Character Analysis of Mcmurphy
One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest
The novel, “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest,” by Ken Kesey illustrates society on a small scale. The story, narrated by Chief, a patient, starts in a mental ward that is run by Big Nurse Ratched. The policy is the law and no one can change it, only abide by it. The patients are being oppressed by Nurse Ratched, though they don’t realize it until McMurphy shows up. The patients do as Nurse Ratched says because they fear her wrath. Throughout the novel, the character Randle Patrick McMurphy represents the rebellious people in the oppressive society. As the story progresses, McMurphy commits many rebellious acts. He brings the patients together and they fight against the society, which is represented by the ward and policy.
During his stay in the ward, McMurphy find many little ways to rebel against the policies. A big rebellious act, that has all the patients together, is later on in the novel. McMurphy and the other, able, patients place bets on the World Series Baseball Game that is to show later that week. During a daily group therapy he proposes to the group, a vote, for the working hours to be moved so they can watch the game at that time instead. Nurse Ratched, sure that no one would defy her, allowed McMurphy to have his vote. In the end, there is a majority ruling to move the hours, and this makes Nurse Ratched mad. She turns off the T.V. when McMurphy sits down in front of it. He acts like it’s still on and soon after everyone follows suit. Chief says, “And we’re all sitting there, lined up in front of that blanked out TV set, watching the gray screen just like we could see the baseball game clear as day, and she’s ranting and screaming behind us” (Kesey, 125). This quote, along with the situation as a whole, shows the way that McMurphy brings the defiance to the dictatorship in the ward. Nurse Ratched is angered by this so she tries to cut off his means of defying her. She then comes to realize that the rebellion
The novel, “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest,” by Ken Kesey illustrates society on a small scale. The story, narrated by Chief, a patient, starts in a mental ward that is run by Big Nurse Ratched. The policy is the law and no one can change it, only abide by it. The patients are being oppressed by Nurse Ratched, though they don’t realize it until McMurphy shows up. The patients do as Nurse Ratched says because they fear her wrath. Throughout the novel, the character Randle Patrick McMurphy represents the rebellious people in the oppressive society. As the story progresses, McMurphy commits many rebellious acts. He brings the patients together and they fight against the society, which is represented by the ward and policy.
During his stay in the ward, McMurphy find many little ways to rebel against the policies. A big rebellious act, that has all the patients together, is later on in the novel. McMurphy and the other, able, patients place bets on the World Series Baseball Game that is to show later that week. During a daily group therapy he proposes to the group, a vote, for the working hours to be moved so they can watch the game at that time instead. Nurse Ratched, sure that no one would defy her, allowed McMurphy to have his vote. In the end, there is a majority ruling to move the hours, and this makes Nurse Ratched mad. She turns off the T.V. when McMurphy sits down in front of it. He acts like it’s still on and soon after everyone follows suit. Chief says, “And we’re all sitting there, lined up in front of that blanked out TV set, watching the gray screen just like we could see the baseball game clear as day, and she’s ranting and screaming behind us” (Kesey, 125). This quote, along with the situation as a whole, shows the way that McMurphy brings the defiance to the dictatorship in the ward. Nurse Ratched is angered by this so she tries to cut off his means of defying her. She then comes to realize that the rebellion