Eleana Pieri

To what extent are Marxist theories of literature useful in exploring

power structures in One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest by Ken Kesey?
One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest can be explored from a Marxist
perspective as Kesey investigates the notion of social circumstances
determining your life through the interaction between doctors and the
patients at a psychiatric ward, criticising the social ladder. Thus, it is
an in-depth exploration of the relationship between a person who
confines and those who are confined, as well as a depiction of the inner
psychology of a man who has been restrained in an insane asylum for
several years. The allegorical novel queries important questions, like
what restraint will do to a man, and whether it is possible to cure
mental illness in a typical hospital environment with its system, rules,
and regulations. Ultimately, it is a psychological exploration, and
potential criticism of the psychiatric system.
Kesey explores several aspects of Marxist symbolism and social
hierarchy through the first person narrative of Chief, who suffers from
Schizophrenia. Though Chief plays a significant role in the story, he is
predominantly a spectator of others. Yet he is certainly not an unbiased
narrator and his mental illness sheds doubt on his reliability. Kesey
employs Chiefs character to signify an elaborate conspiracy theory in
which the world is a machine called The Combine, which becomes a
direct symbol of capitalism and a blatant denunciation of society itself
describing the mechanical nature of the asylum system. The Combine
is an oppressive machine, representative of Chiefs ideas of the
premise of the novel, the mental institution, later referred to as a
factory of the combine. The Hospital itself can be elucidated as an
institution that upholds capitalism and works to segregate people into
hierarchal groups. The hospital ward is a mere factory for remedying
mistakes made within The Combine to fix peoples behaviour into the
correct behaviour, therefore forcing them to fulfil the expectations
set out by society, working within the framework. From solely the
title, Kesey begins to insinuate the notion of mentally unstable people
being marginalised from civilisation. Capitalism thrived on exploiting its
labourers, which can support the idea of the patients being degraded
by the reference to a cuckoos nest, a derisive term used for those
with mental illnesses.
Everything on the hospital ward is run according to a strict schedule
and there is strong emphasis on abiding by the rules, inducing fear of
negative consequences when they are broken, into the minds of the
patients. As read from a Marxist viewpoint, the premise denotes many
intriguing themes within the book. The majority of patients arent
chronics or committed forcibly, the patients are there out of what is
arguable to be free will, although nobody ever leaves to establish their

Eleana Pieri
own self-autonomy as an individual. Nurse Ratched leads this
establishment posing as a supposed counsellor interested in helping
them to overcome their assumed problems and establish
independence. The readers ascertain that the character of the nurse is
far from the guardian angel that her role implies. In reality, Nurse
Ratched uses implicit and explicit measures to oppress the patients
and keep them captive in something that very much resembles a
dictatorship.
The nurses and doctors in the illustrative novel are symbolic of the rich
and powerful people in a capitalist society, Ratched being of highest
authority, she wields a sure power that extends in all directions. Any
figures above her are never personified, which works as an abstraction,
which increases their overall power, making them seen more
threatening and ominous. This is intently comparable to an archetypal
capitalist nation in which the people at the top are never revealed,
giving them omniscient supremacy. Ratcheds role is supposed to be
one of a caring nature, trying to help people overcome mental illness
and re-integrate them back into the outside world. Nonetheless, her
title is a transparent faade, which conceals the truth of her nature.
This links to the claim of capitalism being a benefit to the people; it is
arguable that there is no real advantage to the people, merely
unprincipled, egocentric intentions for the government.
The works of Kesey meticulously explores the power struggle between
the oppressed and the ruling. McMurphy can be perceived as a
charismatic leader who encourages fellow patients to not accept the
future set out by the institution as their fate, but to rebel against the
authority, Rules? PISS ON YOUR FUCKING RULES! A perceptible
concept of Marxism found in the novel is the idea of a power struggle
between the dominant ruling class and the oppressed working class,
which ultimately leads to a revolution by the proletariat to create a
new society where capitalism is abolished. Kesey epitomises the
Marxist view that It is not the consciousness of men that determines
their being, but, on the contrary, their social being that determines
their consciousness. In this case, the failure of such constructs being
exhibited by can suggest that Marxs ideals are being criticised as
futile. This power struggle underlies the plot in One Flew Over the
Cuckoos nest and is represented by the on going conflict between
Nurse Ratched and the Acutes, lead by Randal McMurphy.
McMurphy stages several acts of rebellion against the nurses control.
He is successful in obtaining a quieter games room in the empty tub
room so that the Acutes can play cards away from the loud music in
the main games room. He stages a vote to change the chore schedule
so that the patients can watch the World Series game in the afternoon.

Eleana Pieri
Even though he wins the vote, Nurse Ratched does not honour the
outcome and turns the power to the television off. As result,
McMurphy is joined by several patients to stage a protest by remaining
seated in front of the blank screen instead of doing the afternoon
chores. McMurphys victory is apparent by Nurse Ratcheds loss of
control as she rants and screams at the patients as they sit staring at
the blank screen. Through his example, McMurphy slowly teaches the
other patients to resist the Nurses control. Despite his lobotomy and
death, McMurphy is successful in his rebellion against the ruling class.
Chief comments that after McMurphys attack on Nurse Ratched, she
couldnt rule with her old power anymore and that the patients were
now immune to her poison. The capitalist mode of production
constructs an understanding of the world in which we all function as
objects and become alienated from ourselves.
Through constant abuse and manipulation, the patients are becoming
insusceptible to the works of the Nurse. They are merely objects to
society, in repair. Chief demonstrates his newfound independence from
her control when he makes the decision to kill McMurphy in an act of
mercy and escape the mental institution. Yet the extent to which the
patients remains ambiguous. The grand scheme of things suggests
that there is no true escape from ones circumstance, simply an
implementation of freedom as an idea in ones mind.
Furthermore, it is questionable as to whether Ken Kesey is competent
in making valid comments on social structures as a member of the
intellectual elite, or whether his position is compromised due to this
very factor. This Marxist agenda may have been within the authorial
intent of Ken Kesey, who throughout his years became known as an
anti-authority figure and counter-culture icon. Kesey was a crucial
figure within the Beatnik and Hippie cultural movements and was
always challenging social norms. Kesey is also perceived by many, as a
post-modernist writer and a postmodern style usually emphasises the
role of power relations, often opposes the use of classification. Though
he may not be a member of it, Kesey adopts the voice of the working
class. This opposes the common Marxist belief that an authors social
class and prevailing ideology have a major bearing on what is written
by a member of that class, implying that Kesey is supportive of a more
communist approach to the worlds economy and civilisation.

Eleana Pieri