McMurphy is McAwesome

I guess you could say i am a big McMurphy fan. I see him differently than most of the other people do in the class and ill tell you why. To me, McMurphy is a savior to these mental people. He teaches them things about life and gives them hope. McMurphy ensues social skills into a bunch of vegetabized mental patients. McMurphy gets alot of crap because he stirs things up within the mental hospital, but really he is the patients only source of hope. In the grand scheme of things, McMurphy has done something extrodinary and this is why im a fan of him.

McMurphy Lives On

Before McMurphy entered the ward, everything was dictated by the Big Nurse.  She had the staff, the doctor, and even the patients under her control, not giving them any breathing room to lead their own lives.  McMurphy was a savior to the men of the ward because he had the guts to overthrow the Big Nurse.  He saw her dictatorship, so he helped the patients become real men again.  Even though he lost a few battles, he never let anyone see how he was physically and mentally drained he was.  It wasn't until after McMurphy had a lobotomy surgery that Chief Bromden realized McMurphy was giving his all for them.  He saw how much it had affected McMurphy, but he knew that everyone was grateful for the influence McMurphy had on the other men.  McMurphy showed them how to live again and that the ward wasn't their right place in the world.  He taught them just because society thought they were different, doesn't mean they couldn't leave out in the real world with the rest of them.  So after McMurphy underwent surgery under the Big Nurse's orders, the men who were still left on the ward knew he wouldn't be the same.  This is why Chief Bromden ended up suffocating McMurphy because he knew that's what McMurphy would've wanted.  Nothing would've been the same, changing the man whom they all knew wouldn't want to live under the Big Nurse.  The surgery was the only way she could control McMurphy.  Even though he is gone now, his spirit can live on through the ward and the men.

                                               -Hayley Walkowski  

McMurphy Leaving

McMurphy was given the chance to leave several times throughout the drunken night described in the last 40 pages. Why didn't he leave? Why don't he take his opportunity when he was offered it, since he's been on his best behavior so he wouldn't be infinitely committed to the ward? 

It almost seemed as if he had given upon defeating the Nurse, but the Chief realized that the men in the ward were the only reason he had kept going as long as he did. McMurphy made jokes as he was put through electric shock treatment, to keep the men believing in him. He felt responsible for their well being, for helping them become men again, instead of the rabbits they had become under Nurse Ratched's watch. 

McMurphy felt he couldn't leave until the men were strong. He attacked the Nurse in a last ditch effort to revive the men's manliness.

Caitlyn Hines

The Turning Point

In the beginning of the novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, McMurphy is perceived as the witty, fearless leader of the ward who makes constant attempts to get under the Big Nurse's skin. But as the novel proceeds to Part Two, McMurphy's attitude changes from rule breaker to rule abider. Why does McMurphy's change in attitude occur? What is his turning point?

In Chapter Three of Part Two, McMurphy has a conversation with the lifeguard about the ward vs. jail. While McMurphy is convinced that the ward is much better than jail, the lifeguard convinces him differently. "You're sentenced in a jail, and you got a date ahead of you when you know you're gonna be turned loose" (Kesey 170). The lifeguard goes on to explain that you leave when the Big Nurse wants you to leave. If she says you aren't ready, for whatever reason that may be, you could be trapped in the ward for years. It is at this point when McMurphy's priorities change. He originally was only concerned with defeating the Big Nurse, but now he's concerned about getting out of the ward - and in order to get out of the ward, you must be on your best behavior.

Up until this point, McMurphy's rebellious attitude was a symbol of hope for the other patients on the ward. McMurphy gave those men the strength to stand up for themselves, rather than giving in to the Big Nurse's outrageous rules. But then McMurphy, in a sense, turned his back on the other men and ended up giving in to the Big Nurse. He's giving her exactly what she wants: obedience and control.

While the other patients are confused by McMurphy's timid attitude and think it's just part of his scheme, Chief has it all figured out. "McMurphy was doing the smart thing. I could see that." ... "I told myself that over and over: It's safe. Like hiding. It's the smart thing to do, nobody could say any different. I know what he's doing" (Kesey 174).

Lena Peak

cuckoonest post!

In these few pages for 267-290, one thing stood out to me. They are doing electric shock therapy on the patience in the hospital. “Twist some dials,and the machine trembles, two robot arms pick up soldering irons and hunch down on him.”(Pg. 283) This means the book takes place back before electric shock therapy was banned. They fried the patients until smoke came pouring out of the window. I find this to be cruel and unusual punishment and it never really helped the patience at all.

Chief Bromden's Evolution

When the book first started, Chief Bromden was afraid that everything was part of the Combine, and was just another method of monitoring the inmates. He would not speak because he is afraid that he will say something wrong and be punished for it. He plays deaf because then the nurses will care less about him being around. Over the course of the book, Chief Bromden has become more open, helped in great part by Randle McMurphy. His belief that the Combine is all powerful has been waning. He realized that you can have fun and laugh at things with out always being punished for it. He has established a friendship with many of the other Acutes, even standing up for George when he is being harassed by one of the attendants. Chief Bromden has begun speaking, showing that he is less afraid of what the Combine could do to him. He stops acting as cagey, even taking part in a nighttime party thrown by McMurphy. Chief Bromden is a new man at the end of the book, even wanting to leave the asylum at at time of his own choosing. This transformation is brought on by McMurphy, who saved Chief Bromden's life from being entirely spent inside the hospital, wiping floors and dodging the eye of the Mrs. Ratched.
 Written by: Caleb Embree

Leader vs. Con-Artist

After reading pages 243-266 in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey there were some things that made me wonder about McMurphy's character and his actions. In part III he takes initiative to put together a fishing trip with all of the other inmates, making each inmate pay him $10 for the boat cost. At first this seemed like a nice gesture to not only himself but to the other inmates, becuase he was getting them out of the ward. When the group gets to the dock the captain of the boat does not allow them to take the boat out because there was no waiver signed to protect him if there was an accident. Then McMurphy tells the captain to call a number and while the captain was calling the "brothel" the inmates took his boat out, and fished, and got drunk. This is where McMurphy's true self showed through. He conned the captain into calling a brothel number so he could gain personally. But in this case he did not gain personally the whole group gained. Throughout this book there has been a constant battle in my head because I can not figure out if McMurphy has good intentions or is just there to con people like Bromden. In the end of part III McMurphy shows some sort of affection toward Bromden and tells him that he will help him grow strong if he can move the control panel. In part IV McMurphy bets another inmate that Bromden cant move the control panel, but knowing that he already can he basically hustled the other inmate to win $5 and once again he comes out ahead. Even though McMurphy comes off as a con-artist I feel that he actually wants to help Bromden in some way. But i am sure McMurphy's actions later in the book will keep me from choosing a side of a Leader or a Con-Artist.