One Flew over the Cuckoo’s nest (1962) is a novel written by Kesey. Set in an Oregon insane asylum, the narrative is a study of institutional processes and therefore the human mind also as a critique of psychiatry and a tribute to individualistic principles. If you need assistance then don’t worry it’s time to hire a BookMyEssay assignment essay help writer.
One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest Essay Sample
R.P. McMurphy is not an average mental patient stuck on a ward at an institution. In fact, McMurphy is one of the most unique patients the ward in “One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest”has ever seen. While most of the men on the ward committed themselves, McMurphy opted to be placed in the institution in lieu of fulfilling his sentence to spend time on a work farm. McMurphy is a burly man, with remarkable confidence. The other men idolize him and fear him all from the very first moment that they spend in his presence. At the beginning of the book, McMurphy toys with Big Nurse and the other staff at the hospital. He figures he might as well have some fun with them, since he is under the mistaken impression that he has only “x” number of days until he is released. This is the part of the essay sample that BookMyEssay provides to their customers that need essay help.
Soon, however, he comes to realize that he is at Big Nurse’s mercy if he ever wants to be free again. Prior to this realization he was an inspiration, someone that others were in awe of and attempted to emulate. When McMurphy realizes that he is destroying his own chance to be free and continues down this path anyway, he effectively becomes the savior of the ward. Like Christ’s decision to die for the sins of man, McMurphy gives himself up for the freedom of the other men on the ward. On several occasions throughout the book, the similarities between McMurphy and Christ are revealed through McMurphy’s interactions with the other men in the ward. For example, when McMurphy takes Chief by the hand and tells him that he will make him whole again, the scene’s imagery alone serves as a reference to Christ. McMurphy makes Chief, a Native American with a broken spirit and rampant insecurities, his project, embodying all who need to be saved.
At one point, McMurphy grips Chief by the hand and Chief, deluded though he may be, feels that McMurphy’s blood is pumping directly into his own arm. It seems to Chief like McMurphy is literally giving up his own blood to make him whole again. Later in the book, another example of McMurphy’s Christ-like behavior in the presence of Chief occurs when Chief is admiring McMurphy’s arms, commenting on the fact that they are similar to how his own were when he played football as a young man. Chief is in awe of McMurphy, and thinks, “I ought to touch him to see if he’s still alive.” Once again, this is a scene in which McMurphy’s character is heavily influenced by Christ. Chief comments on the similarity between McMurphy’s arms and his own, recalling how Christ was created in the likeness of man. People are encouraged to see Christ in themselves and in each other: He was brought into this world a mere mortal so that He could spread The Word in a way mankind could easily relate to. McMurphy is just a man, like any of his friends on the ward.