Hero In 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.

wo of the most prominent conflicts in the story are issues arising from person vs. person (Randle McMurphy vs. Nurse Ratched) and person vs. self (Dale Harding and Billy Bibbit.) Of the two topics, the arising issues between patient McMurphy and Mrs. Ratched seems to prompt for the largest problem. From the moment that McMurphy was admitted to the psychiatric ward, there was tension between him and Nurse Ratched. Upon his arrival, McMurphy established that he wanted to know who the “bull goose looney” (most influential man among the patients) was so that he could overpower him and gain power. Nurse Ratched seemed to disapprove of his thirst for power from the beginning, fearing that he may disrupt the flow of her ward. The tension between the

Randle McMurphy, the protagonist, is introduced to break down the nurse’s oppressive ways. McMurphy, a con man who was sentenced to a work farm, was diagnosed as a psychopath and sent to the mental hospital, which he much preferred. Serving as a savior figure to the patients of the ward who have already been battered by the Big Nurse, McMurphy causes interference to the nurse’s control. He supports the men as they are ridiculed in meetings and supports their attempts to change policy. Although he does help other patients, he first looks out for himself. He cons the patients out of their money and then follows the nurse’s rules for awhile because of the threat of being kept on the

Another one of McMurphy’s hero types is an anti-hero, which is a hero who lacks some attributes of being a classic hero. A classic hero is a hero with ethics and morals and who respects everyone and everything. This is not who McMurphy is. He swears all the time, he gambles and cheats the other patients out of their money, not to mention the fact that he was accused of statutory rape and put in a prison camp. Even thought he is a criminal, he is always and honest and caring towards the other patients. He is true to himself and everyone else and he tries to get the other patients to be like that, too. He remains an individual despite the combines consistent attempts to repress him.

After leaving the hellish work farm where he serving his prison sentence, McMurphy arrives at the ward, which is exponentially more dull and drab in comparison. The impact of his arrival at the ward is seen instantly. The enthusiasm and energy he brings to the ward is so uncharacteristic, that even some of the Chronics, who are longstanding patients that have become “machines with flaws inside that can’t be repaired,” show some life (Kesey 10). In his typical westernized fashion, McMurphy arrives at the hospital with the aura of “a frontier

In Part I of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest McMurphy enters the ward as self-absorbed and self centered. He doesn’t care if he takes advantage of the people and only cares about himself. His track record proves this; “ A dishonorable discharge, afterward, for insubordination. Followed by a history of street brawls and barroom fights and a series of arrests for Drunkenness, Assault and Battery, Disturbing the Peace, repeated gambling, and one arrest - for Rape” (Kesey 42). All of his convictions and arrests show that he wasn’t ever worried about anyone else, especially his charged of rape. McMurphy also shows his self-centered personality right away when he was talking to the patients. He tells them; “Why, one of the big reasons I got myself sent here was because I needed some new suckers.... I thought I might take advantage of this and maybe make both our lives a little more richer. I’m starting level with you. I’m a gambler and I’m not in the habit of losing” (71). McMurphy comes straight out and tells the patients that he is a gambler and plans on taking their money. He doesn’t care about what they might think about him and it also doesn’t bother him to take advantage of people like mental handicaps. He just wants to win their money and plans on doing so. Overall, in Part I McMurphy is self-absorbed and self-centered and proves this with his life history and with what he tells the other patients.

Many pieces of literature have comparable characteristics, including the use of literary elements to portray deeper meaning. “The Story of an Hour” and The One Who Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest are great pieces of literature which keep their main focus around the use of symbolism, hidden in the plot. Whereas Mrs. Mallard, from “The Story of an Hour”, appears to be insane due to her husband, characters from The One Who Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest gains their insanity from Nurse Ratched, both authors incorporate symbolism in order to display themes and reveal character traits

Prompt: 2. Does McMurphy win or lose his battle with Nurse Ratched? Justify your answer with three specific examples from the text.

Their personal tendencies reflect anger and an untouchable attitude. They are required to upset the balance, immerse themselves into situations, and are portrayed as protagonists in literature realism. Kesey has exhibited McMurphy with flaws and realistic features. Anti- heroes wear their scars, and have many imperfections not only on the surface but also beneath. McMurphy’s visible scars show he has not lived a perfect life, immediately it is detectable he is not one to hold himself back from situations, even if violence is involved. Whilst looking at physical flaws and violent attributes, the anti- hero Deadpool is comparable to McMurphy. Both characters are visibly flawed, but have behavioral similarities such as their boisterous behavior, upsetting the balance and often causing chaos, callous behaviour to those on their opposing side but will not harm the innocent , and often having unpredictable actions. McMurphy’s and Deadpool’s rebellious actions and tendencies to push the limits too far, often placing them in strife. Deadpool was used as a torturous experiment deforming his body before he initially began his role as an anti- hero, where as McMurphy received his shock treatment and frontal lobotomy as a result of being an anti- hero. Although each anti- heroes story had alternative outcomes, their physical and emotional flaws relate them to one

Both men, McMurphy and Luke were turned into examples, much like Jesus Christ and left behind a legacy. Luke at the prison was cool without a doubt, motivating all the prisoners to follow his lead which attracted attention of the authority who believed that Luke had to be dealt with since he was getting out of line and also taking the other prisoners with him 'Thats my darling luke, grins like a baby bites like a gator' we see here in this qoute that dragline was one of many whose heart Luke won, dragline calls him 'darling' which shows how much luke is loved by his fellow prisoners and what a huge impact he has had on their personality. When McMurphy started popping the bubbles of the 'rabbits', making them realize that they had been ripped

Ken Kesey, the author of One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, was inspired to write his novel from his time working as an orderly at a mental health facility. He often experimented with LSD and his documented drug use provided a realistic perspective of a mental patient. It is almost as if Kesey is an anti-hero himself; in order to achieve a different point of view, being that of a mental patient, and write a spectacular book, he broke the law by taking drugs. Ken Kesey portrayed the main character, McMurphy, as an anti-hero. Throughout the essay, different aspects of McMurphy’s anti-heroism will be explored by comparing the character with other fictional anti-heroes, such as Achilles, Jack Sparrow and Huckleberry Finn.

McMurphy the protagonist character who gives these patients courage to go against Nurse Ratched, has to deal with his own punishment and has to watch the other patients suffer their own. Due to McMurphy's aggressive personality and Nurse Ratched's personality the other patients get stuck in between the two. When McMurphy comes into the asylum he is capable of seeing Nurse use her power in manipulating patients into doing what she says. McMurphy then starts asking her questions for example in chapter seventeen he asked Nurse about “inch-by-inch measurements” of her breast, asking this brought up insecurity and left her embarrassed with no answer to give. Being made fun of is something she was known to do not get done to her, McMurphy made not only the patients laugh but also

Often people deceive others into thinking that they are acting as a hero, but in reality they are truly working to only benefit themselves. These so-called "heroes" are viewed as saviors but in actuality they manipulate others without considering the consequences so they can get what they want. It seems as though they are they are trying to help and save others while they are just doing the deeds for their own personal gain and power. In Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Randle P. McMurphy, the boisterous and rebellious new patient on the ward, does exactly this. By controlling his fellow patients it is a win-win situation; McMurphy gains influential status and recognition, while

When McMurphy finds out that he is one of two patients that are involuntarily committed to the hospital, it makes him realize that he alone is fighting for his freedom, and the others have been repressed by Ratched to the point of being afraid to rebel against her or simply leave. McMurphy fights until the end to free these men of their emasculation even if it

McMurphy is a gambling Irishman and convict, who grows tired of laboring at the Pendleton prison farm. To escape prison life, he feigns insanity and gets himself involuntarily committed to a mental hospital in Oregon. He tries to bring about a change at the hospital, for he does not like the fact that grown men act like "rabbits" and are scared of the Big Nurse. He tries as hard as he can to "get her goat", by not doing the duties he is given. He also ironically ends up serving as a