Ken Kesey’s, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, indulges in the escape from society’s boundaries through natural human expression while acknowledging the freedom this independence creates. While people build up walls (seen quite literally in acknowledgement to the ward), The ability to express human nature is present in McMurphy’s character as masculinity and virility become a gateway to freedom in the ward.
Randle McMurphy, a character noted for his edge and independence, makes an entrance that draws great attention to the dehumanized patient’s faces while staying in the psychiatric hospital. McMurphy is depicted as a caricature of life. The narrator says, “The way he talks, his wink, his loud talk, his swagger all remind me of a car salesman or a stock auctioneer - or one of those pitchmen you see on a sideshow stage” (Kesey 13). The exaggeration of his actions conveys a lively …show more content…
The narrator, Chief Bromden, recognizes the response as, “the first laugh [he has] heard in years” (12). This communicates that what McMurphy brings to the hospital is different. When describing the laugh, Bromden says, “it’s free and loud and it comes out of his wide grinning mouth and spreads in rings bigger and bigger till it’s lapping against the walls all over the ward” (12). The laugh represents humanity through the emotion it conveys while the action itself contrasts the hospital, as it hits the walls and tries to break free. Emotion versus apathy is clear as the laugh’s freedom fights the dehumanization the ward creates. It is clear that McMurphy’s character now represents a gateway to freedom when the text makes it clear the laugh follows him, “Even when he isn’t laughing, that laughing sound hovers around him” (12). McMurphy is a character who then consistently carries the symbol of laughter around with him, therefore he communicates life to the
Randle McMurphy, a character noted for his edge and independence, makes an entrance that draws great attention to the dehumanized patient’s faces while staying in the psychiatric hospital. McMurphy is depicted as a caricature of life. The narrator says, “The way he talks, his wink, his loud talk, his swagger all remind me of a car salesman or a stock auctioneer - or one of those pitchmen you see on a sideshow stage” (Kesey 13). The exaggeration of his actions conveys a lively …show more content…
The narrator, Chief Bromden, recognizes the response as, “the first laugh [he has] heard in years” (12). This communicates that what McMurphy brings to the hospital is different. When describing the laugh, Bromden says, “it’s free and loud and it comes out of his wide grinning mouth and spreads in rings bigger and bigger till it’s lapping against the walls all over the ward” (12). The laugh represents humanity through the emotion it conveys while the action itself contrasts the hospital, as it hits the walls and tries to break free. Emotion versus apathy is clear as the laugh’s freedom fights the dehumanization the ward creates. It is clear that McMurphy’s character now represents a gateway to freedom when the text makes it clear the laugh follows him, “Even when he isn’t laughing, that laughing sound hovers around him” (12). McMurphy is a character who then consistently carries the symbol of laughter around with him, therefore he communicates life to the