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