Randle Patrick Mcmurphy, a Tragedy from the Beginning
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 position. McMurphy begins this march to fame as soon as he sets foot in the hospital. He avoids the black boys so he can avoid being hit with a rectal thermometer, which must be given to any new admissions. His initials RPM give substantial meaning to his actions. Richard Blessing outlines this when he says, “he is a personification of motion, energy, and change” (140). He creates a big nuisance throughout the ward with his gambling, singing, laughing, and constant movement. McMurphy runs away from the rules and regulations of Nurse Ratched. He captivates the inmates with his actions and individuality, and this becomes the basis of his success. McMurphy does not understand the system as the inmates do, and thus, the rise to
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 position. McMurphy begins this march to fame as soon as he sets foot in the hospital. He avoids the black boys so he can avoid being hit with a rectal thermometer, which must be given to any new admissions. His initials RPM give substantial meaning to his actions. Richard Blessing outlines this when he says, “he is a personification of motion, energy, and change” (140). He creates a big nuisance throughout the ward with his gambling, singing, laughing, and constant movement. McMurphy runs away from the rules and regulations of Nurse Ratched. He captivates the inmates with his actions and individuality, and this becomes the basis of his success. McMurphy does not understand the system as the inmates do, and thus, the rise to
Cited: Currie, Ian. "Overview of One Flew Over the Cuckoo 's Nest." EXPLORING Novels. Online ed. Detroit: Gale, 2003 15 Feb. 2010. Goodwin, Susan. One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest. 1999,May 8, 2009. Lone Star College Kingwood Library Kesey, Ken. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. New York, New York: Penguin Classics, 1996.