One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

The book, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a story told by Chief Bromden, a mentally unstable patient at a mental hospital who is perceived by other patients as deaf. He tells about a man named McMurphy who arrives at the mental institution and disrupts the order and peace at the hospital. The book is controversial because some people have considered it racist and misogynistic. I think the book is strange because Ken Kesey does not include any other women in the story besides Nurse Ratched, who is the dominate, "ball-cutting," powerful head of the ward. I don't understand why Kesey would write a story so hateful toward women and it makes me wonder if something happened to him with his mother or a woman he loved in his life. Nurse Ratched is so emasculating and belittling to the men in the ward, and it is scary to think about why Kesey would make her that way. Racism in the story is also a big controversy because "black boys" clean the ward and follow Nurse Ratched's direction. Racism is definitely present in the story but it is not outrageously blatant. The overall messages of the story are just as important and evident, if not more so, than racism and misogynism. One of the main messages of the book is the mistreatment of mentally ill people in places that are supposed to be helping them and providing a place for support. Obviously treatment has improved greatly since the days of labotomy but I think many people are unaware of