Madness, Individuality, and

Societal Norms

The play Equus by Peter Shaffer from 1973 and the novel One Flew Over the
Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey from 1962 are extremely important works. They
harshly criticize how society treats people who act differently or have mental
health issues. By telling the stories of a young man obsessed with horses and a
rebellious prisoner in a psychiatric hospital, these works make us think deeply
about what it means to be an individual, to be creative, and where we draw the
line between craziness and sanity.

In Equus, the teenager Alan Strang has done a horrifying thing - he blinded six
horses by stabbing them with a metal spike. As the psychiatrist Dr. Dysart tries to
understand Alan's deeply troubled mind, it is revealed that Alan worships horses
almost like religious gods, and has developed a strong sexual fixation on them
symbolizing his emerging sexuality. Dysart wants to "cure" Alan by getting rid of
this unhealthy obsession.
Cuckoo's Nest is about Randle P. McMurphy, a prisoner who pretends to be
insane so he can be moved to a mental institution run by the controlling Nurse
Ratched. McMurphy's constant misbehavior and pranks inspire the other patients
to embrace their uniqueness and stand up against Ratched's oppressive
enforcement of conformity.

Alan Strang is depicted in a sympathetic way as a young man so overwhelmed by

intense feelings and passions that it becomes an unhealthy mania. His fixation on
horses hints at profound psychological depths that regular society cannot
comprehend. Dr. Dysart envies Alan's raw authenticity even as he tries to cure
him.
McMurphy is the ultimate non-conformist whose lively spirit and clever schemes
symbolize humanity's innate need for freedom of thought and action. His tragic

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 lobotomy horrifyingly shows how far society will go to forcibly subdue anyone it
cannot understand or control.

Both works use mental health institutions as small-scale examples to criticise how
society labels non-conformist thoughts and behaviours as pathological and in
need of "treatment." They raise the profound question of whether the true
"insanity" is destroying one's unique identity just to fit in with rigid societal norms
and expectations.
Alan's horse obsession is undoubtedly disturbing, yet Dysart grapples with
whether "curing" him is ethical if it means killing his spiritedness and stripping his
psyche of personal truth and meaning. While extreme, the play suggests modern
life causes all of us to repress our genuine, idiosyncratic selves.
At first, McMurphy seems unhinged, but his refusal to surrender his individuality
reveals an admirable creative spirit fighting against dehumanizing oppression. The
ruthlessly conformist institutional authority determined to break him symbolizes
how society eagerly enforces standardization by any means, no matter the
psychological cost.
Both works use vivid examples to powerfully argue that individuality and non-
conformity, no matter how unorthodox, are core to the fundamental human
experience. They warn that systematically suppressing authenticity just because it
defies conventions risks psychologically deadening humanity into mere societal
drones.

Equus and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest are revolutionary works that force
the audience to critically examine society's knee-jerk impulse to reject, ostracise,
and "treat" any inklings of thoughts or behaviours that deviate from the rigid
status quo. Through deeply compelling, nuanced characters, they build empathy
for perceived "madness" as simply an intense, amplified expression of essential
human needs for passion, creativity and a unique sense of self. Their lasting
cultural impact comes from making a progressive humanitarian case against one-
size-fits-all conformity that crushes the idiosyncrasies that make us truly alive.

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