One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest I

Reading One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest can be a bit difficult because of the style of delivery from the narrator; a distracted, mysterious "chronic" in a psych ward. Often he falls into flashback in which parts of his past are unveiled, but are never totally concluded, leaving gaps in the chronology of Cheif Bromden. We already know that his heritage includes American Indian, hence the title "Cheif", he was born on a reservation, and we have a physical description of him. We also know that he is the oldest member of the ward, and has been there the longest. In the ward, he is labled as a "walker" and a "chronic" which means that he is mobile and, by the ward's opinion, does not have a chance for recovery. He plays the role of a deaf and mute person, but as we understand, it is only an act. However, we still do not have much information on why he is in the psych ward.

The stream of consciousness style employed by Kesey is a very effective addative to the novel because of the setting and narrator. This feature lends more credibility and adds to the authenticity of the novel. It helps capture the full character of Cheif Bromden rather than having a third person, omniscient narrator.