The perspective changes everything - A comparison of the narrative perspective of film and novel 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest'

Seminar paper from the year 2004 in the subject American Studies - Literature, grade: 1,0 (A), Ernst Moritz Arndt University of Greifswald (Institute for Anglistics/American Studies), language: English, abstract: The novel 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' by Ken Kesey is without a doubt an outstanding example of American Literature. So it was obviously necessary to make a movie out of the manuscript. Unfortunately, there are some harsh differences between movie and book, which in some cases change the original plot in a way that influences the viewer. Most of the differences come out of the different narrative perspective of the film because the story is just to ld objectively, while the book tells it from a patient's point of view. But there are inexactnesses that change the viewer's perspective towards the characters. The only fact 'saving' the movie is the choice of incredible actors. Jack Nicholson (McMurphy), Louise Fletcher (Ms. Ratched), William Redfield (Harding), Will Sampson (Chief Bromden) and Brad Dourif (Billy Bibbit) are only the main examples for the unbelievable performance shown in this movie by all actors. Although most of their characters are illustrated differently in the book, they all did a great job. Since my project is to compare the narrative perspective of the book to that of the film my sources were the book1 and the DVD.2 Additionally I have used several essays collected in 'A casebook on Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' edited by George J. Searles3. This book was a very valuable source for my work because the essays content lots of information, interpretations, and views of various authors on many different themes. 1 Ken Kesey: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Signet Books, 1995. 2 Einer flog über das Kuckucksnest. Warner Bros. Home Videos, 2003. 3 George J. Searles: A casebook on Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. University of New Mexico Press, first edition, Albuquerque, 1992.