One Flew over the Cuckoo Nest - Essay Example

One Flew Over the Cuckoo Nest Ken Kessy’s work “One Flew over the Cuckoo Nest” is a novel that studies the behavioral characteristics of psychiatric patients in a hospital setting. The novel is narrated by one of the patients called “chief” Bromden who is believed to be deaf and mute. The novel is centered on the life of McMurphy, one the patients who had feigned illness to escape a jail term where work was tiring and unpleasing. While in the hospital, he becomes rebellious and antagonizes the nurse in charge, Nurse Ratched who is tyrannical and provides uncountable rules to govern the patients. McMurphy relentlessly incited the other patients to claim their rights and rise against the many rules that existed in this setting. Even the worst punishment would not stop him from defending the rights of his colleagues but only makes him stronger. Although he feigns mental illness, McMurphy plays a critical role in liberating the patients in a world full of strict rules. McMurphy occupies some position between a con man and a community builder. Right from the start, McMurphy is a conman who escapes from his prison sentence by feigning a mental illness. The main reason why he wants to escape the prison is because there is too much work and the prisoners are beaten (Kessy 7). He pretends to be a fool so that he can be transferred to a place where he would suffer less from the harsh treatment of the prison wardens. This behavior of McMurphy points out his character as a conman who is willing to do anything to salvage his comfort. When he joins the other mental cases in the hospital, he appears as the most sober person and engages the other patients in discussions and talks that are manipulative as a way of awakening them to the reality of the way to gain their comfort. Another way McMurphy is depicted as a conman is the way he plans to benefit from the hospital environment by engaging other patients in a gambling game. When he arrives at the hospital, he introduces himself as a wild fan of gambling. He says that “My name is McMurphy … and I am a gambling fool” and expresses his joy as an expert of gambling by the way he expresses his words (11). The main reason why he requested a transfer is because he intended to meet some new blood where he could engage freely in gambling. The motive of McMurphy to own a card table in a hospital has portrayed him as more of a con man than a community builder. The fact that he is mentally sober but wants to engage in a betting game with mentally ill persons implies that his intention is to take advantage of their condition to his benefit. In this regard, McMurphy can be regarded as an opportunistic con man who intends to take advantage of the mentally ill to his benefit. On the other hand, McMurphy is determined to build a cohesive community of the mentally ill within the hospital. The hospital administration was tyrannical and the patients were conditioned to strict rules and they had to conform to. In the hospitals, there were group meetings and these meetings were governed by a set of “protocols” that had to be observed (30). Also, the patients had little freedom to move in the compound or even to visit places without any supervision. Nurse Ratched was always there to ensure that there was supervision and protocols were strictly followed to the letter. McMurphy becomes one of the most rebellious patients who intend to unite the patients against the nurse. He feels that these rules are against the patients’ rights of freedom. A community builder is a person who identifies himself with a social group and aims at bringing cohesiveness among a group of people. McMurphy efforts are geared at uniting the mental patients against the harsh administration. He poses questions to the patients to incite them against the old nurse who holds the “pecking meetings” (35). For instance he asks them “And you really think this crap that went on in the meeting today is bringing about some kinda cure, doing some kinda good?” to open the eyes of the patients on the oppressive nature of the meetings that Nurse Ratched always held. In these meetings the nurse spent most of her time forcing the patients to admit to their crimes. McMurphy feels that they should be excused from such unhelpful meetings that have nothing to do with their wellbeing. On another occasion, he incites the patients to attend an unsupervised fishing trip and a quest for their freedom to watch the World Series television program. By asserting the freedom of the employees and opening their eyes to the oppressive nature of their environment, he performs the role of community builder. In the climax of events, McMurphy is more obsessed on the freedom of the mental illness patients. He pushes the patients to keep fighting for their rights even if it is a tough battle. In a dramatic situation he attempts to lift a heavy shower room control panel in the presence of all the patients. When he is unable, he tells them that, “But I tried, though” (72). His message is that they too should try to fight for their rights at the hospital by rising up against the old nurse. Later, when Billy commits suicide after she was scolded by the nurse, McMurphy attacks the nurse and she has to stay away from work and cannot even speak. McMurphy is ready to fight for the community where he belongs and this forms part of their plan to escape. At last, the Chief escapes through the window and runs away from the hospital. In this regard, McMurphy serves as a group rights activist and is willing to even fight physically for the right of patients as part of his role as a team builder. In conclusion, McMurphy plays the role of a con man as well as that of a community builder. As a con man, he pretends to be a mental case and is transferred to the hospital for the mentally ill. Once there, he pulls the strings together as a sober competent gambler to take advantage of the patients. He benefits materially and becomes the leader of the group by winning their minds. As a community builder, he garners the support of the patients by opening their eyes to see the tyrannical leadership of Nurse Ratched. He encourages them to stand against such leadership and to quest for more freedom in this environment. He leads them by example and is willing even to fight the nurse after she scolds his mates. In this regard, McMurphy plays a dual role to benefit himself and his colleagues in the hospital. Works Cited Kesey, Ken. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. , New York: Viking. 2012. Print Read More