American Dominance By Kesey Essay Example For Students

American Dominance By Kesey Essay The idea of having the power of taming an unknown, rugged territory has alwaysbeen a significant goal in American society. The early American settlers cameover to this continent to find a better home with the intention to conquer andmake their surroundings fit their needs. In an interview with Ken Kesey, hesaid: What I explore in all my work: wilderness. Settlers on this continent fromthe beginning have been seeking wilderness and its wilderness. The explorers andpioneers sought that wilderness because they could sense that in Europeeverything had become locked in tight. . . .When we got here there was a senseof possibilities and new direction and it had to do with wilderness. (Faggen 22)In Keseys novels, this American feeling of confidence in oneself to dominateand control ones surroundings is a continuing theme. Kesey is predominatelyknown as an author of the Beatnik generation. He was very influential as aleader of the psychedelic movement on the West Coast, and drugs played animp ortant part in his life and often influenced his writing. What I explore in all my work: wilderness. -Ken Kesey Hisfirst published novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, was extremely popular andis often thought of as one of the great books demonstrating the social values ofthe Beatniks. In this novel, the protagonist, R.P. McMurphy, is a con man whofakes mental illness to enter a psychiatric hospital to escape working at astrenuous state correction farm. He goes there with the idea that this will bean easy life and hell make a profit. Miss Ratched, known as the Big Nurse, isthe dictating power on the ward, and the place runs in exact order under hercontrol. The two engage in a continual power struggle. McMurphy encourages thepatients to rebel against her authority for his own self-interest as well as forthe theirs. He makes it his personal goal to overthrow her rule and useswhatever means he can. He has the intention of taking control of the ward andconquering the ruler, and uses the ward meetings to get the other patients tovote against h er policies. Once McMurphy tries to get the daily schedule changedso the World Series would be on during the TV hour. With a great effort, hepersuades the patients to stand up against her and switch the time slots the waythey want, but their immense fear of her makes it difficult for McMurphy to takecontrol. Using his con man skills to weaken her rule, McMurphy brings gamblingto the ward, betting for the patients money and cigarettes. He is able to takemuch of their money fairly, without the Big Nurse being able to stop him. Hebets that he will be able to make her lose her cool within a week. He tells thepatients, . . .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 onetime, she aint so unbeatable as you think. On week. Ill let you be the judgewhether I win or not. ( 72) He comes very close by upsetting her, andmaking a fool of her. He plays games such as innocently offering to help andthem getting her all upset and flustered. He does lose this bet but he proveshis point that he is clever enough to get to her. This is an important step inwinning the patients confidence in McMurphy and their support of him. The BigNurse shows societys inhumanity in dealing with the insane by locking them upout of its sight. Kesey has McMurphy set out on the goal to conquer the villainand take control for himself. For him, the end justifies the means, even if hesacrifices himself for the cause. He sees the ward as a challenging wildernessthat he can tame in order to accommodate it to his own needs. Ontario Teachers Strike EssayDrugs have also distracted him from his writing, and there had always been aconflict between the two; eventually he stopped writing and remained active as adrug user. The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test reveals the life Kesey lived, asWolfe writes about Kesey and his group taking a trip across the United States toNew York City in a bus painted exotically with day-glo colors. Being the firstBeats to make such a statement to the nation, they are confident in entering theuncharted adventure to make new discoveries about themselves. As Wolfe wrote ofthe trip, Kesey was already talking about how writing was an old-fashionedand artificial form(91). The idea of the journey was to further expandtheir consciousness by making a journey to bring their revolution to New York. They were confident in g successfully spreading their ideas. This trip had amajor affect in making the transition from the Beatnik generation to thehippies. After they traveled across the country in the outlandish bus, othersimilar vehicles became popular. Tom Wolfe illustrates the great influencesKesey had on the nation and the promotion of psychedelics. Kesey persists in hisown life to take on new challenges, confident in his ability to change things tothe way that suits him. Ken Keseys works all relate to the early American idealof being able to come to a completely new place and take control. Taming thewild and rugged environment and making it adjust to ones desires was animportant part in his characters lives. In Cuckoos Nest McMurphy could end theBig Nurses control and live his own way. Like McMurphy, In Great Notion, Hankand Joe Ben do tame the wilderness but pay a severe price for it. In GarageSale, Kesey portrays his own journey to lead the nation to new psychedelicstages of consciousness. In Acid Test, Keseys road trip across the UnitedStates shows his determination and ability to lead people to new phases inhistory and his confidence in achieving his goal. He says: Its the same oldwilderness, just no longer up on that hill or around that bend, or in thatgully. Its because there are no more hills and gullies that hollow is there,and youve got to explore the hollow with faith. If you dont have faith thatthere is something down there, pretty soon when youre in the hollow, you beginto get scared and start shaking. Real warriors like William Burroughs orLeonard Cohen or Wallace Stevens examine the hollow as well as anybody; they getin there, look far into the dark, and yet come out with poetry. (qtd. in Faggen24) Ken Kesey continues to illustrate the American ideal of conquering newterritory and transforming it into the way that suits them best. He shows howimportant determination to take the dominating role affects Americans lives. Heis an author of the Beatnik generation and throughout his lifetime madesignificant social contributions. He led the country from Beats to Hippies withhis influence through psychedelic drugs. World History