One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Allusion Analysis

Allusions are tools that authors use in their novels that help clarify something in a shorter context than having to explain it from scratch. Allusions give deeper meaning to the work by incorporating other stories to show another scenario that has a similar theme. In other situations, allusions don't have to be caught by every reader, but those who do catch it have a enriching experience when reading the story. Allusions may also be used to encourage readers to think more deeply about what is presented to them and allow authors to some degree show off a little bit by allowing this it adds a greater purpose to the story and they aren't just randomly added. Salinger and Kesey are two authors that added a sufficient amount of allusions in their stories and are placed there for us, as the reader, to find these allusions and analyze them so that we can connect the dots on what the author is trying to say. Some people find allusions confusing, but if analyzed properly they do not have to be. J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye contains …show more content…
Salinger did in his works. In One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, we see that Kesey is referring to Jesus Christ and his 12 disciples when they go on the fishing trip. The list that the patients had to sign their name on to go on the fishing trip included a total of 9 names. Doctor Spivey and the 2 prostitutes Sandy and Candy all total up to 12 people. Just like Jesus Christ, McMurphy also lead and guided a group of 12 people that look up to him as a person who brought change. “They could sense the change most of us only suspecting; these weren’t the same bunch go weak-knees from the nuthouse that they’d watched take their insults on the dock this morning.” (Salinger 254) Although Kesey places multiple biblical allusions in his stories, this shows how McMurphy symbolized Jesus to the rest of the