Randle McMurphy

After making it abundantly clear who was in control of the sessions, McHugh relaxed back in his seat, and awaited the young woman's reaction to his curtness. Or, he appeared to relax, for truth be told, from the moment she'd stepped into his office, with her youthful model looks, and the school uniform, for one of the few times in his career, the Psychiatrist felt that he may be out of his depth. Not a sex-therapist or a trained rape counsellor, he was accustomed to treating adults, mostly the…

At this point the extent of his illness and measure of the distance McMurphy has to go to recover his mental health and manhood. McMurphy’s life in this prison was about destroying the discipline and strength of the ward, and Nurse Ratchet , and as helping Chief Bromden like a sort of mentorship.His scent is described, “the smell of dust and dirt from open fields, and sweat and work”( Characterization). Throughout the story McMurphy is seen as a leader to the patients as well as a manipulator…

The metaphor of machinery in Ken Kesey’s novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, shows the mechanization of society which suppresses individuality and free will. Kesey’s clever use of machinery as a metaphor that controls the patients on the ward identifies the problems of American society in the 1950s and 60s. The patients on the ward are victims of a society which demands conformity. The metaphor of machinery points out the rigidity of the system in which everyone should be a “functioning,…

Thesis and stuff By Brittany Koppes Mrs. Manternach Composition I 17 November 2017 Page Break Ken Kesey's novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, illustrated many of the society's problems in the 1960s after being published in 1962. Kesey's novel went into detail about the mental institutions and how the patients were treated in an insane asylum in Oregon. Events that happened to Kesey throughout his childhood and adult life reflect…

superiority, and inability to collaborate with the other members of the ward. In attempt to assert her control over McMurphy, Nurse Ratched reminds him that, “‘You're committed, you realize. You are... under the jurisdiction of me... the staff." She's holding up a fist, all those red-orange fingernails burning into her palm. "Under jurisdiction and control—" (125). When threatened by McMurphy, she forces him to “realize” that he is “committed”, and under her “control”. As an authoritarian…

positions as women in their respective time periods and societies. In the society of Kesey’s novel’s setting, women had no where close to the kind of authority over men that Nurse Ratched had in the ward. If a man challenged a woman the same way that McMurphy challenged Nurse Ratched in the novel, the woman would merely have to…

the heads of the patients in the institution, and better understand their perception of what is going on in the ward. In the movie, you are better able to experience what is actually going on in the ward, and the motives of the patients, such as McMurphy. The difference between the characterization in the movie version of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest allows the audience to achieve a more realistic understanding of…

the ward. The characters R.P McMurphy and Chief Bromden are also examples that question the definition of sanity. McMurphy’s first introduction into the ward is very abnormal to the patients, they are accustomed to new arrivals that are very much like themselves. McMurphy makes a very strong impression on the entire ward by his socialization and lack of modesty. This large contrast shows exactly how the patients react to normal behavior and situations. McMurphy tries to bring the outside…

McMurphy is the tragic hero portrayed in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. By being fundamentally good and displaying a flaw that leads to his downfall in the book, McMurphy easily fits between Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero and the Modernist definition. McMurphy is a fundamentally good character, even though not noble of birth as stated in Aristotle’s definition of a tragic hero. McMurphy is full of personality, independent, and life affirming. In the beginning, he seems more…

Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest depicts McMurphy as a Christ figure, serving to protect the patients from Nurse Ratched. Just as Jesus stood up for all people against the devil, McMurphy defends the patients of the ward against Nurse Ratched. As a “martyr or saint” would, McMurphy defends the patients regardless of the consequences (222). McMurphy “risk[s] doubling his stay in the nuthouse” to defend the patients against Nurse Ratched (220). If McMurphy complies with the Nurse’s demands…