Examples Of Mcmurphy In One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

He walks with a swagger, keeps his head high, and emits an aura of power, pride, and manliness about him. McMurphy is set apart in that he is not submissive and meek and will not bend to the will of others because he does not answer to anybody except himself. McMurphy is the ultimate embodiment of power in the novel both in the physical brawler sense, and in the psychological, independent sense. From the Chief’s perspective: he sounds like he’s way above them, talking down, like he’s sailing fifty yards overhead, hollering at those below on the ground. McMurphy likes to have things go how he wants them to despite others trying to diminish his power, and this immediately sets up a conflict between Nurse Ratched and him. Laughing becomes one …show more content…
From the first description of her mannerisms and traits, the reader starts to feel a deep-rooted distaste for her. She builds herself up by breaking others down verbally through insinuations and by taking away any decisions or freedoms that give power. A noteworthy attribute that Ratched possesses is her compulsion for everything has to be in order, clean, all rules followed strictly, and all things on schedule because it helps her to maintain control and uniformity and thus total power. “The Big Nurse tends to get real put out if something keeps her outfit from running like a smooth, accurate, precision-made machine” (28). Ratched utilizes her piercing silent stare and threats as another tool to get the patients to attack each other so they do get punished she threatens them with to control them and to have them not realize she is the true enemy despite her pulling all the strings. As McMurphy says, “The flock gets sight of a spot of blood on some chicken and they all go to peckin' at it, see, till they rip the chicken to shreds, blood and bones and feathers” (59). When described as a “ball-cutter” to Harding by McMurphy, Harding admits that she is far, far worse than that. He continues into raving about the patients on the ward being rabbits, which represents the void of power the men have over their own lives and decisions, while the wolves of society, like Nurse Ratched, take away that power and put helpless …show more content…
It exemplifies the nature of their relationship for the remainder of the novel. In this example, McMurphy asserts his dominance over Nurse Ratched because she stops dead in her tracks and shrinks in size when she comes face to face with him. According to the Chief, “just as she’s rolling along at her biggest and meanest, McMurphy steps out of the latrine door right in front of her, holding that towel around his hips- stops her dead” (96)! McMurphy’s first major victory comes with the authorization of a game room in the unused hydrotherapy room. After this, his confidence that he can shatter Nurse Ratched’s rule soars. It gives the men a newfound power, a freedom, however slight, which they never had any of before the arrival of McMurphy. The men begin to see McMurphy as less of a man and more of a legend at this point. The height of all the men’s power and self-confidence is when McMurphy decides to take all the men out for a fishing trip. Of course, McMurphy has the ulterior motive of having sex with Candy, but he is still in it for the men in the end. He continues to recruit men like The Chief and George who come into their own during the trip because he believes it will help them gain back their inner fire and start enjoying life. During the trip all the men seem to come alive due to their sudden surge in confidence, whether it is when they fend off the