George Kesey s One Flew Over The Cuckoo s Nest - 1094 Words

To be considered insane one must have non-conforming perceptions, behaviors, and interactions that negatively distinguishes one from one’s community (Mayo Clinic). Furthermore for one to be labeled mentally ill, they would need to be clinically diagnosed as being psychologically challenged. In Ken Kesey’s controversial novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, the constant question being asked by everyone is whether or not McMurphy is just an irrationally drunk character or is he actually struggling with deep-seated mental issues. However, instead McMurphy is reckless, foolish, and arrogant in his actions For that reason McMurphy, by manipulating his peers and in comparison to other characters is not insane, rather he is a power-hungry,†¦show more content†¦The Mayo Clinic says some signs of having mental illness are having suicidal thoughts which Cheswick clearly struggled from. (Mayo Clinic). Likewise, Billy Bibbit exhibits signs of mental issues by en ding his life after sleeping with Candy and blaming the mess on McMurphy who once again is able to manipulate the patients (Kesey). Again being in the state of having excessive fears and worries, feeling extreme guilt, and having suicidal thoughts reflects being insane (Mayo Clinic). The fact that Cheswick and Billy end up committing suicide shows how sane McMurphy is because of the depth and extremity his power of manipulation extends. The Mayo Clinic has said that having delusional thoughts, hallucinations and paranoia are symptoms of mental illness, which multiple characters aside from McMurphy parade within the ward. Although, the Chief is very deceiving of his character when he acts like he’s deaf and dumb in front of everybody but in reality isn’t, Chief stills displays signs of insanity. Chief is always having these hallucinations about the fog and is detached from reality when he thinks about things like the combine (Kessey). Hallucinations involve sensing things while awake that appear to be real, but are just thoughts created by the mind (U.S. National Library of Medicine). Harding conveys major paranoia which is his reasoning for being