In Ken Kesey’s novel "One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest," the author is able to transport the reader to a setting in another time. Through the perspective of Chief Bromden, a patient on the asylum’s ward, the reader can effectively understand the importance of the ideas within the setting in the text reinforced by symbolism, characterization and biblical allusion. Kesey uses symbolism of the asylum to create a setting where everything is under control. Bromden views the world mechanically, everything is controlled by machines that work to keep the system in order. What he calls the Combine. Nurse Ratched maintains this control and is the public face of this inhumane system. However it is not only Nurse Ratched in control, it is the entire world which is seen to be controlled by the government; “as big as a tractor, so big I can hear the machinery inside, like a motor pulling too big a load.” The ward’s system is set up to treat everyone the same regardless of whether they are seriously insane or not. The constant use of this symbol of the combine takes the reader back to 1950s America and makes one think of the values and expectations of society then. After World War 2 President Eisenhower’s government wanted everything to run smoothly again. Kesey suggests people who were different or could not cope with society were put away to be ‘fixed’. Kesey creates the strong character of R P Mc Murphy, the protagonist of the novel, who as his initials ‘RPM’ suggest has a speedy impact on arrival. His characterisation significantly develops the deeper ideas of the novel. McMurphy immediately contrasts the other patients when he defies the control of the black boys, rather than accepting their treatment as others have. He is sharp minded and after a few days on the ward understands the inhumane system Nurse Ratched has in place. He defies her rules and stands up for the other patients eventually motivating them to defy he