Freedom Of Choice

Ken Elton Kesey(1935-2001) is a famous novelist of United States. He is a productive writer,among his published works,One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is the biggest success which won him great fame and fortune as well as various criticisms.He began writing in his college days,but it is the publication of his masterpiece One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest in 1962 that brings the author and his works to the attention of criticism.It is generally regarded as the most celebrated novel written by Ken Kesey,and it is considered as a major work of 1960s.Frederick R.Karl said in American Fiction1940-1980 that if Jerome Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye was the most popular novel of 1950s,and then Joseph Heller's Catch 22 and Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest were 1960s'~1.So it is impossible to avoid Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo "s Nest when people study 1960s' American literature.Ken Kesey is deemed as one of the remarkable writers of America,whose writings catch the sight of many critics in the United States.However,the situation in China differs a lot.Of all his works,One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is the least discussed one and causes little attention in China,but this novel reflects his themes and styles.It reveals his existentialist tendency and expresses his deep concern with people's living condition,their predicament,and their right of free choices.In this novel,Ken Kesey shows readers a post-war American society in point of his own view by using the imaginary mental hospital ward as the stage.The contents of the novel are series of absurd incidents that happened in the hospital ward.Ken Kesey's concerns in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest are identical with the thoughts of existentialist philosophers.In addition,the writer of the thesis finds that Kesey applies the writing technique of black humor to satirize the absurdity of the society.This thesis,approaching from the perspective of existentialism,attempts to explore the existentialist tendency in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.It will employ Jean-Paul Sartre's existential thought,which was prevailed in America in 1960s,to explore Ken Kesey's existentialist concerns in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, meanwhile,the thesis will investigate two expressive techniques of black humor which are evident in this novel.The argument of the thesis is that Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo 's Nest is a great existential novel which contains black humor elements.It embodies two existentialist themes which are identical with Jean-Paul Sartre's existential thoughts:the absurdity of the environment and the freedom of choice. Besides,it also delivers the author's proficiency in the using of black humor.