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To begin, Ken Kesey had an "All American " lifestyle growing up. Born on September 17th, 1935 to Fred A. And Geneve Kesey in La Junta, Colorado, author Ken Elton Kesey had been raised as a hard shell Baptist who seemed to enjoyed leisure time in the great outdoors both fishing and hunting with his younger brother Joe. Once settled in Eugene, Oregon, Kesey also found enjoyment in engaging in physical sports, in high school he was active in both wrestling and football but he also enjoyed boxing and racing. Ironically Kesey was also voted "Most likely to succeed " of his graduating class. In the late 1950s, while attending college at Stanford University in California Kesey was enrolled in the creative writing program, working as an orderly in a state veteran's hospital, and participating in government experiment with multiple drugs like cocaine and mainly LSD. .
I feel that the experimental drugs was a prominent influence throughout the novel, if not the biggest in the story itself. In the 60s, LSD was thought to be a psychological drug that provided the best access to the human mind. Experiences of different subjects were said to vary; emotions and experiences ranged from transformations into other life forms, religious experiences, and extreme empathy.( Masters and Houston) Kesey promoted the use of LSD recreationally and was regularly under the influences of many substances including LSD which gave him hallucinations while talking with different mental patients. The LSD must have given Kesey the opportunity to escape the uniformity of society thus giving him a sense of personal liberation. During the time the Kesey had been taking the drug, he was a part of the Hippie movement. The Hippie movement was a time in the United States in which the youth started to have social concerns and beliefs regarding societal rules. They mainly believed in individuals being happy and not conforming to what others want you to be, in other words they showed the world it's ok to be yourself an individual.
