American Dominance By Kesey Essay Research Paper

American Dominance By Kesey Essay, Research Paper

The idea of having the power of taming an unknown, rugged territory has always

been a significant goal in American society. The early American settlers came

over to this continent to find a better home with the intention to conquer and

make their surroundings fit their needs. In an interview with Ken Kesey, he

said: What I explore in all my work: wilderness. Settlers on this continent from

the beginning have been seeking wilderness and its wilderness. The explorers and

pioneers sought that wilderness because they could sense that in Europe

everything had become locked in tight. . . .When we got here there was a sense

of possibilities and new direction and it had to do with wilderness. (Faggen 22)

In Kesey’s novels, this American feeling of confidence in oneself to dominate

and control one’s surroundings is a continuing theme. Kesey is predominately

known as an author of the Beatnik generation. He was very influential as a

leader of the psychedelic movement on the West Coast, and drugs played an

important part in his life and often influenced his writing.

————————————————————————

"What I explore in all my work: wilderness." -Ken Kesey

———————————————————————— His

first published novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, was extremely popular and

is often thought of as one of the great books demonstrating the social values of

the Beatniks. In this novel, the protagonist, R.P. McMurphy, is a con man who

fakes mental illness to enter a psychiatric hospital to escape working at a

strenuous state correction farm. He goes there with the idea that this will be

an easy life and he’ll make a profit. Miss Ratched, known as the Big Nurse, is

the dictating power on the ward, and the place runs in exact order under her

control. The two engage in a continual power struggle. McMurphy encourages the

patients to rebel against her authority for his own self-interest as well as for

the theirs. He makes it his personal goal to overthrow her rule and uses

whatever means he can. He has the intention of taking control of the ward and

conquering the ruler, and uses the ward meetings to get the other patients to

vote against her policies. Once McMurphy tries to get the daily schedule changed

so the World Series would be on during the TV hour. With a great effort, he

persuades the patients to stand up against her and switch the time slots the way

they want, but their immense fear of her makes it difficult for McMurphy to take

control. Using his con man skills to weaken her rule, McMurphy brings gambling

to the ward, betting for the patients money and cigarettes. He is able to take

much of their money fairly, without the Big Nurse being able to stop him. He

bets that he will be able to make her lose her cool within a week. He tells the

patients, ". . .a bee in her butt, a burr in her bloomers. Get her goal.

Bug her till she comes apart at those neat little seams, and shows, just one

time, she ain’t so unbeatable as you think. On week. I’ll let you be the judge

whether I win or not." ( 72) He comes very close by upsetting her, and

making a fool of her. He plays games such as innocently offering to help and

them getting her all upset and flustered. He does lose this bet but he proves

his point that he is clever enough to get to her. This is an important step in

winning the patients’ confidence in McMurphy and their support of him. The Big

Nurse shows society’s inhumanity in dealing with the insane by locking them up

out of its sight. Kesey has McMurphy set out on the goal to conquer the villain

and take control for himself. For him, the end justifies the means, even if he

sacrifices himself for the cause. He sees the ward as a challenging wilderness

that he can tame in order to accommodate it to his own needs.

————————————————————————

"…a bee in her butt, a burr in her bloomers." -McMurphy in One Flew

Over the Cuckoos Nest

———————————————————————— Kesey’s

second novel is Sometimes A Great Notion. It is a difficult novel to comprehend

because it quickly shifts from first to third person. The book "blends past

and present"(Granville 277), switching story lines by using italics,

capitals, and parentheses. Much of it is written in stream of consciousness. The

novel takes place on the Oregon coast, where the Stampers are a large logging

family who own their business. They have a rugged, strenuous life with few

modern conveniences. Hank Stamper runs most of the business with Joe Ben

Stamper, and together they work excruciatingly hard to pull through their

struggles. They are the model example of Americans surviving the elements in an

attempt to conquer the wilderness. The Stampers isolate themselves from the rest

of the town; only family members can work for the company. Theirs is a

competitive co

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