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Mcmurphy Analysis

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During a group therapy session, a quarrel between Harding and Taber provided foreshadowing on the discussed theme. It was stated “Harding, why don 't you knock off the bullshit and get to the point?” “This is the point. This is the point, Taber. It 's not bullshit. I 'm not just talking about my wife, I 'm talking about my life! I can 't seem to get that through to you... I 'm not just talking about one person, I 'm talking about everybody!I 'm talking about form! I 'm talking about content! I 'm talking about interrelationships! I 'm talking about God, the Devil, Hell, Heaven! Do you understand?”(Foreman. 1975) When Harding states that he is talking about everyone, it can be inferred that he is referring to society as a whole. It proves that he …show more content…

Focusing on the characters, rather than what they symbolize, the audience can clearly recognize the protagonist and the antagonist within the plot. Nurse Ratched and R. P McMurphy are constantly fighting for power and control over another. “McMurphy [is] the bane of the order-enforcing Nurse Ratched [...] (sometimes merely stern but occasionally chilling) who rules the ward with the cruel psychological manipulation of her meek, medicated charges” (Staton. 2015). Nurse Ratched, when speaking to McMurphy, states “your hand is staining my window”. This statement can symbolize of how she feels about McMurphy 's presence within the ward. The window would represent Nurse Ratched 's “perfect” ward and the stain that McMurphy is leaving is McMurphy himself, ruining …show more content…

Shortly after this act, McMurphy then brings the patients of the ward on an unauthorized fishing trip. Not only is McMurphy rebelling against Nurse Ratched, he is rebelling against the ward and the associated doctors like Dr. Spivey. For the men of the ward, this acted as an unconventional therapy and appeared to be effective. This method is not accepted by Nurse Ratched or the ward. “McMurphy 's twelve followers grow physically and spiritually as they appreciate the humour and pain of the human predicament” (Safer. n.d). The human predicament –in summary, refers to: “population growth disproportionately [increasing] degradation of life-support systems, [...] economic growth among the already rich, [...and] the cultural gap and extreme compartmentalization of education and knowledge” (Ehrlich, P., Ehrlich, A. 2012). In stating this, it is proven that McMurphy shows the patients how to see positivity among the negative; “they are gradually enabled to laugh at their predicament” (Safer. n.d). If it was not for McMurphy, the men would not have experienced, “from Bromden 's perspective, [...] psychological growth” (Safer. n.d) This fishing trip was not only against Nurse Ratched 's controlling therapy but was also contrasting the traditional therapies of the time. In fact, according to VanWert, McMurphy “proposes a kind of bioenergetics play theory[...which involves] a rejection of responsibilities in favour of the male fantasies of sport, booze, and easy women. His

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