Barbaric treatments for mental patients, such as lobotomies and electric shock therapy, were often used in psychiatric wards in the mid-20th century. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, set in one of these rooms, is a fiction novel about a committed mental patient, RP McMurphy, and his power struggle with the emasculating Nurse Ratched. The mastermind behind this novel, Ken Kesey, was a prominent figure in American counterculture who also fought against figures of power during his life. Ken Kesey reflects his life in the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest in various ways, including the setting and the hallucinogenic experiences he shares with the narrator. Ken Kesey and the narrator of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Chief Bromden, have both experienced hallucinations in their lives. Kesey was an important figure in the American counterculture and experimented extensively with LSD and other hallucinogens (Wolfe). “He admitted that he wrote the novel while working as a night watchman at the Menlo Park Veterans Affairs Hospital and that he wrote part of it while under the influence of drugs” (Reilly). It is evident that his time working as a nurse impacted the content of the book through the setting and characters, especially Chief Bromden. The leader is a schizophrenic, half-Native American, who “seeks refuge in madness from what he calls the “Combine.” a term he invented to characterize organized society” (Carnes 5). The boss often compares what happens in the room to machines. Whenever the leader has these delusions, he calls it the “fog.” At the beginning of Part 1, when Nurse Ratched is first introduced, the Chief compares her to what appears to be a mechanical monster (Kesey 22). Throughout the novel, the leader's illusion...... middle of paper ......esey were significant contributions to mid-century American literature. Works Cited Carnes, Bruce. “Ken Kesey.” 1974. PDF file. Fried, Joshua. “What a trip.” Stanford Magazine. Stanford University, January 2002. Web. April 10, 2014. Gilliland, Herbert C. “Ken Kesey.” Research Guide to Biography and Criticism. Flight. 6. Np: np, 1991. 445-49. Literary reference center. Internet. April 10, 2014. Kesey, Ken. One of them flew over a cuckoo's nest. New York: Penguin, 1962. Print. Macdonald, Andrew and Gina Macdonald. “Ken Kesey.” Magill Survey of American Literature. Rev. ed. Ipwich: Salem, 2006. 1-8. Literary reference center. Internet. April 10, 2014. Reilly, Edward C. and David W. Cole. “Ken Kesey.” Critical investigation of long fiction. 4th ed. Ipwich: Salem, 2010. 1-9. Literary reference center. Internet. April 10, 2014. Wolfe, Tom. The Kool-Aid Electric Acid Test. New York: Picador, 1968. Print.