Consider the role of McMurphy in "One flew over theCuckoo's Nest".

Consider the role of McMurphy in “One flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest”

Kesey was significantly inspired by the Beatnik culture around Stanford, and in the novel he deals with themes relevant to the counter-culture movement. These themes includes notions of freedom from repressive authority and a more liberated view of sexuality, while Kesey himself became a highly influential counter culture figure as part of the Merry Pranksters. For Kesey in “One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest” R.P McMurphy represents his ideas of sexuality, freedom and self-determination against oppression.

McMurphy enters the novel in chapter two. He enters the institution after being convicted of statuary rape. He brags about being a psychopath but his self-diagnosis’s is unlikely. He is described as “Red headed with long red sideburns and a tangle of curls coming from under his cap. Mac’s, vibrant scruffy red hair is significant because it emphasises the difference between himself and the other patients and also that he is bringing color into an otherwise dull and boring ward

Randle McMurphy is big, loud, sexual, dirty, and confident everything about his personality suggests a lack of control and will be a constant source of conflict for Nurse Ratched- he represents anarchy, disobedience, and lack of control while she represents rules, order and authority.

Through Chief Bromden's narration it is clearly established that McMurphy is not, in fact, crazy, but trying to manipulate the system to his own advantage. He believes that the hospital would be more comfortable than the Pendleton Work Farm, where he was serving a six-month sentence for statuary rape, McMurphy would later regret this when he discovers the power Nurse Ratched wields over him that she can send him for electroshock treatments and keep him committed as long as she likes.

McMurphy manages to ruffle Ratched because he plays her game: he picks up on her weak spots right ...

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McMurphy manages to ruffle Ratched because he plays her game: he picks up on her weak spots right away. He uses his overt sexuality to throw her off track, and he is not taken in by her facade of compassion or her ‘therapeutic’ tactics. The scene where McMurphy is in the corridor wearing just a towel is a prime example of the games Mac plays with Nurse Ratched. He does this to rouse her and he manages it “She’s madder and more frustrated than ever, madder’n I ever saw her get. Her doll smile is gone, stretched tight and thin as a red-hot wire”. One of the main themes in the novel is the contrast between liberated and oppressed sexuality and so in a sense McMurphy’s role is to confront Nurse Ratched with the sexuality that she tries to suppress.

In some chapters McMurphy can almost be seen as a revolutionary. In chapter 15 he stages a vote to watch the World Series and almost wins. He is one vote away from a majority and in the end is cheated out of winning so he breaks from the established schedule and watches it anyway breaking from the rules and constrictions of the ward. This vote for the World Series is also a significant point for Chief Bromden as it is the first time that he voices an opinion and makes a contribution as a member of society and a functioning person. McMurphy is representing the option of freedom of choice an idea that Ratched constantly tries to stop not allowing the inmates to think for themselves. The other inmates follow McMurphy’s teachings and join him to watch the World Series, for the first time they themselves break the rules.

McMurphy causes the change in Chief Bromden who at the end of the novel can actually imagine living in the outside world after all those years of institutionalization . Mac teaches them that they can be functioning members of society on the boat trip when he refuses to help and the inmates learn that they can manage on their own.

McMurphy doesn’t always take control of the group. After finding out that Nurse Ratched is in control of when he leaves, as he is committed and is also able to give him shock treatments and lobotomies. One of the main themes of the novel and a subject close to Kesey’s heart is sexual freedom and this is constantly played upon with the conflict between Nurse Ratched and McMurphy. Harding talks of the lobotomies used by Ratched as “frontal lobe castrations” saying she can use them as castration and suggests that sex can be used against her. This emphasises the role of McMurphy as a sexual liberator.

There are many references to Christ and Christianity in the novel, most of these concerning McMurphy. I don’t believe that Kesey portrays Mac to be Christ but perhaps some kind of Christ figure. There are many references to Christ in the novel He (McMurphy) is baptized with a shower upon entering the ward. He takes the patients on a fishing trip to strengthen their resolve. When McMurphy is taken to get electroshock treatment, he lies down voluntarily on the cross-shaped table and asks whether he will get his “crown of thorns.” These descriptions are far to frequent to be coincidental and so must be written as a way to describe Mac character. The final reference to Christ is in McMurphy’s self sacrifice and his eventual martyrdom. He attacks Nurse Ratched knowing the consequences to ensure that Ratched cannot use Billy's death to undo everything the inmates have gained. Before when McMurphy tried to get a rise out of Ratched he did not know the power that she possesses, being the ultimate power when it comes to his release and able to give him a lobotomy whenever he chooses.

I believe that McMurphy is a savior and a liberator figure saving the inmates (his disciples) from the confines of the system and from the control of Nurse Ratched, the authority of the hospital. This attempt to be free of the authority links in with Kesey’s view of freedom from repressive authority.