurphy. …show more content…
They have stood up for what they believed in, despite fear and failure. This idea is seen when McMurphy is trying to get the ward television schedule changed so the patients can watch the World Series. McMurphy states, “Everyone in favor of changing the television time to the afternoon raise his hand” (121). This portrays the idea of “Much madness is divinest sense” by showing the impact of someone who is different from others around him because of his insanity. One’s constant drive towards a goal can make them seem crazy, but in reality standing up for something you believe in is completely normal. In this case, McMurphy gets what he wants, to watch the World Series. Chief Bromden states, “In the group meetings there were gripes coming up that had been buried so long the thing being griped about had already changed. Now that McMurphy was around to back them up, the guys started letting fly at everything that had ever happened on the ward they didn’t like” (144). McMurphy initiates change without even trying to. By simply speaking his mind during the meetings, he rubs off on others. The other patients assume McMurphy is crazy for committing so much time to change ward rules, but change doesn’t happen on its own and doesn’t happen by people who do everything the way society portrays as acceptable. .
At a young age, a commonly heard idea tells us to pursue what we are passionate about. However, society changes
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