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The role of the hero in Ken Kesey's novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, is played by Randle P. Mc Murphy, a wrongly committed mental patient with a lust for life. Mc Murphys personal qualities that gain the respect and admiration from his fellow patients are also responsible for his tragic downfall. These qualities include his temper, which is the reason for the tension between him and nurse Ratched; his stubbornness, which results in his numerous painful disciplinary treatments; also his free spirit, which leads to his death.
Even though Mc Murphy is a good man, in the end, these characteristics hurt him more than they help him. Throughout the novel, Mc Murphy shows that he has a wild temper. The first group meeting that he is involved in, he shows his irritation. This is when nurse Ratched comments by saying And you? With your red hair and black record?
Why delude yourself" (Kesey 68). This shows that Mc Murphy is already seen as a man with a temper after only one day on the ward. This temper helps him in his battle with nurse Ratched for control of the mental ward. However, his temper eventually works against him. Upon Mc Murphys arrival to the ward he tells the patients that he is a con man and a gambler. One of his first bets with the other patients is to see if he can put a bee in nurse Ratched's butt, a burr in her bloomers.
Get her goat. Bug her till she comes apart at those neat little seams (Kesey, 69). Mc Murphy makes this bet after he learns about the Disturbed Ward where assaultive's are sent, and also about the shock shop where Electro-Shock Therapy is administered to disobedient patients. Since Mc Murphy does not like losing, he wants to be certain that he can get away with harassing nurse Ratched without receiving any of these punishments.
He is told by his fellow patient, as long as you dont lose your temper and give her actual reason to request the restriction of the Disturbed Ward, or the therapeutic benefits of the electro-shock you are safe (Kesey 76). This shows that his fellow patients know that he has a temper problem. Mc Murphy displays this temper from the starting of the novel, but one incident finally gets him into trouble. The argument Mc Murphy has with the black helps and the nurse Ratched, a punch is thrown and a fight breaks out.
This is what the nurse has been waiting for; an excuse to send Mc Murphy to the Disturbed Ward. Upon his arrival to the Disturbed Ward, Electro-Shock Therapy is given to Mc Murphy as punishment. The nurse is able to get the upper hand in her battle against Mc Murphy when he allows his temper to take over and the same temper will lead to his downfall. Another important personality trait of Mc Murphy is his stubbornness. It is part of his fighting spirit that he will not accept defeat.
This is seen when Mc Murphy makes a bet with the other men that he can lift a large control panel. Despite everyones doubts, he tries to lift it, and fails. After he defeat he tells the others, but I tried though goddammit I sure as hell did that much, now, didnt I (Kesey 111). This shows his fighting spirit by accepting the challenge but it also shows his stubbornness because he does not admit to total defeat. He attempts the impossible and refuses to listen to anybody who doubts him. When Mc Murphy is committed to the Disturbed Ward, he has the opportunity to return to his old ward as long as he admits to being wrong.
This would give nurse Ratched the final victory, but Mc Murphy is too stubborn to allow that to happen. As a result, he receives numerous Electro-Shock Therapy treatments. Each time he comes, the nurse offers him the chance to apologize and to admit that he was at fault, but he tells her "she could kiss his rosy red ass before hed give up the goddam ship" (Kesey 242). If Mc Murphy admitted he was wrong, he could avoid the Electro-Shock Therapies. However, he is too stubborn to allow the nurse Ratched to win the war so easily and this will lead to his downfall. In this novel, Mc Murphy also demonstrates that he is free spirited.
He wishes to live his life on his own terms, not what is expected of him, and he spreads his mentality to the other patients. His inspiration to his fellow patients helps them become able and willing to struggle for life. This is one reason why they look up to him so much. He helps them regain some control over their lives during his stay on the ward.
Mc Murphy does this bye teaching them how to laugh again, saying that you have to laugh at the things that hurt you, just to keep yourself in balance, just to keep the world from running you plumb crazy (Kesey 212). He is telling the patients that they need to laugh and by doing this his free spirit has taken responsibility to help the patients get better. Mc Murphy also shows his rebellious nature to the others by standing up against all the ward policies that he disagrees with. He doesnt want his life to be controlled bye rules and restrictions, which is why he challenges nurse Ratched authority.
At the end of the novel, Mc Murphy attacks the Big Nurse, and consequently receives a lobotomy. Although his mind is taken away, his body still struggles to stay alive. Knowing that Mc Murphy would not want to live his life in that state, a fellow patient decides to kill him for his own good. This task is more difficult than he anticipates, because "the big, hard body had a tough grip on life.
It fought a long time against having it taken away" (Kesey 270). This shows that Mc Murphys free spirit and stubbornness is so strong and deeply anchored that even though his mind is gone, his body continues the fight to stay alive. In Ken Kesey's novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, there is one character heroic enough to stand up against the cruelty of the nurse Ratched. This character is Randle P.
Mc Murphy who helps almost all the patients. However, it is Mc Murphys own personality traits which ultimately defeat him in the end. His temper his stubbornness and his free spirit are all the cause of his death.
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