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Now and then character analysis
Development of personal identity from middle childhood, through adolescence, into young adulthood
Now and then character analysis
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An individual follows the pack, they do not do as they please they follow the actions a person does around them. When an individual follows their actions they could be inspiring to them but could also wear down/ weaken a person's self esteem. Interacting with one another can not always be beneficial for certain people it could worsen things and make their lives harder. Although with that being said certain interactions can benefit the right person and make their lives easier. In the novel One Flew Over a Cuckoo’s Nest the actions and situations that Randle McMurphy encounters progresses his identity. Randle McMurphy is in a constant battle within himself, he is portrayed as a sociopath. He does not base his actions off of whether they will affect those around him, instead does as he pleases. His actions are based off of what is best for himself. McMurphy was first introduced as a savior to the ward, He soon uses the patients for his own benefit, the patients look up to him as one of their new proclaimed leader. McMurphy inspires hope into them and make them want to stand up for themselves. This give …show more content…
This is showing the aftermath of how McMurphy's actions affect others as well as that McMurphy's desires are outweighed by the desires of those around him.Realization was made by McMurphy he noticed that the patients looked at him for guidance, they expected McMurphy to put up a fight to keep them from unfair circumstances. He continued to show the patients that the nurses were not in power in fact had little power over him. Inspired patients occurred once again he had inspired them with is lack of surrender to the wards system. With this situation in play this brought up McMurphy picking the needs of patients to motivate his own plan of
Randle Patrick McMurphy, the main character in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”, is the perfect example of a hero. He is committed to a mental institution after faking insanity to get out of a work camp. From the beginning of his presence on the ward, things start to change. He brings in laughter, gambling, profanity and he begins to get the other patients to open up. All of this, however, clashes with the head nurse, Nurse Ratched, who is trying to press conformity and obeying authority. It is then a battle between McMurphy and the nurse, McMurphy trying to set the patients free and the nurse trying to make them “normal”.
Urges McMurphy to rebel, also warns him that he has the most to lose if he does not succeed against Nurse Ratched.
Gibson and Mika Haritos-Fatouros, they inform readers about psychologist Stanley Milgram’s studies. “Milgram proposed that the reasons people obey or disobey authority fall into three categories. The first is personal history family or school backgrounds that encourage obedience or defiance. The second, which he called “binding,” is made up of ongoing experiences that make people feel comfortable when they obey authority. Strain, the third category, consists of bad feelings from unpleasant experiences connected with obedience,” ( Milgram 247). Although the nurse isn’t harmful the patients still feel obligated to respect and obey her. The complication begins when McMurphy joins the group. First of all, Randle McMurphy is not disturbed, he’s not crazy. He’s just a rebellious man who doesn’t follow any orders. He had the group steal a bus and steal a boat to go fishing and so he could spend time with his old friend Candy. He doesn’t respect Nurse Ratched and always seems to have a problem with her. He causes everyone to speak up, which isn’t a bad thing but causes disorder and the patients act up. For example, the scene where Cheswick starts yelling at the nurse and disobeys her orders doesn’t sit down and pouts about not getting his cigarettes back. From the start of the movie to the middle it seems that they were gaining a new authority figure, McMurphy himself. “The Greek example illustrates how the ability to torture can be taught. Training that increases binding and reduces strain can cause decent people to commit acts, often over long periods of time, that otherwise would be unthinkable for them” (Gibson, Haritos-Fatouros 249). The rebellious Mac has an influence on the rest of the ward to think it is okay to be against the rules. The quote “You bargained your freedom for the comfort of discipline,” (Jones Gibson, Haritos-Fatouros 247) has a similar meaning to McMurphy's actions. Mac gets a bit out of
Nurse Ratched and her new patient, McMurphy, are in every way opposed to each other, she demanding control, he basking in freedom and independence. Inevitably, as the Nurse asserts her power, McMurphy rebels against it in both intentional and unintentional ways. Nurse Ratched had defeated past troublemakers with electro-shock therapy, or with lobotomies, the latter an operation that makes patients docile members of society at the expense of their individuality. McMurphy was asking for more and more freedom and awakening the other patients to things they have been missing. Nurse Ratched was intent on quelling this disturbance before it became a major issue.
As soon as McMurphy shows up at the ward it is very obvious that his entire demeanor is much different than that of the other patients. The Chronics and Acutes are shunned from society living their lives trapped in an endless routine; McMurphy possesses a larger-than-life quality which made him attractive to the
While McMurphy tries to bring about equality between the patients and head nurse, she holds onto her self-proclaimed right to exact power over her charges because of her money, education, and, ultimately, sanity. The patients represent the working-class by providing Ratched, the manufacturer, with the “products” from which she profits—their deranged minds. The patients can even be viewed as products themselves after shock therapy treatments and lobotomies leave them without personality. The negative effects of the hospital’s organizational structure are numerous. The men feel worthless, abused, and manipulated, much like the proletariat who endured horrendous working conditions and rarely saw the fruits of their labor during the Industrial Revolution in the United Kingdom and United States in the late eighteenth century and early nineteenth century (“Industrial Revolution” 630).
McMurphy’s enthusiastic energy had the ability to make turn the worst situations into one with potential and liveliness. He believes
...ibbit, as he gives Billy the gift of his first sexual encounter, even as McMurphy realizes it will cost him his chance at freedom. In all these ways, McMurphy shows love for the unique, individual nature of each man. McMurphy honors and loves the sanctity of individual human beings. He talks to the Chief, even though he thinks the Chief is deaf. He is patient with the babyish Martini, even though he cannot grasp the fundamentals of blackjack. He helps Taber catch a fish and teaches Cheswick to drive a boat. He encourages the Chief to grow through playing basketball. Its as if he is the father figure in the ward instead of top dog because every decision he makes is to help the patients in the ward and help better their stay. He doesn’t want the ward to seem like a prison to the patients. Each individual should be able to be themselves no matter what society thinks.
At the ward, McMurphy disagrees with Nurse Ratched’s rules. He sees that the patients do not fight back and listen to whatever Nurse Ratched tells them to do. He also does not like how Nurse Ratched has so much power. Against the normality, McMurphy tries to diminish Nurse Ratched and the Combine’s power. Throughout the story, the patients start listening to what McMurphy says and not Nurse Ratched. They also start doing things they would not normally do at the ward. They are finally breaking into Nurse Ratched’s power, through the main character McMurphy. McMurphy can be seen as a Christ figure based on the events in the ward. It can be seen when he is killed by the Combine, the fishing trip, and through his leadership to the
Randle Patrick McMurphy died as a savior. His death and what he symbolically took with him, in the Nurse’s voice, laid the ground for the men in the ward to stand up for themselves and re-enter society. Many of the men were given power by McMurphy’s presence. It is most obvious in the Chief, but all of the men were affected almost immediately by his presence. After he died many of the men decided to finally leave the ward they never had to be at and, along with the Chief who broke out,
Mcmurphy was the one who started making people laughing in the ward. When he first came into the ward he was cracking jokes and shaking everybody’s hand. (p.16)
The men, after McMurphy’s death, hold onto his story and pass it on. He is a man, a myth, and a legend that forever remains in the hospital. Leaving an everlasting sting on the nurse and how she reigns over the hospital. McMurphy’s death also affected Bromden, giving him enough strength to set off into the world, breaking loose from the Nurse’s control and living life as McMurphy would have wanted him to. “I feel good, seeing McMurphy get that black boys goat like not many men could. Papa used to be able to do that” (Kesey 94) This is Bromden speaking of McMurphy making fun of the staff’s blind rule-following tendencies. This also, strongly shows how much Bromden, and the other men, think of McMurphy as a father figure. He is a man in their lives that gives them confidence and comfort. The men in the ward & especially Billy Bibbit and Bromden, like authority and power; for example, the Big Nurse, Billy’s mom, and Bromden’s dad. They like to follow a structure and have a power to look up to; McMurphy is a different kind of power that’s freeing to be lead by. When they see their leader ‘fight the power’ they see this as an invitation to follow suit and question their old ways of the ward, therefore not conforming. So, when the men in the ward make McMurphy like their strong father figure, that becomes their normal. This also speaks to Kesey’s underline analogy,
Even though McMurphy's own sacrifice of life is the price of his victory, he still attempts to push the ward patients to hold thier own personal opinions and fight for what is ethically right. For instinace, McMurphy states, "But I tried though,' he says. 'Goddammit, I sure as hell id that much, now didn't I?" McMurphy strains to bring the 'fellas' courage and determination in a place full of inadequacy and "perfection." McMurphy obtains a lot of courage in maintaining his own sort of personal integrity, and trying to keep the guys' intergrity and optimistic hope up.
Consider McMurphy and Mr. Keating, both characters are very similar in a multitude of ways. Neither of them is in charge as they are both under their respective antagonist, either being Nurse Ratched or Principle Nolan. However throughout the progression of each plot, they both teach and inspire either the patients or the students to become individuals. McMurphy gave the patients the ability to seize back the power from Nurse Ratched through showing them the way how, and teaching the patients that they are their own person and have their own rights. Mr. Keating teaches the students how to be outside the box, as shown when in class he strays from the regular methods of teaching and shows the students a truly out-of-the-box concept about life, “Carpe Diem.” Towards the final moments of the plot, both characters achieve a full commitment to their cause that eventuates in self-sacrifice. McMurphy is lobotomized and Mr. Keating is fired from Welton Academy. However similarly in both plots, after both characters sacrifices themselves they pass on what they have learned and allowed others to beat their struggle for independence. Chief leaves the institution and the students stand up against Principle Nolan with what they believe in. Weir and Kesey use these characters to inspire and support those who struggle for independence and use their characterization as a technique to do so.
The ward is governed by nurse ratchet and her rules. Not following nurse Ratchets rules would eventually lead to get punished with electroshocking and other similar punishments. A hospital generally a place for health giving, becomes an unsafe place in this story. This particular hospital under Nurse Ratched’s administration is not about healing, but about dehumanization and manipulation, in order to take complete control of the patients. Until Randie Mc Murphy arrives and decides to put a stop to the situation by going against nurse Ratched’s rules and convincing the rest of the patients to do the same. After revealing against Ratched and convincing the men to do things that went against the rules. After Ratched causes multliple men of the ward to commit suicide and blames Mc Murphy for it , claiming that he thinks and acts as if he were God. Mcmurphy attempts to attack nurse Ratched, and as a result he was sent for a lobotomy. Weeks later when he returns to the hospital, his image is the same but he is gone forever as he is now in vegetable state. Chief, another patient of the hospital then suffocates Mc Murphy in order to save him from being trapped in his own body and under nurse Ratchets control. Chief then escapes the hospital. Mc Murphy is an important character because in the play because he sacrifices his own freedom in order to stop injustice at the hospital and help his friends, even though he also had the choice to obey the rules in order to save