Individual Versus Society

One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, Into The Wild, and Bringing Down The House

By: Carsyn Ciuba

Ken Kesey

http://www.pcs.org/blog/item/ken-keseys-exploration-in-psychopharmacology/

• American writer known for being the hero to the counterculture revolution and hippie movements in the 1960s

•Many of his books (especially One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest) received their foundation from Kesey’s mind-altering drug experiments

•Basis of other books came from Kesey’s psychedelic experiences with the Merry Pranksters

• Tom Wolfe describes Kesey’s life as a hippie and journey with the Merry Pranksters in his book Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test

One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest(Randall McMurphy)

• McMurphy's lively, vivacious, determined, and carefree attitude clashes with Nurse Ratched at the mental ward

• His actions to stand against authority fails and results in various punishments such as electroshock, time in the disturbed unit, and a lobotomy

• Ultimately his rise against society is life costing

Published in 1962

One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest(Billy Bibbit)

• Billy Bibbit is shy, stutters, and is largely dominated by the authority figures in his life

• Billy rises against society on his fishing trip when he sleeps with a prostitute

• His attempts to defy authority are shot down when Nurse Ratched drives him to suicide

• Billy Bibbit fails in his rise against society and loses his life in the process as well

Jon Krakauer

http:www.newnewjournalism.comauthors/Jon_Krakauer.jpg

•Not only recognized as an author, but also for his accomplishments in the mountains

•Writing is influenced greatly from his successful career as a mountaineer

•Most famous for Into Thin Air

• Krakauer’s Into The Wild was also on New York Times Best Seller list and was a story the reflected his own adventures in the great outdoors

Into The Wild• Chris McCandless was raised in a "comfortable

upper-middle class”• He went to Emory University with excellent grades

but always avoided being honored or awarded• McCandless had it made with an outstanding

education, solid family background, money, and a bright future in Law School.

• Unlike the ideal individual who would take these advantages and dominate society, McCandless opposes it and completely rejects the system

Published in 1996

Into The Wild• McCandless neglects the whole idea of society leaving

everything behind to live off the land• Instead of going to school he hitchhikes through South

Dakota, California, and Alaska• Rather than getting a successful job, he finds the gruesome

jobs here and there that no one else will take just to have enough money to get food

• Instead of starting a family he lives all alone with no place to call home

• He leans of the mercy of strangers opposed to the comfort of family and friends

• McCandless neglects society at every turn and lives life how he pleases

Into The Wild• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=

ZVSR4zEJvtg

Ben Mezrich•Created exciting twist on non-fiction books through manipulation, questioning morals, and defying authority

•Most famous for Bringing Down the House, Accidental Billionaires, and Ugly Americans

•While researching these books, gained access to worlds rarely discussed and his opportunities and adventures became the basis of his stories

www.topnews.in.com

•Bringing Down the House became the movie 21

•Accidental Billionaires turned into the award winning film, The Social Network

Bringing Down The House(Kevin Lewis)

• Brilliant math student at MIT • Unusually capable at counting cards and playing

various roles as a gambler• Goes against society to manipulate the system of

card counting and bring down different casinos with his team of MIT students

• Uses costumes and alternate identities to fool authority

• Use of spotters to have an advantage over game

Published in 2003

Bringing Down The House(Micky Rosa)

• One of MITs youngest ever graduates. Founder of many blackjack gambling groups

• Rosa’s skills and success at a young age leads to his identity being recognized and barred from the casinos

• He defeats the system of card counting several times over

• Continues to overcome society by creating more teams of blackjack players and passing along the skills to defeat

Works Cited