Ken Kesey's, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest: Anti-christ or not? high school help

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Hows it going,

this is my very first post and im glad to be part of this awesome website. I am Catholic and a strong one indeed. I also am a 17 year old high school student attending fairfax public high school here in los angeles, CA. Just recently, we began reading this new book to start off the second semester(or my last in high school!). Its a famous one indeed and its called one flew over the cuckoos nest, by Ken Kesey. After reading the first 35 pages and noticing the absolute filth I decided to surf sparknotes a bit and I didnt like what I read, particularly in how the rest of the book played out. For those who dont know this novel ultimately tries to portray one main character named mcmurphy as a christ-like figure who dies for helpless mental patients in a mental ward. For a closer look at this christ-mcmurphy comparison take a look:

cliffsnotes.com/WileyCDA/LitNote/id-136,pageNum-86.html

I spent a day or so meditating and trying to figure if this was a thorough blaspheme to our lord Jesus Christ or not. Indeed it was as i came to my conclusion. Subsequently, I walked into that classroom and bravely stood up for what i felt was right and asked the teacher if i could read another novel. It was a yes. However, we emailed each other a couple times the last couple days with my views and her views. She believes that there is really nothing wrong with the way it is all portrayed. I dunno guys. Did i do the right thing?..what do u guys think? i need some other catholic minds to help me out here…thanks so much guys

BTW, my parents and brother strongly oppose. I just want more insight
 
The Narnia books are an allegory of Christianity - to the glory of God. This book (One Flew Over…) does not disrespect Christianity AFAIK, so the fact there is a theme of redemption is not blasphemy in my opinion - rather it is a tribute to the power of the salvation story.
 
I think you are more than entitled to your opinion and if you believe the way you do then it is good you stood up for your beliefs and even better that your teacher respected them. However, that being said I respectfully disagree. Although the book and the movie for that matter contains some very graphic material, it was interesting and although perhaps exagerated, showed some of the problems that were going on in the mental institutions. We say this movie in our AP US History class and I went to a Catholic school. It was approved by the adminstration for us to watch. I’m sure if there was anything overly anti catholic about it we would not have been allowed to watch it. I’m not quite sure what is so wrong with someone dieing for the sake of others and how this mocks Jesus. The mental patients perhaps even gave the opportunity to save the soul of McMurphy since for the first time in his life he cared about people and desired to help others. Again, you are more than entitled to your opinion but I don’t see a moral obligation to agree.
 
thanks for the responses and please…keep em coming. The portrayal of him dying for those patients is indeed an image of christ; in fact its awesome. However, when i read that this character who is this christ like figure is also this man who raped a 17 year old with no regret whatsoever, had sex with a 9 year old girl in his childhood days, imposing that as a badge of honor, and degrading women left and right throughout the novel, i feel that inserting the ever so reverent jesus christ into the picture is just wrong. Not to mention the resemblance of the last supper in the novel with two whores that are supposed to represent the presence of Mary Magdalene. Ellis, another character poses as if nailed to cross day after day. It just all seems fishy, and it just feels ken kesey designed this book in sich a demonicly brilliant fashion that intends to brainwash the reader, catholic or not. Still, i may be wrong. Again, more thoughts from you guys would be awesome.
 
one thought - harness all these insights! how better to represent the Catholic faith by pointing all this? this can be a real witness
 
bump…anyone else plz? It also would be perfect if we only focused on the novel.
 
First – the literature of Christendom is full of Christ figures. Why? Because even people who don’t consciously believe in Christ, do have Christ’s pattern of heroic self-sacrifice engrained in them. That’s just our culture. Also, any literature becomes more powerful when it deals with universal and important things in normal life. Christ is about as universal as it gets! If you can hook His story into your story with any kind of skill, the reader will find it hard to stop reading.

Now, I’ve never read Ken Kesey and I’m not particularly sad about that. 🙂 But there isn’t anything wrong about showing a bad person reaching out and doing something good. That again is a staple of literature, and comes from the deep Christian roots of our culture. Think of a fairly nasty type of person in his last hour of life, suddenly speaking up to defend some crazy rabbi on the cross next to him from his compadre’s sick jokes.

Grace can work in the worst people, and even transform them into saints and martyrs. We have to believe that, or none of us have any hope of salvation. Writers ought to believe it, too, because it makes a darned good story – because it’s part of the one true story – the Word’s Story.

Finally – you are taking this class, and you have a responsibility to read the book. (Though why the heck they’d assign you that particular one in high school… creepy. You obviously don’t have too many militant parents in your neck of the woods.) Even if you just skim the book, you need to read it. You shouldn’t try to slide by on Cliff Notes and the like. (Especially since I’ve never yet read a set of notes on a book which I thought was even vaguely accurate. People’s papers and pontifications are routinely dead wrong.) Unless you want someday to opine on a test that Queen Beruthiel is Galadriel’s evil sister, you better read the book.
 
One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest is certainly not for the faint of heart, but it is an amazing book. Read it for what it is: A story from the perspective of a very flawed man who, although not Christian, still instinctively recognizes the inherent dignity and nobility of the human being.

– Mark L. Chance.
 
mlchance said:
One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest is certainly not for the faint of heart, but it is an amazing book. Read it for what it is: A story from the perspective of a very flawed man who, although not Christian, still instinctively recognizes the inherent dignity and nobility of the human being.

– Mark L. Chance.
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I read this book ages ago and also saw the movie which was directed by Milos Forman who was a victim of Soviet repression in [then] Czechoslovakia. To Forman, of course, Nurse Ratched was a metaphor for the repressive State.

Back to McMurphy, yes, he’s evil, he deserves to be locked up but he insists on his dignity as a human being and is shocked that his fellow inmates co-operate with their dehumanisation. I would say that for McM there is hope (however slim) of salvation while the others are “neither hot nor cold”, they have given up.

Cuckoo’s Nest is a propos nowadays when it seems every sin is considered a disease or a syndrome of some kind. Whe evil is a disease the only cure is to do away with free will.
 
HisCreation said:
Hows it going,

this is my very first post and im glad to be part of this awesome website. I am Catholic and a strong one indeed. I also am a 17 year old high school student attending fairfax public high school here in los angeles, CA. Just recently, we began reading this new book to start off the second semester(or my last in high school!). Its a famous one indeed and its called one flew over the cuckoos nest, by Ken Kesey. After reading the first 35 pages and noticing the absolute filth I decided to surf sparknotes a bit and I didnt like what I read, particularly in how the rest of the book played out. For those who dont know this novel ultimately tries to portray one main character named mcmurphy as a christ-like figure who dies for helpless mental patients in a mental ward. For a closer look at this christ-mcmurphy comparison take a look:

cliffsnotes.com/WileyCDA/LitNote/id-136,pageNum-86.html

I spent a day or so meditating and trying to figure if this was a thorough blaspheme to our lord Jesus Christ or not. Indeed it was as i came to my conclusion. Subsequently, I walked into that classroom and bravely stood up for what i felt was right and asked the teacher if i could read another novel. It was a yes. However, we emailed each other a couple times the last couple days with my views and her views. She believes that there is really nothing wrong with the way it is all portrayed. I dunno guys. Did i do the right thing?..what do u guys think? i need some other catholic minds to help me out here…thanks so much guys

BTW, my parents and brother strongly oppose. I just want more insight
Click to expand...
I watched the movie in college and thought it was pretty good. I don’t think it is mocking Jesus or disrespectful.
 
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