One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Essay

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Ephraim Rosenstock March 22, 2024 Mr. Essex English Sem. P 3

An Examination of Christianity: Kesey’s “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest”.

In One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, author Ken Kesey argues against the perversity of Christianity in American society, claiming its structural nature, fanaticism, forced conformity, perceived moral corruption, and intransigence beget adverse effects, both for the population at large and individuals, although especially vis-á-vis those who don’t conform. His book functioned as an exegesis, interpreting the Bible in a poignant and timely fashion contrary to what was the norm at the time, challenging people’s values and forcing them to attempt to adjudicate their ethics with their beliefs, and so too does to …show more content…
While the forms of faith have transformed, the overarching motifs and tropes in them, particularly in Europe and North America, have stagnated following the advent of the Judeo-Christian tradition. Kesey, raised a devout Christian, reflects on the role of Christianity in society and the damage it can do throughout OFOTCN, questioning both the beliefs inherent in it and the practices with which it is associated. Christianity in the 1950s was perhaps at its very peak - ecumenism and a resultant rise in spirituality following the Second World War (tumultuous times further begot religious growth, as many sought comfort in community and principles as a method of coping) saw a staggering 90% of U.S. adults identifying with the religion; while indeed in modern times the relatively old credo had reached new heights, the scandal that engulfs the Catholic church - with regards to sexual abuse in the clergy - today had already begun to come to light. Along with this, themes of what many view as its homophobic rhetoric, vilification of non-conformers (those outside the religion), fanatic hierarchical structures, and theological contradictions are all examined and amplified in One Flew, with
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