SOURCE: Hays, Peter L. “Kesey's One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest and Dante's La Vita Nuova.” Explicator 46, no. 4 (summer 1988): 49-50.

In the following essay, Hays identifies the significance of an allusion to Dante Alighieri's La Vita Nuova at the end of part three of One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest.

Ken Kesey ends part three of One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest by having Randle Patrick McMurphy lead twelve disciples over the water, inspiring them with his life and energy. At the conclusion of the section, Kesey has McMurphy confess his basic philosophy, his underlying reason for committing himself (pun intended) to the welfare of his fellow inmates in the mental ward of the veterans' hospital: “So my colors were flown, and from that day to this it seems I might as well live up to my name—dedicated lover. …”¹

The anecdote that McMurphy tells about his past...