Character Analysis of Mcmurphy - 972 Words

One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest The novel, â€Å"One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest,† by Ken Kesey illustrates society on a small scale. The story, narrated by Chief, a patient, starts in a mental ward that is run by Big Nurse Ratched. The policy is the law and no one can change it, only abide by it. The patients are being oppressed by Nurse Ratched, though they don’t realize it until McMurphy shows up. The patients do as Nurse Ratched says because they fear her wrath. Throughout the novel, the character Randle Patrick McMurphy represents the rebellious people in the oppressive society. As the story progresses, McMurphy commits many rebellious acts. He brings the patients together and they fight against the society, which is represented by†¦show more content†¦Time passes and McMurphy continues to rebel. As he does so, many of the other patients follow. They break the Nurse’s Station window a couple times, start a basketball team,and even go on a fishing trip. When they return fr om the trip, the staff says they need to be cleaned so they are sent for â€Å"special showers.† A fight breaks out and McMurphy and Chief are sent to the Disturbed ward. Up in the Disturbed ward, McMurphy is given many â€Å"treatments† of electroshock therapy. The only way to stop the therapy is to admit that he was wrong. He refuses to admit this and continues to get the electroshock. When Chief says he should just play along, McMurphy says, â€Å"‘When I get out of here the first woman that takes on ol’ Red McMurphy the ten-thousand-watt psychopath, she’s gonna light up like a pinball machine and pay off in silver dollars! No, I ain’t scared of their little battery-charger’† (Kesey, 250). Though he is going through torture, McMurphy continues to resist Nurse Ratched’s methods of conforming him. He is persistent in not giving in to the society. McMurphy continues to fight, even when everyone knows it’s a losing battle. At the end of the novel, McMurphy ends up a â€Å"Vegetable† in the mental ward. Many of the voluntary patients, left. Chief, before escaping, suffocates him McMurphy. McMurphy was their hero, their rebel who was torn down by the society, after he tore it down.Show MoreRelated In ken keseay’s one flew over the cuckoo’s nest a psychiatric ward becomes613 Words   |  3 Pagesrelevant in each character in the ward all through the influence of mcmurphy. The central character chief bromden experiences a remarkable outbreak as mcmurphy brings him out of his shell. Chief bromden is a paranoid schizophrenic as well as the narrator of the novel. Kesey uses the mental hospital as a metaphor for the oppression he sees in the modern society. This makes us question accepted definitions of what we regard as sane or insane Until the arrival of the anarchic mcmurphy, the patientsRead MoreLanguage of One Flew over the Cuckoos Nest1629 Words   |  7 PagesStructure of ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest’ Some ideas of how to address the following criteria * Well-developed discussion and sound analysis of the structures, features and conventions used by the author to construct meaning * Considered selection and use of significant textual evidence and highly appropriate use of relevant metalanguage to support analysis Things to think about Structure * 1st person narration – allows the reader to see and explore the ward/institution from the Chief’sRead MoreAnalysis Of Chief Bromden s The Of One Flew Over The Cuckoo s Nest 952 Words   |  4 PagesWho are the people involved: The patients and staff of the hospital are the main characters throughout the novel. The resolution of the conflict: At the end of the Novel, the resolution was Chief Bromden had escaped from the mental hospital. It affected the mental hospital because many patients were happy he escaped from Nurse Ratched authority. Character Analysis: Chief Bromden - The narrator/patient of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Chief Bromden is the son of the chief of the Columbia IndiansRead MoreThe Characters of One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest in Film and Novel935 Words   |  4 PagesThe Characters of One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest in Film and Novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest was a critically acclaimed novel written by Ken Kesey and later on a movie adaptation, directed by Milos Forman, which was similarly critically acclaimed earning itself an extremely high 96% on rotten tomatoes. However said appraisal of both works, does not excuse the gleaming errors and artistic licensing seen throughout the entirety of the film. Granted there were no major plot holes and alterationsRead MoreOne Flew Over The Cuckoo s Nest1226 Words   |  5 PagesOne Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is a novel by Ken Kesey published in 1962 by Viking Press. The book depicts a man named Randle McMurphy’s adventures as he is placed in a mental institution to serve his life sentence for raping a 15-year-old girl. McMurphy meets and befriends other patients who are in much worse condition than he is, and attempts to inspire a rebellion against the tyrannical warden of the facility, Nurse Ratched. The book spends a lot of time shedding li ght on how mental disordersRead MoreLiterary Analysis over One Flew over the Cuckoos Nest Essay1401 Words   |  6 PagesLITERARY ANALYSIS One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is a novel written by Ken Kesey during a time in our society when pressures of our modern world seemed at their greatest. Many people were, at this time, deemed by society’s standards to be insane and institutionalized. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is set in a ward of a mental institution. The major conflict in the novel is that of power. Power is a recurring and overwhelming theme throughout the novel. Kesey shows the power of womenRead MoreHumor in the Halls of an Asylum in Ken Keseys One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest763 Words   |  3 Pageswandering the cold bland hallways of the asylum. Forgetting how to live, they permit the harsh watch of the head nurse. The patients seem lifeless because they do not comprehend what life is. Since the good Lord works in good and strange ways, McMurphy arrives to help heal and save them all. He cures them by giving them the best medicine possible- laughter. He gives back the life to the much needed patients. At heart, becoming his sanctuary, allowing him to heal and escape while at the same timeRead MoreThe Socially Constructed Practice of Masculinity in Literature1389 Words   |  5 Pagesconstructed practice that guarantees the domination of men and the subordination of women. This practice has been looked at as a superior â€Å"force of nature† in literature for years and years, and Frederic Henry from A Farewell to Arms, by Ernest Hemingway, McMurphy from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, by Ken Kesey, and Joe from Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston, all use their masculine identity as a way to gain and maintain power, both subconsciously and consciously. Masculinity and the supposedRead MoreReview Of Ken Kesey s One Flew Over The Cuckoo s Nest 1603 Words   |  7 Pagessuffer from it. Furthermore, it describes how the people who work in the mental ward are connected to how sanity and insanity are perceived. Kesey makes the reader question the accepted definitions of sane and insane by using the actions of the characters, the personalities of the employees, and the mental ward as a whole. Mental institutions such as the one in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest have various patients with various mental illnesses. According to Chief Bromden, a Chronic is a type ofRead MoreA Comparison of Hamlet and Mcmurphy in One Flew over the Cuckoos Nes2438 Words   |  10 PagesA Comparison of Hamlet and McMurphy in One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest It is suggested that in modern literature, the true element of tragedy is not captured because the protagonist is often of the same social status as the audience, and therefor, his downfall is not tragic. This opinion, I find, takes little consideration of the times in which we live. Indeed, most modern plays and literature are not about monarchs and the main character is often equal to the common person; this, however