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Morality In One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

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In the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Ken Kesey constantly compares Randle Patrick McMurphy to Jesus Christ. Although he struggles, McMurphy is able to transform the mental ward, which he enters to avoid work and consequences for crimes he has committed, and the other patients around him. McMurphy stands up for the other men and teaches them valuable life lessons. As a result, he becomes a well-needed hero and role model as he leads his twelve “disciples” into a new life of freedom. In fact, his abbreviations, RPM, which stands for revolutions per minute, are a reference to his heroic actions. Although McMurphy seems like a man who cannot be compared to Jesus because he is violent, open about his sexuality, and gambles a lot, McMurphy is similar to Jesus because of his good moral beliefs, not through his uncontrollable behavior. As soon as …show more content…

Instead, McMurphy stands back and laughs. Chief justifies McMurphy’s laughter by stating that “he knows that [one] has to laugh at the things that hurt [...] just to keep [...] in balance, just to keep the world from running [one] plumb crazy,” (250). McMurphy’s constant laughter teaches the patients to laugh through their pain. McMurphy’s act of standing back teaches them self-reliance and to be independent. He reviews this valuable lesson by not giving up his life jacket when they realize that they are three short. He waits until Dale Harding, Billy Bibbit and George Sorenson, the captain, finally volunteer to sacrifice themselves for their friends. The patients take these new characteristics with them; consequently, the boys who left for the fishing trip return to the ward as strong men. Once the patients are under Nurse Ratched’s control again, McMurphy puts himself at risk by attacking an orderly to protect the men’s dignity and respect George’s germaphobia.

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1474 Words | 6 Pages

Nurse Ratched was very controlling and wanted complete power. This caused many of the patients to rebel and break loose from her control. McMurphy lead the ward in this uprising. From brushing his teeth too early to sneaking prostitutes into the ward, he shows Nurse Ratched that she cannot rule him. This story reminded me of Malala Yousafzai and her retaliation against the Taliban.

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1066 Words | 5 Pages

Not only does McMurphy’s sacrifice make him similar to Christ—the ultimate martyr—but Kesey deftly incorporates details to reinforce this symbolism. For example, graphite salve is applied to McMurphy’s temples before he receives ECT. He inquires about this, is told that it is “conductant,” and

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1024 Words | 5 Pages

Through the story he transforms into a man who finally realises his own physical and mental power and uses it to prove his worth to himself and society. During the ending scene where the Chief noticeably breaks free from the Big Nurse and her machinery, Kesey is proving the importance of freedom and the possibility for people to overcome what defeats them. McMurphy is a pivotal character within the novel, as his journey through destruction as he receives a number of electro shock therapies makes patients aware that lives can be changed and deteriorate no matter how big you appear to be or where you sit in society. There are clear signs of change in the Chief’s perceptions on McMurphy’s power also as he sees past his tough appearances and understands how much the EST is effecting his mind and body, he watches McMurphy go from a religious image upon the EST table to watching him lose his pattern of memory and fall under the rest of acutes who because of his influence begin to understand their

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484 Words | 2 Pages

When he takes patients fishing, is if he was leading them to the sea to test their faith. Randle McMurphy starts sane and powerful but ends up helpless, having to sacrifice himself for the benefits of all the patients. What he has learned that he does care about the patients that were around him, he helped each one out and he doesn’t realise

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735 Words | 3 Pages

After reaching the same end point of being defeated, Mack is forced to overcome each of the failures and try again. In every setback he encounters, he believes that it is necessary to stand tall in order to assert himself in relation to all on the ward. It has always been a choice for people to get up after being knocked down, but after someone is knocked down, they tend to rise higher than they have previously. Throughout the novel, especially towards the conclusion, McMurphy begins to bask in all of the glory that comes with his perseverance even after he receives the Electroshock Therapy. His resistance to the treatments excited all of the patients because they are witnessing something that has never occurred in the walls.

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1244 Words | 5 Pages

A Christ figure is an element of literature that draws an allusion between a character and Jesus. A Christ figure is often used in to demonstrate how one should act in society. The idea of a Christ figure is presented in the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey through the character Randal McMurphy. The idea proven in this novel is that sometimes one must sacrifice himself for the greater good. In the beginning of the novel, like Christ, McMurphy came from wilderness and he begins to collect followers by rebelling against Ratched.

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808 Words | 4 Pages

would fundamentally change the way the patients of the ward would act, and be treated by the hospital staff. McMurphy has the spotlight for the majority of the novel, and embodies the very meaning of individuality. Throughout the book, he displays numerous times the positive effects standing up for oneself can have, as well as the negative ones. The narrative builds an interesting picture around the theme with intruiging character building, evolution, and the completion of many story arcs.

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991 Words | 4 Pages

The patients are frequently told that they will be lost and alone when let out. However, when McMurphy plans a way to get a touch of freedom, the patients begin to realize the restrictions Ratched puts against them. The narrator of the story, Chief Bromden, reflects, “Because he knows you have to laugh at the things that hurt you just to keep yourself in balance, just to keep the world from running you plumb crazy” (Kesey 211). This shows that the men maintaining their sanity in such an oppressive world cannot allow external forces to exert too much power. When a person succumbs to the bad experiences of humanity, they have no way of growth.

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688 Words | 3 Pages

The patients dont question his violence with Nurse Ratched because no one has ever standed up to her. Nurse ratched is the reason they dont have confidence in themselves. As McMurphy stays longer, the other patients become more aware as to what is happening. Before McMurphy came in the ward the men believed everything that was done to them was for their own good Nurse Ratched was able to manipulate the men and had full power to boss them around. After McMurphy came he was able to show them that Nurse Ratched uses their weakness against them and was just a manipulator.

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1669 Words | 7 Pages

In the novel, McMurphy attacks the nurse brutally and attempts to kill her, “doctors and supervisors and nurses prying those heavy red fingers out of the white flesh of her throat as if they were her neck bones, jerking him backward” (Kesey 319). Also, the narrator shows mercy towards McMurphy by smothering him in his sleep, “and scissor the kicking legs with mine while I mashed the pillow into the face. I lay there on top of the body for what seemed days. Until the thrashing stopped” (323).

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1459 Words | 6 Pages

By weakening McMurphy’s power in the ward, she creates an environment where can continue to thrive in her power through the systems she has set in place. However, Nurse Ratched’s plan does not succeed and McMurphy is allowed to proceed with his fishing trip. He continues to undermine the nurse’s authority to the point where he physically assults her after she blames Billy’s death on him. His actions give Nurse Ratched an opportunity to give him the ultimate punishment, a

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1380 Words | 6 Pages

In the struggle between freedom and power, McMurphy’s sacrifice allows freedom to prevail. His leadership in a rising rebellion parallels many of the countercultures that arose during the 1960s. His rebellion fights against Nurse Ratched in the way that the countercultures fought against the government and society in the past to the present. The men in the asylum are unknowingly unhappy before the arrival of McMurphy. Through his antics, the men are saved from society in the form of Nurse Ratched’s regime.

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545 Words | 3 Pages

First thing you know he’ll begin to think she’s tougher than he is…” (Kesey 75). McMurphy acts as an unlikely Christ figure in the novel. He has a dominant force challenging the establishment and the ultimate savior of the victimized

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993 Words | 4 Pages

The author of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Kesey, presents the ideas about venerability and strength by using his characters and the way they interact with each other to establish whether they are a submissive or a dominant, tamed or leading, venerable or strong. Kesey uses strong personalities to show the drastic difference between someone who is vulnerable and someone who is strong. Nurse Ratchet is a perfect example of how Kasey presents the idea of strength over the venerability of others (the patients). Keys also exhibited vulnerability throughout characters such as Chief Bromden and his extensive habit of hiding himself in all means possible from Nurse Ratchet. Another idea presented by Kesey is a character’s false thought on what

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1288 Words | 6 Pages

His rebellious and free mind makes the patients open their eyes and see how the have been suppressed. His appearance is a breath of fresh air and a look into the outside world for the patients. This clearly weakens Nurse Ratched’s powers, and she sees him as a large threat. One way or another, McMurphy tends to instigate changes of scenery. He manages to move everyone away from her music and watchful eye into the old tube room.

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