There are many defining qualities that a hero must display. Hero’s don’t need to be stereotyped as one who jumps off tall buildings to save people, or dressed up in fancy costumes. Hero’s however, all have a few things in common. In general, a hero is usually defined by a combination of qualities including moral integrity, mental acuity, a spirit of self-sacrifice, and determination. Importantly, a hero's abilities must be employed for a good cause, usually the protection of the weak. In the novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, by Ken Kesey, Randall P. McMurphy is seen as a hero in the sense that he is courageous, self confident, and has a willingness to sacrifice himself for the good of others.
McMurphy is a hero because of his courageousness in the ward. McMurphy demonstrates his courage when he
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As George is being manhandled by the black boys, McMurphy makes a daring move to help and save him. Although clearly outnumbered by the black boys, he delves right into the fight, beating a black boy so bad, he almost renders him unconscious. “McMurphy, you forcing me to protect myself. Ain’t he forcing me, men?” (274). It is at this point when George finally realizes that McMurphy is trying to help him out, and escape cleaning from the black boys. When George says this, he is in turn thanking McMurphy for his actions, as it has allowed himself, as well as McMurphy, to rebel against the black boys. McMurphy partakes in his actions to prove that he not only cares about himself, but rather cares for the benefit of others. In this case, he saves George’s integrity and peace of mind, by sacrificing himself for the sake of not only George, but the rest of the patients trapped in the ward. It is in the end, McMurphy’s selflessness by showing bravery and defending the other patients is his ultimate sacrifice, and a sacrifice that he would eventually pay for with his
Many situations can make a man lose his mind, or make him more insane. Between the movie Cool Hand Luke and the novel One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey, sanity is questioned. These two pieces of literature also question the jurisdiction and methods that take place in prisons and mental wards. Both stories demonstrate the idea of strength, making your own happiness, and the symbol of fear or punishment.
Determination is a critical quality needed by a hero; however a hero must also make sacrifices to achieve greatness. McMurphy is seen as a hero through the sacrifices he makes. McMurphy sacrificed any chance he had of being released from the asylum; he sacrificed his freedom. With full awareness of him being committed to the ward, McMurphy realised the magnitude of dependence the other men had on McMurphy. The men constantly look to him for reassurance and wanted to be just as self confident and opinionated. When McMurphy struggled with the knowledge of being
Kesey has also given this novel great Symbolic value. As an opposer to the McCarthy scheme, he has used the mental hospital as a scale model of how society breaks free of society's conformity. McMurphy acts as the liberator', or rebel of the ward's excessively strict conformity. He saves the patients from "the
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
Sam Jefferson English 495 Ms. Chase 12 November 2015 Chief’s Savior In Ken Kesey’s classic novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, relationships play a major role in better understanding individual characteristics of members of the mental institution. One of the more complex relationships that develops throughout the book is the relationship between Chief Bromden, the silent Native American, and McMurphy, the boisterous newcomer to the ward. McMurphy’s confidence in himself and in Chief help Chief become “bigger,” and leads to a close friendship between the two. McMurphy’s rebellious attitude leads Nurse Ratched to give McMurphy a fate worse than death by having him lobotomized, but Chief dignifies McMurphy by killing him before the other patients can see his current state.
He says, “Just as I said: any of you sharpies here willing to take my five bucks that says that I can get the best of that woman, before the week’s up, without her getting the best of me?” (73) This quote shows that McMurphy is very self-assured that he can accomplish what he sets his mind to. The ward was not used to this kind of behavior in a man. Most of the men that were already there needed to be there because of an actual insanity problem, but McMurphy was there because he would rather have been there than where he was before and the court had allowed him to be transferred. McMurphy took them completely by surprise with his resistance to follow their instructions and to do what he was expected to do. At his arrival, he immediately exhibited disobedience. He refused to take a shower, which was the asylum’s policy for new admissions. This instantly put Randle McMurphy under the staff’s radar for them to watch out for.
As soon as McMurphy arrives on the ward, he challenges Nurse Ratched’s abusive regime in hopes of restoring humanity and the rights of the individual. It didn’t take long
Prompt: 2. Does McMurphy win or lose his battle with Nurse Ratched? Justify your answer with three specific examples from the text.
Thus, Kesey’s imagery, McMurphy’s charisma, and his attitude to help the patients at all costs strengthen McMurphy’s role as a savior. Just as Christ before him, he sacrifices himself for the betterment of mankind. The story of McMurphy shows how much of an impact an
Mcmurphy was the one who started making people laughing in the ward. When he first came into the ward he was cracking jokes and shaking everybody's hand. (p.16)
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
In “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” by Ken Kesey, Nurse Ratched symbolizes the oppression of society through archetypal emasculation. The male patients at the ward are controlled, alienated and forced into submission by the superior female characters. Throughout the novel, there is a constant fear of female superiority; Randle McMurphy, the sexually empowered male protagonist, states how they are essentially being castrated. Castration, in the novel, symbolizes the removal of freedom, sexual expression and their identity. Furthermore, Nurse Ratched, the mechanical enforcer, represents American society: corruption, surveillance and the deterioration of individuality.
In Kesey’s 1950s novel ‘One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest’ Nurse Ratched’s relationship with male patients is based upon differences they hold about gender and identity. Nurse Ratched is portrayed as a masculine misandrist figure that gains power from emasculation. She carries “no compact or lipstick or woman stuff, she’s got that bag full of a thousand parts she aims to use in her duties” . This implies nothing womanly about her as she prioritises her “duties”, suggesting that she aims to control her male patients by ridding her feminine qualities. In addition, she is shown in robotic with a chilling aura. This is evident when she slid “through the door with a gust of cold and locks the door behind her” . This indicates that as a power figure her only concern is controlling her male patients, making sure they are obedient and abiding by her rules. “Gust of cold” implies that by doing so she wholly ruins her relationship with the males due to her “cold” and callous methods. Daniel J. Vitkus states she is “the Big Nurse, an evil mother who wishes to keep and control her little boys (the men on the ward) under her system of mechanical surveillance and mind control.” Yet, can be argued that she is fulfilling her role of working as a Nurse within a mental institution. However Vitkus’s critique is similar to when McMurphy says “Mother Ratched, a ball-cutter?” McMurphy is a hyper masculine force against Ratched’s emasculating norms. Their relationship is essentially a power
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
At the end of the novel, McMurphy ends up a “Vegetable” in the mental ward. Many of the voluntary patients, left. Chief, before escaping, suffocates him McMurphy. McMurphy was their hero, their rebel who was torn down by the society, after he tore it down.