The first week in October is Mental Illness Awareness Week, and I am going to be discussing mental illness while also bringing into context a book I recently finished. For me, the books I read and the things I come into contact with greatly influence my mindset and headspace. When I saw that the first week of October was Mental Awareness Week, I knew I had to mention the topics and themes present in Ken Kesey’s novel, One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest.
Kesey’s novel centers around mental illness in the 1950s in Oregon. Nowadays, the topic of mental illness is less taboo than when Kesey was writing this novel but the stigma still remains. Kesey worked in a veteran’s hospital in the 1960s near Palo Alto California where he uncovered the theme of this book. In an interview with Kesey’s wife, she said that he thought to himself “‘What’s the difference between the orderlies and the nurses and the patients?’ And he began to see that they were all damaged in some way or another.” This theme is present in the novel as power shifts constantly between the employees of the institution and the patients there. The narrator of the novel, Chief Bromden, questions the history of the employees that control him and he takes into account the pain of their backstories. While looking at these characters, Kesey pulls in concepts of generational trauma and sexual assault and how they might impact people.
Around Kesey’s time the concept of mental illness was not understood and the institutions that ‘helped’ were covert and secretive. His novel follows a group of men within the institution which I think is important to note because today conversations that surround mental illness generally surround women. The topic of men and mental illness does not seem to be grouped together and Kesey took these two ideas and combined them, while also raising awareness in the process. The men within this novel were labeled as being ‘not manly’ enough if they questioned their sexuality or didn’t sleep with enough women. On the contrary, men were institutionalized for being too rough and for sleeping with too many women. Kesey paints a picture of a society that accepts no one in any state. The men all seem to be too much and not enough at the same time. They are penalized for being too soft and then for being too strong, and within this, Kesey brings awareness to the impossibility of ever fitting into society.
The ideas and themes that Kesey wrote about in the ‘60s were important to the awareness of mental illness. Writing and recording his experiences shed light on the treatment of patients that were institutionalized and, as a result, more research was done.
Kesey’s novel was one of the first to take into account the feelings and lives of those that were institutionalized. He did not paint them as the villain as some novels prior did, but instead, he did it in such a way that highlights their humanity. This had a huge role in introducing mental illness as being a part of life and not something that dictates it.
The issues raised in Kesey’s book impacted the field of mental illness and the stigma that surrounds it. Stories and novels that touch on mental illness are some of the most influential strategies to gain awareness. Exposure and discussions about mental illness are the only ways to open people up to new ideas and understandings. Kesey’s novel was just one of the many steps needed for mental health awareness and there are still many steps to be made. One step you can make is to educate yourself on mental illness and open yourself up to these ideas because each step counts!