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Identify one example of political commentary in the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

Ken Kesey's novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest tackles a great deal of sociopolitical issues, which is unsurprising given his personality and professional trajectory. One issue in particular that shapes many of the conflicts and relationships within the novel is racism. 


In the ward, the men are sharply divided between white and black: the patients are white and the aides are black. The inherent power structure sharply contrasts the stereotypical power structures of 1960s...

Ken Kesey's novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest tackles a great deal of sociopolitical issues, which is unsurprising given his personality and professional trajectory. One issue in particular that shapes many of the conflicts and relationships within the novel is racism. 


In the ward, the men are sharply divided between white and black: the patients are white and the aides are black. The inherent power structure sharply contrasts the stereotypical power structures of 1960s America, in which black men rarely, if ever, held positions of power over white men. As a result, there is an inordinate amount of hatred and humiliation expressed by the white patients, who perceive their situation as exponentially worse because they are subordinate to black men. Kesey's commentary does little to objectively combat these issues, instead characterizing the black men as small-minded and amoral. 


The sole exception to this racial divide is Chief, the narrator, who is half white, half Native American. Even within this character, however, racism plays a prominent role, most clearly demonstrated in the flashbacks that reveal elements of his childhood to the readers. 

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