McMurphey as a Christ Figure - Essay Example

Task McMurphey as a Christ Figure Introduction One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey portrays McMurphey as Christ figurebecause of the matchless thoughts he had, and the actions he took when facing different situations. The symbolism of Christ image to the personality of McMurphey in book is discussed aptly. Critique on McMurphey as a Christ Figure McMurphey fits in the Christ figure since leads others in virtually everything. He has a peculiar way of performing a task as witnessed after the incident with the cigarettes. He is a new patient in the ward and his actions are quite dissimilar from other patients in the hospice. The actions and words used by McMurphey depict him to be a difficult person. “Anointest my head with conductant. Do I get a crown of thorns?” (Kesey, 270). I view McMurphey’s action to be rather ironical, since a sick individual is not capable of doing the actions he did. He succeeds in convincing other patients that Nurse Ratched is a” ball-cutter’. His leadership role is witnessed, since the other patients had made no comments concerning the personality of the nurse, making him the first patient to do so. He has a notorious nature that makes him lead other patients in going fishing “[O]ne flew east, one flew west, one flew over the cuckoo’s nest . . . goose swoops down and plucks you out” (Kesey, 272). I view McMurphey’s request of taking his friend for fishing to be courageous act. Interestingly, he was a patient, but he managed to request a pass, and convinced the practitioner that he did not take patients out for fishing. He gainsays himself when he tells the doctor that he would go along with his aunts rather than his friends. McMurphey fits as the Christ figure when he decides to use Sorenson who has a compulsion regarding sanitation, to convince the nurse to permit them take the trip. Sorenson blindly follows him and takes charge of the two newly arrived whores. In my opinion, the fishing by the patients is a change. He also fits as the Christ when he manages to take the patients away from the hospital. They return from the fishing event well-informed of their rights as they are positively influenced. “While McMurphy laughs. Rocking farther and farther backward against the cabin top, spreading his laugh out across the water—laughing at the girl, the guys...” (Kesey, 237). The agent of change who in-stilled sense in them is McMurphey, and the trip he invented. He fitted as the Christ figure when he played a crucial role of enacting sense to his fellow patients in the hospital. “I mean—hell, I been surprised how sane you guys all are. As near as I can tell you’re not any crazier than the average asshole on the street—” (Kesey, 63). The nurse in-charge of the hospital feels threatened by his constant heroic deeds in the institution. She makes desperate moves like imposing negative qualities on him and distorting his personality to his fellow patients to stop them from being his followers. I consider this to be injustice, since, as the nurse of the institution; she was to be dutiful and caring to her patients. He has faith to the nurse because of the incident that had transpired earlier with McMurphy. It is true that he was defeated unfairly by McMurphy in a competition he had contested with him. Later in the story, McMurphey was ale to show the wickedness that existed in the hospital to the rest of the patient’s. He fits as a Christ figure when he gets support from the patients after saving one of them in contacting enema from a careless hospital aide. He is assisted by Chief, his greatest critic, when a fight ensues following the incident with the patient. Chief supports McMurphey when he is bored by the wards policy. I believe that McMurphey takes the role of the medical practitioners since his presence in the hospital heals the patients. It is rather strange that the patients in the hospice get well after McMurphey was admitted in the hospital, yet he was not a medical practitioner. McMurphey fits as the Christ figure since he manifests the cruelty in hospitals; since he bored the weight of punishment trying to save his collogues. He makes jokes about the nurse after stating that conflict with the hospital aide and the nurse is a conflict of the institutional patients and humanity. “…at George, at me sucking my bleeding thumb, at the captain back at the pier and the bicycle rider and the service-station guys and the five thousand houses and the Big Nurse and all of it…” (Kesey, 237). I think patients are probably right in their opinions towards those who are mentally ill, but they go a step far when they mock their disability. McMurphey tries to advocates for the rights of the patient by intimidating the society. He makes them accept and be proud of their conditions. Although, he was associated with stubbornness in the institution, he was selfless and did phenomenons to patients in the hospital making his character be developed as a heroic Christ figure. McMurphey fits in the Christ figure as he was mistreated at the end just like Jesus. They appear to have conflict evolving around them by the way they reason, since their ideas were partially accepted by individuals. They use up most of their time convincing individuals. Conclusion Conclusively, One flew over the cuckoo’s nest by Kesey portrays the sufferings that individuals are exposed to when they attempt to lead or support others as witnessed by McMurphey’s case. The book highlights out the different personalities of individuals in the society. The Nurse portrays the repressive in the society as she tries to belittle McMurphey from his role as man in the society. Work Cited Kesey, Ken. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. London: Penguin Books Limited, 2011. Print. Read More