Derek Fisher 12/23/2010 F Period Plato and Kesey Perceptions of the Truth

The truth can be a powerful weapon in the right hands, it can be manipulated to serve any purpose and any intention, regardless of whether that intention is malicious, peaceful, or something in between. In the eyes of the Classical Greek Philosopher Plato the truth is absolute and objective. In the eyes of author Ken Kesey the truth is a subjective phenomenon, meaning that it can vary depending on one's view or opinion of the truth. Despite these differing philosophies on the truth one can see some similarities between Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Plato's Cave allegory. For instance, both contain characters who are held back by oppressors who want to influence what the truth is to them. Another instance in which these two works are similar is the fact that Chief sees in metaphor is similar to the shadows that are employed in the cave. The final instance of similarity is that in both cases there is a character who attempts to help the other characters see the truth. Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Plato's Cave Allegory share some similarities, and both demonstrate their respective authors views on humanity and society. The patients of the ward in Kesey's novel are all defined, by society, as being insane. This definition is just society's way of deeming these men to be unfit or undesirable for society. The ward staff claims that its mission is to help rehabilitate these men and allow them to return to normal societal roles, and there are some staff members who seem to attempt this, and there are others who abuse their power and make sure that the men keep believing that they are insane by prescribing them medications and telling them how crazy they are. This ward staff members name is Nurse Ratched. She is referred to as ball-cutter (Kesey 65) meaning that she castrates the men on the ward, robbing them of their manhood, their dignity, their pride, and their ability to stand up for themselves. Harding says at one

point early in the novel that the men on the ward are rabbits...[who] need a good strong wolf like the nurse to teach [them their] place (Kesey 58). Nurse Ratched not only controls the men's daily schedules and routines, but she also control how they view themselves and how they view her. The puppeteers from the Cave Allegory perform a similar function. They control what the prisoners see, and because the prisoners cannot move their heads, the puppeteers control their whole visual reality. This similarity demonstrates that both authors view the masses as ignorant of the truth. They only see what those who are in power want them to see, and nothing more. The narrator of Kesey's novel, Chief Bromden, often sees in metaphor. He sees in illusions and dreams that are representative of the truth. One example of these metaphors is when one of the vegetables, Blastic, dies in the middle of the night. When this happens Chief is awake, and he sees the ward come to life as machinery appears and the floor moves, and he sees workers in the walls tending to the ward and to the patients. One of the workers slices up the front of old Blastic with a clean swing (Kesey 79). Although this scene is clearly a dream, there is a kernel of truth in it. When Chief wakes up in the morning it is revealed that the vegetable Blastic really did die that night. Chief also sees Nurse Ratched in metaphor form. For instance at on point he watches her approach the black boys, who have misbehaved and she swell till her back's splitting out the white uniform and she's let her arms section out long enough to wrap around three of them (Kesey 5). This vision shows that Chief views Nurse Ratched as a vicious monster in disguise. Although Chief's psyche is warped, and although he is delusional, he has not lost touch with reality. Although Chief, at first, tends to withdraw into his own machine filled fantasy world quite often these metaphors show that he has not lost touch with reality. Chief sees things in metaphor, meaning that he can tell what is going on but he does not see how things actually happened and this is similar to what the puppeteers are doing in The Cave. The puppeteers stand behind a small wall, with a fire burning brightly behind them. They hold objects up to the firelight and ask the prisoners to identify the items based on their shadow. As a result the prisoner thinks that he is identifying the object, when in reality he is only identifying the shadow. This is similar

to Chief seeing in metaphors because the prisoners see objects, but they do so indirectly. These examples demonstrate the view held by both authors that some people spend their lives in ignorance. They see only what is right in front of them, no matter how outlandish it is or how restricted their view is. Chief is ignorant of his hallucinations and goes through the novel believing that the ward has all kinds of sinister machinery lurking in its walls and in its crevices, and the prisoners in the cave believe that they shadows are the real objects. In both works there is a single character who is shown the truth, and that character goes on to try and convince the others of what he has seen, however, this is where the similarities end. In Kesey's novel that character is Randell Patrick McMurphy. McMurphy is the new guy on the ward, and he is a rebel. He is frequently characterized as being a cowboy. McMurphy comes on to the ward and almost immediately notices that something is wrong. When Harding is explaining to McMurphy that they are all rabbits McMurphy says that [they] ain't as crazy as all this (60). McMurphy comes from the outside world, and he never views any of these men as being legitimately crazy. The fact that very few of them are even actually committed to the ward comes as a shock to McMurphy. Once McMurphy realizes that these men are not crazy and Nurse Ratched is oppressing them in the ward, he gives up his chance at freedom, and ultimately his life to fight for the men on the ward. In The Cave Allegory the man who is shown the truth has to be dragged out of the cave. Dragged because he does not wish to leave his comfortable ignorance. Once he sees the truth he feels that it is his duty to tell the other prisoners about how fake everything that they perceive as real is. They laugh at him and reject him. That is the difference between Plato and Kesey. Plato believes that it is mans duty to show the absolute truth to those who are ignorant, no matter what the consequences of such an action might be. Kesey believes that one must fight for what they believe the truth to be. They must fight for what they think is right, even if it means martyring yourself for the cause. In conclusion Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest has some similarities to Plato's Cave Allegory such as both works having characters who are oppressed by authority figures, how the Chief

seeing in metaphors is similar to the prisoners seeing shadows, and finally how each work has a character who is ultimately able to see the truth. In the end both works demonstrate how Kesey and Plato ultimately have different ideas on what the truth is, and on how this affects human nature.