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One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest: Rising to Heroism by M. Gilbert Porter

1990; University of Nebraska Press; Volume: 25; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1353/wal.1990.0067

1948-7142

Mark Busby,

Themes in Literature Analysis

Reviews 191 O ne Flew O ver the Cuckoo’s Nest: Rising to Heroism. By M. Gilbert Porter. (Boston: Twayne, 1989. 121 pages, $19.95.) Some teachers no doubt view the new Twayne Masterwork Studies series with some suspicion. These short books on individual poems, plays, or novels may seem at first glance to be glorified Cliff’s or Monarch Notes to which students will turn instead of reading the primary work. Gilbert Porter’s new study of Ken Kesey’s 1962 novel O ne Flew Over the Cuckoo’s N est should allay fears. While it is a concise examination of setting, plot, characterization, symbolism, and point of view in the novel, any malingering student who wished to avoid reading would be hard-pressed to substitute reading Porter’s scholarly analysis for Kesey’s novel. But as a secondary source to help both students and teachers understand the novel, Porter’s book is first-rate. Porter begins with a detailed chronology of Kesey’s life, pointing out Kesey’s early days as a wrestler at the University of Oregon; graduate student in Stanford’s writing program with Wallace Stegner, drug study volunteer, psychiatric aide, and writer of O ne Flew O ver the Cuckoo’s Nest and Som e­ times a Great N otion (1965). Then Kesey traveled with the Merry Pranksters in a day-glo bus; served a five-month jail sentence for drug possession; and sporadically published such miscellaneous works as K esey’s Garage Sale (1973), D em on Box (1986), and the journal Spit in the Ocean with excerpts from a novel, Seven Prayers for G randm a Whittier. Finally, Porter notes Kesey’s current work on a film about an African-American rodeo champion and a novel set in Alaska. In a ten-page chapter on the “Historical Context” Porter takes on the difficult task of surveying fifty years of American history. This chapter, which reads something like Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire,” only touches upon significant events, but for students with little histori­ cal background it provides a necessary base from which to begin studying Kesey’s novel. In his reading of the novel, Porter concentrates on the formal elements of the novel and draws carefully from scholarship including his own 1982 study, T he A rt of Grit: K en K esey’s Fiction. Porter’s careful discussion of Kesey’s characterization is especially valuable and clear. Some feminists will perhaps find Porter too much of an apologist for Kesey’s sexism: “To see the novel only in terms of gender is to mistake the medium for the message. To state the matter in another way, it is always possible to find a rat turd in a silo, but it is a lot of trouble, that is not what the silo is built for, and the discovery is hardly worth the effort.” Still, Porter even-handedly discusses the objections to Kesey’s characterization of women. O ne Flew O ver the Cuckoo’s Nest, in Porter’s view, is an optimistic novel in which Chief Bromden takes on McMurphy’s mantle and “at the end is heading for freedom and life... .” To support this view, Porter concentrates on Kesey’s imagery and symbolism, particularly images drawn from nature such as the geese and the Christ symbolism, which Porter documents thoroughly. Porter also revisits his own critical insights provided in his earlier study. He points out again that Chief Bromden begins to use language rhythmically 192 Western American Literature as he responds to McMurphy’s influence and begins to come out of the fog. Porter also notes Kesey’s emphasis on synecdoche as the chief concentrates on humor and characters’ faces and hands to present his fragmented view of the world of the ward. The book also contains a chapter on the critical reception of the novel and a helpful annotated bibliography. In short, Gil Porter’s One Flew O ver the Cuckoo’s Nest: Rising to Heroism is a fine supplementary text for students, a concise review for teachers, and a scholarly work with enough insights to be rewarding. MARK BUSBY Texas A & M University Natives in Exile. By...