Christ-like McMurphy in Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

1. Randle Patrick McMurphy charges into the Mental Hospital and challenges Nurse Ratched also known as the “Big Nurse” in attempts to topple what she has established. In “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” emptiness, placement, and apathy loom in the beginning of the novel, however once Randle Patrick McMurphy arrives the order of combines takes a drastic turn… for the good! McMurphy is a complex character because he can be seen either as a negative influence or as a positive influence because of his actions in the story. However, McMurphy a positive influence because of his actions within the novel.

Interestingly, McMurphy loosely follows the path of Jesus Christ, where he begins a journey of unselfishness to help free his fellow ward members from the strong grips of the combine. With his fusion of an almost thuggish hero and a liberator, McMurphy cements himself as an archetype that was common in the psychological field from that time. In conjunction with the thoughts of many theorists, like Freud, McMurphy becomes a character that serves almost as role model for many young people. In the case of the One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, McMurphy’s fellow ward-mates are the figurative representation of the children McMurphy would appeal to. In the end, it is McMurphy’s rebelliousness and inevitable sacrifice that help portray him as a classical hero, while also allowing him to free society from the constraints of oppression.

Another direct relation between Jesus and McMurphy is the first time Chief Bromden, a large indian man who has pretended to be deaf and dumb for over 15 years, speaks. When Chief speaks, he is alone with McMurphy. McMurphy gives Chief a piece of gum, and this simple act is what gave Chief the courage to speak. McMurphy demonstrated his ability to listen to people, and this is what truly made Chief willing to speak to him. At the end of their conversation, Chief found himself wanting to “touch him because he’s who he is.”(Kesey 222) By this, we can see that Chief feels McMurphy has healed him and listened because that is “who he is.” We also see the relation of healing powers through believing that a touch can heal you from here

“The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.” (Orwell). Although animals might only look like animals, they are symbols of deeper meanings. Throughout the fiction novel One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, by Ken Kesey, many symbols/motifs are presented in the form of animals that represent characters. These animals give meaning to the story and illuminate the plot by giving insight on character development, parallels, themes and thought processes of characters. McMurphy represents the Geese, Nurse Ratched is rendered as a wolf and the Patients are portrayed as hens and rabbits.

The way Nurse Ratched controls the inmates and punishes them using electric shock therapy symbolizes how McMurphy is trapped. This feeling of entrapment leaves McMurphy in a continuous battle to gain back his freedom from Nurse Ratched. According to McMurphy, “we must pursue freedom at any cost, even if that cost is death.” Along with gaining freedom, Chief Bromden shows characteristics of the second theme, heroism. Throughout the book Bromden pretends to be deaf and dumb. This symbolizes how he feels hidden and different compared to the world he is living in. As the novel continues he becomes greedy for freedom and eventually rises up to his biggest fears when he suffocates Nurse Ratched. Once Nurse Ratched is out of the picture, Bromden breaks the window and escapes from the hospital. The idea that Bromden was able to remove the control panel and use it to break the window, symbolizes his true strength and how he can accomplish anything after running “through” his freedom.

​Red haired, rowdy, and raunchy are three words to describe the crazy, infamous McMurphy, while the Nurse is a prude, prideful and frigid ruler who is power-hungry over the mental institution. These two mixed together lead to a cunning war of dominance in the hospital. One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest is a 1962 novel by Ken Kesey depicting the patients at an Oregon psychiatric hospital and how the of the patients and staff change when a new patient, Randle McMurphy arrives. From McMurphy 's devious schemes to manipulate the system to get what he wants, to the Nurse sabotaging his friends ' opinions of him in order to gain the upper hand, this superiority struggle has a definite winner at the end of the novel: McMurphy. McMurphy wins this battle with the Nurse because although he died at the end, he still overcomes and finds ways to manipulate Nurse Ratched 's harsh rules and regulations throughout the book, and leaves an effect on Ratched and the ward that proves the influence and power he had over all of them.

The Christ figure is a recurring symbol in American literature. Throughout Ken Kesey’s novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, various interactions and events portray McMurphy as a Christ figure. There are frequent visual and concrete references to Christ throughout the novel. Also, the reader discovers that the other patients view McMurphy as an inspiration and someone they wish to emulate. This cooperation enables him to oppose Nurse Ratched and do what he thinks is best for the patients.

He becomes a father-like figure to the inmates, and the inmates begin to rely on him for their needs. As McMurphy continues to defy Nurse Ratched and her rules by creating a basketball team, gambling even more, and annoying Nurse Ratched, the inmates begin to see his actions as divine. This proves he resembles Jesus Christ. He brings goodness into the ward to confront the evil set by the hospital. George Boyd describes McMurphy’s purpose when he says, “he brings the promise of spiritual renewal to his disciples” (126). McMurphy clearly shows this when he repairs Chief Bromden and convinces him to speak again. The Chief stops talking and acts deaf because he fears the society and its rules. McMurphy gives him a new life and strength to overcome his fear and to challenge the rules of the ward and Nurse Ratched. Another noteworthy example of spiritual renewal occurs when McMurphy takes twelve inmates on a fishing trip. He creates a sense of freedom and strength within the inmates by the trip. The resemblance to the twelve disciples of Christ is no coincidence. Just as Christ, McMurphy gives his disciples a new life to live and a bright outlook for the future. The inmates grow stronger and lose their weaknesses they are still afraid to take the initiative and challenge Nurse Ratched and look to McMurphy to solve their problems. The achievement of McMurphy’s rise to

After McMurphy convinces nine of his fellow patients to join him on a fishing trip, the group ends up stopping for gas and runs into trouble. A few men that are working at the gas station attempt to rile up the patients; resulting in McMurphy stepping in. He reminds the workers “‘We are lunatics from the hospital up the highway, psycho-ceramics, the cracked pots of mankind”’ (Kesey 239). McMurphy showed the patients "what a little bravado and courage could accomplish" and they realized "he'd taught us how to use it." (239). McMurphy was a strong leader and role model that the men needed. He showed them a path to power and strength. Even in the darkest of times, McMurphy stays by the patient's side. Always proving to them how committed and dedicated he would

Through the novel, Kesey illustrates McMurphy as an archetype to portray the parallels between McMurphy and a Christ Figure. Early on in the novel, McMurphy “brings to the ward a zest for life and an insistence upon individuality and exploration” (Vitkus 56). He allows for the patients to reawakened without fear of the consequence. He can serve as an enthusiasm causing the patients to smile and laugh with being frightened of being analyzed by the nurses. Another instance, McMurphy is crucified when he was sent to the electrical shock therapy, the way he laid on the table “ ironically, like a cross, with a crown of electric sparks in place of thorns” (Kesey).

Achilles is a man with a huge amount of anger that actively chooses violent death over life in order to protect his people. Just like McMurphy, Achilles has a bad temper and is selfish. While in a battle, which the king withdrew from fighting for the Greeks, Achilles’s best friend died forcing Achilles to get his revenge while going into battle killing the Trojan’s. This is much the same when one of McMurphy’s mates, Billy, slit his through due to the amount of anger that was brought upon him from Nurse Ratched. This too also caused McMurphy to get his revenge by attempting to kill Nurse Ratched, not only for what she done to Billy, but also for the pain the rest of the ward will get in the future because of her actions.

Many vision Jesus Christ as the true hero in the history of mankind, following the same Hero’s journey as many fictional characters, including R.P. McMurphy, the protagonist in One Flew Over a Cuckoo’s Nest, by Ken Kesey. Jesus endured persecution in Rome in order to complete the journey for mankind, and the promise of hope to the people, while in the small psychiatric hospital in Oregon where the novel takes place; McMurphy is the savior of the people. Through the call to action, to crossing the threshold, and the road back, the patients will always reminisce of McMurphy’s sacrifices for their own well being. McMurphy committed various offenses in the real world, resulting in the choice between prison and the psychiatric hospital.

Ken Kesey’s novel One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest features the character R. P. McMurphy who is the protagonist and anti-hero of the novel. He is portrayed as an anti-hero through his behaviour and motives. R. P. McMurphy appears to be very similar to Jack Dawson form the film The Titanic they both show someone that they don’t have be oppressed and that people can live how they chose to. Achilles is a widely known anti-hero, he has a similar personality to McMurphy and they both lose someone close to them which leads to their undoing.

Firstly, throughout the novel, McMurphy fixes people in order to strengthen them to prepare them for when he leaves. For example, Chief has been “deaf and mute” ever since he arrived on the ward, after a decade on the ward he’s never felt comfortable around people to talk. Even people like Nurse Ratched, who’s entire job is to help him and make him comfortable. McMurphy is a strong influence of Chief and after a few weeks, he gets Chief to talk. One night McMurphy gave Chief a pack of gum, and this is what encouraged Chief to speak. “And before I realized what I was doing, I told him thank you.” (217) Chief didn’t stop at just talking, he kept going and told McMurphy all about his life, his family, and where he grew up. He went in depth about his father “ He fought it a long time…” (220). Chief has never been able to talk, let alone open up and share his stories with someone new in his life. This is the first step of Chief gaining his confidence, McMurphy wants him to become as big on the inside as he is on the outside.

He may be silent but he has quite a big impact in the movie and especially at the end. I rated him on the scale leaning more towards the slave morality way by giving him a four. He does not demonstrate too many values until the final scene where he kills McMurphy. It shows that even though he killed a man, he did it for the best interest of him. McMurphy would have laid there for the rest of his life, not being able to think for himself or help others. If the other men saw what happened to McMurphy they would have been discouraged and not found the push they needed to be themselves. It shows a lot of sympathy on his side of the story to even muster up the courage to murder. He has the good/bad intentions that are associated with the slave morality