Madness as symptomatic of american society in twentieth century American novels : a study of William Faulkner's The Sound and The Fury, Joseph Heller's Catch-22 and Ken Kesey's One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest

Abstract

This thesis studies three twentieth century American novels: William Faulkner’s The Sound and The Fury, Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 and Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, which deal with the issue of madness in different ways, from the level of individual plight to the phenomenon of social epidemic. This study is prompted by the ideas set forth by Michel Foucault in Madness and Civilization (1961) and his other writings, which propose that each culture’s varied discourses on madness reflect more about that culture itself than what psychiatrists define as mental disorders. This thesis will therefore question how the literary presentations of madness in these three selected novels mirror the changes in sociopolitical structure, cultural trends and general sensibilities in the twentieth century. It will discuss how William Faulkner’s The Sound and The Fury (1929) represents a transitional period in American history when the unsullied values of the Old South were being replaced by the vulgarity of the modern world. It will also discuss how Joseph Heller's Catch-22 (1961), one of the quintessential anti-war novels in the past century, depicts madness of modern discursive, and sociopolitcal practices in postwar America. Finally, the thesis will explore how Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1962) portrays madness as a means for political and social control in contemporary American society. From William Faulkner to Ken Kesey, each literary representation of madness can serve to illustrate the relationship between madness and society, and explain how the issue of madness, once misunderstood and silenced, has been reassessed in the latter half of the century.