Context 1950´s America.

Context 1950´s America.

The automobile revolution happened, in which the number of cars doubled from 39 million to 74 million. By 1950 49% of the Americans where church members but until 1960 it went up to 69%.

In the 1950s, it is the time period in which the book was written and set. By his time it was the end of the Cold war, so all the time in which people where strained with freedom of speech ended.

The United States had just been through the cold war with the Soviet Union. Americans feared that there was a possibility of a nuclear conflict.

Young people in particular began questioning the values and beliefs of those persons in power. Here is where the Beat Generation started; it was a group who expressed their disapproval with society through art, dress, and actions. Poetry was a common way in which the beatniks used to communicate their ideas. An example is Allen Ginsberg's 1955 poem "Howl" which

expressed what many people saw as the moral and social problems of the time.

Groups such as the Beat Generation became part of a larger movement known as the counterculture. What began as a band of political campaigns eventually gave rise in the 1960s to the hippies, a group dedicated to peace, love, and the quest to expand one's inner horizons through the use of mind-altering drugs. Kesey's experiences associated the two groups, because he fromed part of a scientific experiment on the effects of LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide-25), which is one of the most potent mind-altering chemicals known. Since 1966, Kesey himself has rejected the use of drugs, saying that “the costs far exceed the benefits”.

Mental illness in the United States was misinterpreted; since advances were not as in depth as they are now, the treatment consisted of nothing more than chaining or caging the sufferer.

In the 1950s, there were many advances in pharmaceuticals. This led to more methods of treatment for mental patients.

In 1956, more patients were being discharged from U.S. mental institutions than admitted for the first time in over a century, many aided by prescribed drugs to manage irrational behaviour.

 In addition to medication, the use of electroshock therapy and psychosurgery were common treatments for psychiatric disorders.

A third mode of treatment is the destruction of certain cells or fibres in the brain through surgical measures, a lobotomy.

References:

http://www.shmoop.com/1950s/society.html

http://www.bookrags.com/studyguide-cuckoosnest/hist.html

http://www.enotes.com/one-flew/historical-context

Film Scene Analysis

I chose to analyse the scene where Mcmurphy tries to take Chief Bromden to play basketball.

First of all, at the start of this scene, the director focuses on Mcmurphy taking Chief towards the hoop. This might mean he is trying to show Mcmurphy´s caring side. We can see the sky is grey, their clothes are also opaque and dull, which is used to maybe express the coldness of the life they had as mentally ill. Then Mcmurphy grabs the Chief´s arm and starts talking to him and explaining him how to play, the shot is from above so we can see the contrast between the actual place which seems old and plain towards Mcmurphy´s actions which are considerate, thoughtful and kind. One of the nurses assistants, saw Mcmurphy, rolling his eyes, this part was focused from a different angle, in which since his clothing is white, we drive our attention to that instead of what is going on with Mcmurphy  this was maybe done so we can realize, how difficult it was to teach the Chief since he is supposedly deaf.

Also it shows that Mcmurphy would defy what they said to him because he would be able to make Chief play. Immediately it changes the view to the ball, in Mcmurphy´s hands this could have been done by the director to make us appreciate and realize the importance of Mcmurphy ´s actions toward Chief Bromden. When he hands him the ball, and starts to tell him to jump and put the ball in the hoop, Mcmurphy is smiling, and here the camera focuses on his face, which makes us see the joy it gives him to help Chief and talk to him. Then it focuses on the assistant´s face again, we can see how he has a disgusted and uncaring expression, which means he did not like the fact that Mcmurphy was trying to play with Chief, he tells him that Chief is deaf and that he cannot hear. Then Mcmurphy says that talking to himself makes him think, therefore means he was mocking the assistant to show he did not mind anything he said, because despite anything he was going to help Chief. He then defends Chief Bromden by saying, "does not hurt him either does it" which dhows he does care for chief, at this moment the camera shows Chiefs face, a serious expression. Mcmurphy tells chief to raise his hands up, on this shot we can see a grey sky, and the metal wired fence, really hi up and a black, brownish tree in the background, which might be shown this way for us to see they were locked up, and had no way out. Chief puts his hands up, and Mcmurphy laughs with happiness, Chief just stands there with his hands up, like a machine, no expression in his face. This might mean to show us how mentally ill where at the time, how they acted after spending time on a mental hospital.

Then we can see how Mcmurphy goes running towards a bench and how it calls Martini, he is being focused on the shot, but then the view changes to the window where Nurse Ratched was standing straight, with a thoughtful grin on her face, just looking outside. Then the view changes again to Mcmurphy, he is on top of Martini, sitting on his shoulders, which shows his defiance towards rules, since he is taking advantage of Martini´s mental illness because he does not see the problems of it, Martini just did what Mcmurphy said. Then they move towards Chief Bromden again and Mcmurphy takes the ball, and inserts it in the hoop, encouraging Chief to do it, Mcmurphy has an optimistic expression, which makes us believe Chief is going to do it, making us feel intrigued. Then they zoom in to the Chief´s face, he is still serious but looks up o Mcmurphy.

The view changes, we see Martini´s face, he seems desperate and with pain, this might be to create an impression of how they might feel everyday after the medicines and treatments they have in the hospital. After an instance, Martinis starts to walk away from Chief back to the bench, to see make him go down, this shot shows the desperation of Martini to take all that weight of his shoulders. Mcmurphy shouts and him, and so he turns around and returns to where Chief Bromden was, Mcmurphy asks Chief to pass him the ball, but he just kept watching with the same serious expression on his face. The view changes and we see Nurse Ratched once again, with her hand crossed on her back, looking attentively outside the window without an smile, really seriously.

I believe this scene shows us a different phase in Mcmurphy´s personality since he is with a smile on his face all the time and it also shows us how encouraging and decided he was to teach Chief Bromden how to play basketball, that he did not even measure his decisions like sitting on Martini´s shoulders and what problems that event might bring.

McMurphy

,Mcmurphy teaching the Chief