One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

R. H. Blyth   Fri Jul 31, 2009 9:40 pm GMT
I don't understand the title of this film. Could someone help me, please?
JTT   Sat Aug 01, 2009 12:34 am GMT
The title comes from a Mother Goose rhyme:

Vintery, mintery, cutery, corn,
Apple seed and apple thorn;
Wire, briar, limber lock,
Three geese in a flock.
One flew east,
And one flew west,
And one flew over the cuckoo's nest.

The geese in the rhyme represent 3 of the mental patients and their respective fates in Ken Kesey's novel. One goose kills himself (Bill), another goose gets lobotomized and is asphyxiated (McMurphy), and the third goose escapes the sanitarium (The Chief).
R. H. Blyth   Sat Aug 01, 2009 12:18 pm GMT
Thank you JTT.