Mental Illness in Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

Responding directly to controversial practices in psychology as well as to institutional abuse, Ken Kesey’s 1962 novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest depicts a not-so-distant reality in which a diagnosis of mental illness often signaled an end to autonomy. This compelling edition explores One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest through the lens of mental illness. A collection of curated essays investigate topics such as the challenges ethnicity and gender pose in diagnosing and treating mental illness and how society utilizes fear to encourage conformity. Contemporary perspectives and discussions of mental illness are also included, urging readers to make links between the themes of the text and modern discourse.