A Study Of Archetypal Representation In One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1962) is the representative work of Ken Kesey,the forerunner of American Counter-Cultural Movement. Narrated by an Indianpsychopath who feigns deaf and dumb at the mental hospital, the novel vividly depictsthe constraint and dehumanization American social mechanism exerts over human,together with man·s aspiration for freedom and individuality. This thesis, making anattempt to employ the archetypal criticism of Northrop Frye, analyzes the archetypesin One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest from two aspects: archetypal characters andarchetypal images.In terms of archetypal characters, the thesis chooses Randle Patrick McMurphy,the protagonist and discusses his messianic role as Jesus Christ in sacrificing himselffor the emancipation of others so that they can fly over the cuckoo·s nest at last.Another archetypal character is Billy Bibbit. As a faithful disciple of McMurphy,Billy transforms temporarily from a nervous patient with stutter problem to a normalyoung adult who can assert individuality. However, at the novel·s end, he commitssuicide under the threat by Nurse Ratched, which betrays McMurphy·s doctrine ofpursuing freedom and renders him a Judas archetype. On the other hand, Billy alsoresembles an ancient Greek mythology, Oedipus the King. His mother·s distorted andincestuous love contributes to his low self-evaluation and makes him incapable tointegrate into the society like other youth. Through a deep-going analysis of thearchetypal characters in the novel, this chapter expresses man·s infinite longing forfreedom and individuality. In terms of the archetypal images, the thesis first links thewater image in the Bible with hydroelectric dam built at Bromden·s homeland and thesea trip led by McMurphy; the hydroelectric dam destructs Bromden·s life just likethe biblical flood, and the sea trip purifies the patients· minds and constructs theirconfidence, resembling the Baptism in the Bible. Thus, the water archetype has thedouble meanings of construction and destruction. And, due to the rigorous rules anddehumanizing treatments, the mental hospital in the novel is analogous to the hell in the Bible from every perspective; as the master of the hospital, the Big Nurse, in thedisguise of a good-motherμ, is associated with the serpent image of the Bible. Theassociation of the novel·s images with the corresponding biblical archetypes in thischapter helps to present the American system·s constraint and dehumanization overman.Through an in-depth analysis of the various archetypal characters and images inOne Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, this thesis has achieved the aim of deepening thenovel·s themes by exposing the constraint of American system over human beings andman·s pursuit for freedom and individuality from multiple perspectives.