Although the novel has sometimes been faulted as sexist and racist, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest still endures as an example the ability of the individual not to succumb to the forces of a dehumanizing, demoralizing society.
The late 1950s, the time period in which the book was written and set, saw the end of a decade in which people outside the mainstream were often viewed with suspicion. The United States was engaged in a "cold war" with the Soviet Union. In which relations were tense and hostile even though now open warfare was declared. Americans feared the possibility of a nuclear conflict, and people identified as communist sympathizers -"reds"- were frequently ostracized and even persecuted for their supposed beliefs by government committees such as that headed by Senator Joseph McCarthy. However, toward the end of the decade, a national rebellion against civil injustice and cultural mediocrity was in the making. Young people in particular began questioning the values and beliefs of those in power. One such group of people was the Beat Generation, who expressed their dissatisfaction with society through art, dress, and nonviolent action. Poetry readings were common forum beatniks used to communicate their ideas. Groups such as the Beat generation became part of a larger movement known as the counterculture. What began as a band of political protesters eventually gave rise in the 1960s to the hippies, a group dedicated to peace, love, and the quest to expand one's inner horizons.
It is apparent that Kesey's hero is definitely American rather than European, drawing strength from the American myth rather than the classic one. The American hero was adored for over a hundred years. He has had less success in the twentieth century, except in his best-known form as the cowboy, where he lingers on in popular literature in multiple versions of the Virginian, that have become increasingly stylized.