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Ken Kesey in his widely anthologized work titled “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” features several illusions in the novel while making references to Christianity. Outstanding in the work is Randle McMurphy’s demonstration of martyrdom at the climax of the novel. However, the incident is presaged with a set of references to activities recounted in the Christians’ New Testament. Although McMurphy’s attitudes and actions at an initial glance can be construed to be Dionysian rather than Christian, as manifested by emphasizing drinking, womanizing, and gambling, his heroic qualities are evident from his arrival in the ward. Throughout the novel, McMurphy is depicted as a savior with the dedication to helping many patients in the ward but pays the ultimate price for his actions.
McMurphy is a symbol of a savior in the novel, as consistently demonstrated by self-sacrifice at the ward. Specifically, his sacrifice and actions mirror those of Jesus Christ, who similarly offered himself on the cross to save mankind from sins. He undertakes a form of baptism when he arrives at the ward and gradually gathers loyal followers around him while expanding his revolt against Nurse Ratched. He also accompanies a section of patients fishing, something akin to what Christ did by leading his disciples to fishing to gauge their faith.
Although the author makes McMurphy dies following his lobotomy, he is still alive but drops his previously inappropriate comments. A patient says, “But they cannt do that look. There is nothing in the face. Just like one of those store dummies, is that not right, Scanlon?” (Kesey 248). Whereas the body of McMurphy dies, his bequest for freedom and self-realization from oppression lingers in the mind of many patients. Just like Jesus did to save his followers, McMurphy dies to give his patients a chance to live. His inspiring philosophy can result in the huge departure of competent and confident patients from the hospital ward. Moreover, his attack on Ratched and definitive sacrifice, coupled with an emblematic cross-designed electroshock table, cement McMurphy’s martyrdom and savior who relinquished his sanity and freedom to attain this feat.
Kesey figuratively paints McMurphy as saving many patients in the ward. In numerous ways, the author symbolically shows how McMurphy raises men back to life by separating them from the fog and enlightening them to know the reality of the surroundings within the asylum. Precisely, McMurphy makes Chief talk following a long stint without having the capacity to do so. The situation is parallel to the miracle conducted by Christ that allowed a deaf person to hear. While Chief is not factually deaf, McMurphy performs a miracle and inspires him to change and halt acting to be dumb and deaf. In another scenario, McMurphy assists Billy in the hospital but denies helping him. Going forward, Billy gains confidence and ceases stammering, thanks to the miracles. By permitting McMurphy to conduct the sensations, he saves many patients from the ward and empowers them to revert to normal life.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest demonstrates how McMurphy pays the ultimate price in the move to remain a hero. In the long run, he becomes a protagonist and risks his life, as embodied by his gallant commitment to saving patients in the ward. The psychiatric ward did not have any star until the arrival of McMurphy, who encouraged several patients the rebel against an abridged model of tyranny like that portrayed by Ratched. For instance, Harding notes, “No one’s ever dared come out and say it before, but there’s not a man among us that doesn’t think it… feel it somewhere down deep in his scared little soul” (Kesey 48). From his undertaking to be a savior, it is evident that McMurphy did not only comprehend his patients, but also understood the foe who demonstrated hatred, spite, and evil.
He is the only person who has the courage and determination to defy Ratched’s repressive leadership. Chief describes this by affirming, “She doesn’t lose on her losses, but she wins on ours. To beat her you don’t have to whip her two out of three or three out of five, but every time you meet” (Kesey 89). McMurphy struggles to liberate the patients from the bondage managed by Ratched’s social order that is highly disruptive to the social order.
Whereas McMurphy risks his own life and pays the ultimate price for such self-sacrifice, he still tries to push the patients in the ward to have individual opinions and tussles for the right things. McMurphy says, “Goddammit, I sure as hell did that much, didn’t I? And walks out and leaves those stained pieces of paper on the floor for whoever wants to sort through them” (Kesey 98). Therefore, it can be seen how McMurphy progresses from a consistently reckless person to a star to a savior, coupled with numerous generous acts to defend and strengthen confidence in patients.
Work Cited
Kesey, Ken. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. The Viking Press, 1962.
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