Lit log #3 One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest

Aidan Simas
Lit Log 3
One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest

The perception someone has of the world around them can drastically influence their life in a lot of different ways. The narrator of “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest”, Chief Bromden has a unique perception of the world around him. Every perception is flawed and imperfect but Bromden experiences heavy delusions which are mechanically oriented in nature but still representative of the situations he is in. He describes in detail all of these machines that cause fog to fill the whole area or to slow down time. But being clinically insane we can not take these words at face value. To find the true meaning we must infer to the best of our ability. However there is the one moment where all these mechanical delusions fade while Bromden wakes up late one night. He goes to the window to see the moon and remembers his childhood. Specifically how he said he “watched that big Oregon prairie moon above me put all the stars around it to shame.” As he watched the “Canada honkers” fly overhead. This temporary escape from the delusions that plague Bromden is extremely rare and much needed. Not only for him but for me and everyone else as well.

Nostalgia is a powerful thing. The ability to so vividly remember the “good times” in our lives can be both a driver of impulsive and unnecessary purchases, and it can help us get away from the daily routine that fills so much of our vision and time. A return to simpler times or a moment in which we felt at peace. These memories allow us to think deeply about our own situations if only for a brief moment. In Chief Bromden’s case he is stuck inside the mental institution and reflects on how it was to be free out in the wilds of America with his family. He longs for a better life just like everyone else in this world. Nostalgia offers a rosy eye’d perspective on the past, and a clearer picture of the present. I know that for me when I remember the past like that I see how much better things are now. I never had any security or certainty in my life until I was nine years old. My father was a sociopath that used my mother for his own personal gain. My parents were divorced by the time I was two and all throughout my childhood my father was trying to take me away from my mother and avoided paying child support whenever he could. I grew up in a single parent household, I moved from place to place and never really understood why. I had One friend throughout my whole childhood and I lost connection with him after I moved to Philly and his mom died of cancer. My father kept me away from anyone who genuinely cared about me as much as he could. And my mom had constant awful roommates who acted awful towards her just so she could pay the bills and put food on the table. But looking back I try to remember the small moments in between. The times I actually had fun. There were more than a few. But overall my childhood was a harsh one, so when I look back all I can think of is how much better off I am now.

My perception of things around me has been in the past quite unreasonable. I remember thinking everyone hated me and that the whole world was against me. And looking back on it, how could I not? I was bullied for my autism in elementary school, the federal government was constantly at my mother’s door making sure she could provide for me or else they would give me to my dad, and people I cared about kept dying without me getting a chance to say goodbye. As a child my life could not have been any more chaotic and uncertain. If I had continued on like this they would have most likely locked me up in a mental ward too! But things change, and my life changed for the better. I learned to be able to trust people and after middle school I finally felt like I fit in. I have through all that I have been through, gotten better and started taking my own life into my own hands. And now things are great, I have never been better, genuinely. I have my whole life ahead of me and I have everything I’ve ever wanted (that being people who actually give a damn about me). There is so much love and happiness in my heart, and my perception of everything around me is so much more clear. Where Chief Bromden sees his fog I saw an air of uncertainty and hate, but it has dissipated. And now by looking back on the past both me and him can see the present ever so clearly.