Hero of the Ward: Randle P. Mcmurphy

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• Randle Patrick Mcmurphy, a Tragedy from the Beginning Essay

  ...Abhinav Brahmamdam Literature 236 5th Hour Mrs. Koen March 24, 2010 Randle Patrick McMurphy, a Tragedy from the Beginning Would you ever accept a leadership role to a group of beat down patients at a mental institution knowing the consequence would be death? Randle Patrick McMurphy does just that. McMurphy, a con man who seeks institutionalization, becomes a role model for the inmates at a hospital. These male patients are lifeless human beings who fear the institution and its ruler, Big Nurse Ratched. Nurse Ratched runs the ward like an army prison camp with harsh and motorized precision. Nurse Ratched controls the inmates in every way possible, and they have no freedom. When McMurphy comes along, the inmates realize he is their rescuer, and he fights their battle against society and Nurse, Ratched’s control for them. In Ken Kesey’s, One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Randle Patrick McMurphy portrays the elements of a tragic hero by revolutionizing the hospital ward, accepting a leadership role to the inmates, and eventually falling to his demise. Randle McMurphy revolutionizes the ward and begins his rise to power performing the first step of a tragic hero. A tragic hero embodies nobility and virtue within himself and occupies a high status...

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• Mcmurphy Essay

  ...5-10-15 The Work of a Byronic Hero A Byronic hero is disrespectful of rank, is highly intelligent and perceptive, and has a very cunning personality. These are three characteristics that McMurphy possesses and consistently displays, which is why he should be considered a Byronic hero. Ken Kesey provides ample evidence through his rebellious actions and smart way of approaching issues. He also makes sure to exhibit his tricky, deceiving personality. In the novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, McMurphy uses his qualities to become a backbone for the men on the ward, making him a Byronic hero. McMurphy is contemptuous towards Nurse Ratched, as he doesn't care that she is in charge of the ward. She can't control him like she can the other patients. He is a rebel and makes it is duty to get under her skin and strip her power right from underneath her. In fact, just a few days after McMurphy's arrival, he makes a bet with the other patients. He says, '"Any of you sharpies here willing to take my five bucks that says I can get the best of that woman - without her getting the best of me?"(73) This is the trait that sets McMurphy apart as a leader and a rallier. The patients look up to his bravery and rebellion and he brings them together, creating a strength like never before. McMurphy's plan to reveal Nurse Ratched's feminism is what...

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• Character Analysis of Mcmurphy Essay

  ...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 the ward and policy. During his stay in the ward, McMurphy find many little ways to rebel against the policies. A big rebellious act, that has all the patients together, is later on in the novel. McMurphy and the other, able, patients place bets on the World Series Baseball Game that is to show later that week. During a daily group therapy he proposes to the group, a vote, for the working hours to be moved so they can watch the game at that time instead. Nurse Ratched, sure that no one would defy her, allowed McMurphy to have his vote. In the end, there is a majority ruling to move the hours, and this makes Nurse Ratched mad. She turns off the T.V. when...

  972  Words | 3  Pages

• Mcmurphy as a Christ Figure Essay

  ...Sharon Ehret April 4th, 2011 McMurphy as a Christ Figure Christ comes from the name Yahweh which means God’s salvation and rescuer. Ken Kesey creates a character in his novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, that represents a figure like Christ that rescues and saves the patients at the ward. Randall Patrick McMurphy, the protagonist in the novel, takes on the role as the rescuer and saver. The novel mirrors Christ’s life through McMurphy’s life at the ward. There are four main events in the novel that allude to the story of Christ: the arrival of McMurphy, the fishing trip, McMurphy’s electroshock therapy, and McMurphy’s death. Christ saved us from sin by dying on the cross whereas McMurphy died to save the patients from Nurse Ratched and the institution. McMurphy arrives at the mental institution with vivacity and happiness. He enters the ward by being boisterous and full of laughter. His laughter is noticed by all the patients because it is the first laughter they have heard in years. Chief Bromden recalls that his relatives used to mock the government officials by laughing and comments “I forget sometimes what laughter can do,” (pg 95). McMurphy is noticeably different than the other patients at the ward. Most of the patients are languid and shielded from the outside world. He walks in and declares that he is going to...

  1342  Words | 4  Pages

• Essay on Hero with a Mind

  ...Dainel Hageman A hero is a person who has distinguished courage and ability and can be looked at as a model or ideal. In One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest Randle Patrick McMurphy is seen to be the hero of the story. When McMurphy gets entered into the ward he is the only person in there who has any idea of what the outside world is like anymore. Throughout the movie McMurphy tries to makes the guys, which were already in the ward, understand what the outside world is like and that the only reason they are stuck in there is because Nurse Ratched convinced them, they are the reasons that society looks at them as social outcast. Our modern use of hero would not be possible without the Renaissance. During the Middle Ages Roman Catholic scholars did not look favorably upon man’s achievements. While he was living under the shadows of sin, these scholars of medieval Europe stressed the afterlife and greatness came from God not man. They believed the true heroes of Christendom were the martyrs, missionaries and priests preparing for salvation. The Renaissance challenged this with the rediscovery of classic literature from ancient Greece and Rome. In classic literature they emphasized man’s capacity for greatness (Simona, Simona 1). It was Francesco Petrarch who brought heroism back into modern day literature. He believed that heroism was emphasized as...

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• Mcmurphy- Charismatic Rebel Leader Research Paper

  ...Nest is an analysis of the anti-cultural movement of the 1960s. Kesey’s reflection on the spirit of the 1960s is embodied in his main character, Mc Murphy. He illustrates the author’s commentary on the 1960s in three ways: he exemplifies the Hippie movement, he leads other by example, and he persuades others to follow him through his charismatic behavior. Some brief plot summary is necessary before discussing Mc Murphy’s character as a charismatic rebel leader. Mc Murphy chooses to live in a mental health institution despite the absence of mental illness. He finds other men in the same situation. These institutionalized men are called “acutes”. These men are felt to be hiding from society. They are contrasted to the “chronics”, men on the ward who have suffered lobotomies or who are not socially functional. An important scene that will be referenced is the watching of the World Series game. During one of the group meetings, Mc Murphy requested a change the daily schedule so the patients can watch the Series. The nurse agrees to a vote and only four out of ten of the acutes participate. In anger and frustration at this refusal to stand up to the nurse, Mc Murphy bets everyone he can lift an old hydrotherapy control panel. Everyone bets against him, and rightly so because he cannot lift the panel. Yet he states that he at least he tried. Later in another group meeting, Mc Murphy asks for a revote to which the Nurse agrees. The vote, being ten to zero, only...

  1326  Words | 4  Pages

• Essay on the ward

  ... At the start of the movie, a girl named Kristen sets fire to an abandoned farmhouse. Two local policemen saw this and brought her to a psychiatric hospital. Kristen met other patients in the ward: Iris, Emily, Sarah, and Zoey. Iris is artistically talented and always brings her sketchbook with her. Emily is tough and free- spirited but she acts insanely and would sometimes annoy the other patients. Sarah is the flirtatious one in the group. She flirts with male nurses assigned in the ward. Last is Zoey who is suffering from emotional trauma and is regressed. She dressed and acts like a little girl. She always carries a rabbit stuff toy with her. Kristen is assigned to a room that once belong to Tammy. On her first night in her room, she wakes to find someone—or something –has stolen her blanket in the night. At first, she thinks it was one of the orderlies or the other girls, but when she starts seeing glimpses of a horribly disfigured girl over the next few days and then she is attacked by that same girl in the shower, she becomes convinced that the ward is haunted by the ghost of a past patient (Megwood.com). during a session with Dr. Stringer, iris mentions Tammy but is then immediately halted by the doctor. After the session, Iris is attacked by the disfigured girl in the basement and then murdered. On the other hand, Kristen noticed that Iris is nowhere to be found. She finds Iris’ sketchbook and looks through all of the...

  1080  Words | 3  Pages

• Mcmurphy, Rebel with a Cause Essay

  ...McMurphy, Rebel with a Cause Ken Kesey's experiences in a mental institution urged him to tell the story of such a ward. We are told this story through the eyes of a abnormally large Indian who everyone believes to be deaf and dumb named Chief in his novel "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest". Chief Bromden also referred to as "Chief Buh-room" is a patient in an Oregon psychiatric hospital on the ward of Mrs. Ratched, she is the symbol of authority and female domination throughout the novel. This ward forms the backdrop for the rest of the story. The men on the ward are resigned to their regime dictated by this tyrant who is referred to as 'the Big Nurse', until McMurphy arrives to corrupt it. McMurphy makes the men realize that it is possible to think for themselves, which results in a complete abolishment of the combine as it was. Randle P. McMurphy, a wrongly committed mental patient with a taste for life. The qualities that garner McMurphy respect and admiration from his fellow patients are also responsible for his tragic downfall. These qualities include his temper, which leads to his being deemed "disturbed," his stubbornness, which results in his receiving numerous painful disciplinary treatments, and finally his free spirit, which leads to his death. Despite McMurphy being a loyal man, in the...

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