Religious Symbolism In One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest
Essay; With close reference to the text, analyse Casey’s portrayal of McMurphy as a Christ like figure in “one flew over the cuckoos nest.”
Ken Casey’s one flew over the cuckoo’s nest shares parallels with the Holy Bible and keeps the reader guessing to the very end. The reader is enabled to analyse situations and characters from a different perspective, which Casey has painted through metaphors and uses of biblical symbolism throughout the text. Casey portrays the protagonist Randle McMurphy in such a way that the reader finds similarities when comparing McMurphy with Jesus Christ. The situations in which both men are placed give the “saviors” a chance to prove themselves to the masses. Casey’s portrayal of McMurphy correlates very closely to Jesus Christ and this becomes more evident to the reader as the novel proceeds.
From the outset of the novel the reader can identify that McMurphy is no ordinary character. The mental asylum, in which the novel takes place, is full of absent-minded and broken men who have lost their masculinity. The patients within the asylum have lost hope in a brighter future for themselves, and are stuck in a microcosm full of morbid thinkers. McMurphy’s arrival on the ward is indicative of a Christ-like figure due to the way in which he conducts himself. The patients on the ward are …show more content…
Jesus Christ taught them his lessons, led them on a journey to salvation and gave them the power to purify men, and made them “fishers of men.” McMurphy and his 12 followers go on a fishing trip in which the 12 men following him change for the better. Prior to them leaving the ward the patient Ellis who is not going says goodbye and tells another patient to be a “fisher of men,” directly alluding to Christ’s expeditions. Casey again reinforcing his depiction of McMurphy as a Christ like
Ken Casey’s one flew over the cuckoo’s nest shares parallels with the Holy Bible and keeps the reader guessing to the very end. The reader is enabled to analyse situations and characters from a different perspective, which Casey has painted through metaphors and uses of biblical symbolism throughout the text. Casey portrays the protagonist Randle McMurphy in such a way that the reader finds similarities when comparing McMurphy with Jesus Christ. The situations in which both men are placed give the “saviors” a chance to prove themselves to the masses. Casey’s portrayal of McMurphy correlates very closely to Jesus Christ and this becomes more evident to the reader as the novel proceeds.
From the outset of the novel the reader can identify that McMurphy is no ordinary character. The mental asylum, in which the novel takes place, is full of absent-minded and broken men who have lost their masculinity. The patients within the asylum have lost hope in a brighter future for themselves, and are stuck in a microcosm full of morbid thinkers. McMurphy’s arrival on the ward is indicative of a Christ-like figure due to the way in which he conducts himself. The patients on the ward are …show more content…
Jesus Christ taught them his lessons, led them on a journey to salvation and gave them the power to purify men, and made them “fishers of men.” McMurphy and his 12 followers go on a fishing trip in which the 12 men following him change for the better. Prior to them leaving the ward the patient Ellis who is not going says goodbye and tells another patient to be a “fisher of men,” directly alluding to Christ’s expeditions. Casey again reinforcing his depiction of McMurphy as a Christ like