Examples Of Mcmurphy In One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

Nurse Ratched confirms to the reader that she is infect insane by reacting in the way she did when the boys were enjoying themselves, being compared to Hitler, and her being heartless towards a young man who is suicidal, proving to the readers that she

McMurphy can also be considered a tragic hero. Although he could almost always take control of a situation and never let the combine get the best of him, he could not always control his temper. It was the one think that could get him in trouble because Nurse Ratched could not punish him with electric shock therapy unless he had an outburst. The best thing that McMurphy could have had in the hospital was patience and a calm temper because the only weapon Nurse Ratched had was to try to frustrate him. Since she has ultimate power on the ward, she could do anything she wants and make any rules. For instance, when the patients wanted to watch the world series and they clearly had a majority, she didn’t let them because she wanted them to know that she has authority

They are all subjugated to the jurisdiction of Nurse Ratched, the antagonist of the extolled novel, who is considered “normal”, according to society’s standards. At the first Group Meeting that includes McMurphy, Nurse Ratched opens up his file and reads, “McMurphy, Randle Patrick… history of street brawls and barroom fights… Disturbing the Peace, repeated gambling, and one arrest – for rape” (Kesey 45). Being ridiculed by the outside world has already weakened the mentally ill’s demeanor, but Nurse Ratched further downgrades them and uses their “flaws” to her own benefit. Upon McMurphy’s arrival, Nurse Ratched is already trying to undervalue him in an ironically covert, genially-seeming manner. It can be insinuated that she exploits every patient, like if it was part of a caustic admission process. Throughout the novel, Nurse Ratched garners the insecurities of each patient, writes them down in their file, and later uses them as ammunition to make sure that it becomes a propensity to behave and know that she is their superior. The style in which she disparages the patients in very ironic; the way she speaks makes her seem like an innocuous character, but many of the patients hold her in contempt and have a feeling of disdain towards her. Ratched imposes past traumatic events or significant people in the

In the book One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey, the lead protagonist, Randle McMurphy, changes over the course of the novel because of the characters that he meets and the effects they have on him. Originally, McMurphy was selfish, disrespectful, and inconsiderate, but then he forms closer bonds with the other characters and they change him and the way he views other people. The characters in the mental hospital struggle with conforming to the dictator in the ward, Nurse Ratched. McMurphy comes into the hospital as a way out of a prison sentence and tries to teach the patients that they need to stand up for themselves and do what they believe is right.

McMurphy learns that involuntarily committed patients cannot leave the hospital without staff approval. Therefore, he cannot leave at the end of his six months sentence, but when Nurse Ratched says he can and he begins to submit to her authority. However, by this time, he had become the leader for the other patients. Their sanity, their claim to manhood lies in the balance. Cheswick, dismayed by McMurphy’s surrender, commits suicide.

McMurphy teases her, embarrasses her, and doesn't follow her strict, tedious rules. The two are constantly fighting and competing for power over the ward like wild animals defending their territory, "…the fight could go on as long as she wanted, till he made a mistake or till he just gave out, or until she could come up with some new tactic that would put her back on top in everybody's eyes." (Kesey 205). By agitating the nurse he gets the upper-hand and annoys her to no end. She tries to conceal her frustration but in bursts of anger it is revealed, such as when she is bandaging McMurphy's hand after he punched it through the glass, "By the way she jerked the adhesive tight as she could, showing her remote patience wasn't what it used to be." (Kesey 207). The breaking of the glass by McMurphy symbolizes his control over the nurse; once the glass is broken the nurse’s power is demolished. As the Nurse becomes more frustrated McMurphy gains more and more power. With this power he able to become the "leader" of the ward. The other patients begin to glorify McMurphy like a god, following him around like disciples. They become loyal to him because he is able to gain control over Nurse Ratched-something they could never do. Don't be misled, McMurphy doesn't have a care in the world for the welfare of the patients, all he wants is to have privilege

Nurse Ratched’s assistants suggest to send McMurphy to send McMurphy to a different institution “ So you believe it would be wise, to send him up to Disturbed?” (155). Once again her assistants agree with one anothers ideas of sending McMurphy away “ I believe it would be the very least safe,” (155). Nurse Ratched however, does not agree with what her assistants have been saying which is very odd “ I don’t agree that he should be sent up to Disturbed…” (156). Nurse Ratched passes the opportunity to put McMurphy into the disturbed ward for being potentially dangerous, and instead, insists he stays because he is subject to the same fears as the other ward members which I believe is a very heroic

With regards to One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, R.P McMurphy is presented. When McMurphy arrives on the ward, he realizes how Nurse Ratched controlled the patients for so long to the extent that they do not make any decisions for themselves. He therefore decides rebel against Nurse Ratched and give them their manhood they lost and teach them what the outside world has to offer. He builds up the patients spirit and demostrates to them that Nurse Ratched is just like any human that are made of flesh and bones and not some sort of machine by teasing, interrupting the daily discussion and uses vulgar language to draw out her inner

Many of the patients really do not know if they can 100% trust McMurphy because he is very ignorant and is worried about himself more than the others. The only thing McMurphy worries about is the fact that he is stuck within the ward and can't even leave if he choses to. One event that builds up to the climax is when McMurphy decides to escape and he decides to jump the barbed wire fence and enters on the patient's bus and decides to take them on a fishing trip and gets in trouble when they all return. The main character of this story would be McMurphy because he is 3the most sane character in the story, and he has the ability and willingness to escape the ward. McMurphy is very selfish, ignorant and controlling.

Finally, Kesey constructs McMurphy as a charismatics alpha male to directly oppose and confront Nurse Ratched’s corrupt dictatorial style of leadership. For instance, since McMurphy is “accustomed to being the top man” he wastes no time in seeking the most the crazy patient because the “…hospital ain’t big enough for the two of

Nurse Ratched makes one last attempt to gain back the control when she uses the same principle she used earlier to ensure that the patients acceptance to her well being. She starts off with a lot of distrust with the mental patients by making the financial gain public which McMurphy has enjoyed since his transfer from the farms where someone is constantly defending McMurphy, this leads to pointing out that McMurphy has more than repaid the patients with there financial losses and providing them with the means to dodge nurse Ratched’s terrible influence. McMurphy knows that nurse ratchet is cruel and states," In one week, I can put a bug so far up her ass, she don't know whether to shit or wind her wristwatch." This shows that McMurphy is ready for a fight and he is not afraid to tell nurse Ratched what he thinks about her. This final scene shows us the contradiction between Tyranny and Sanity.

McMurphy acts as a mentor and teaches Bromden how to become more rebellious and express himself. With the help of McMurphy, Bromden also develops friendships with other patients at the ward, who all plot against one enemy, known as Nurse Ratched. Bromden describes Nurse Ratched as a woman whose “color so hot or so cold if she touches you with it can’t tell which” (4). Before, many patients do not attempt to go against Nurse Ratched because she controls the ward; she can send patients to get an electrical treatment if they are reluctant to listen. But now, all the patients in the ward unite with one another to fight and stand up against the ward’s policies.

The client- patient relationship in this movie was strained and one sided. There movie illustrated a role reversal where the woman or female Nurse Ratchett had control over the fate of the men and their treatment in this all male hospital. Randle McMurphy, a protagonist and one of the main characters, fakes mental illness in order to go to an institution to serve his time instead of prison. McMurphy is one of the main characters in the film. Chief Bromden, another character, was a passive indian with extremely low self esteem who befriends McMurphy. Chief Bromden was also the narrator of the movie. Nurse Ratched was in charge of all decisions regarding treatment of the male patients. It was evident during the movie that Nurse Ratched was a control freak and would take any and all measures necessary to maintain that power and control over others, even going as far as castration.

The story’s conflict between the rebellious Randal P. McMurphy and the stern Nurse Mildred Ratched parallels with the popular “anti-authoritarian ideas of the 60s and 70s” (Rutten 641). McMurphy is an eccentric and cunning criminal who shows no regard for authority. His initial impression of Nurse Ratched solidifies his attitude towards her and the rest of the institution. Throughout the movie, he consistently questions the authority of the ward’s staff and openly challenges their operation. He jumps at any opportunity to be disruptive or make a scene not only in the hopes that his behavior will convince the asylum of his insanity but also as an attempt to “attack the traditional social values” and conformative nature of the institution (Rutten 641). Nurse Ratched has been able to keep a control over the patients of the ward with her patronizing attitude and heinous methods. For example, after Chief, Cheswick, and McMurphy get into a fight with the orderlies, Nurse Ratched sends them to shock therapy in order to punish them and hopefully make them more docile and obedient. However, Nurse Ratched becomes aggravated when McMurphy returns more expressive as ever and realizes she can not

At the start of the novel, Nurse Ratched’s power, along with the influence of the Combine, are at their peak. Nurse Ratched’s control over the Ward is described as “hum of black machinery, humming hate and death and other hospital secrets” (Kesey 10). Ratched rules the ward using fear, and as a result, no patient in the institution is willing to stand up to her and demand changes to the system. Instead, Ratched’s influence over them is extreme enough to the point where she can get the patients to turn on each