Freedom and Rebellion
McMurphy was to the men what the combine could not be, a light in the fog. McMurphy goes through many different stages of identity throughout Cuckoo's Nest. He is rebellious in the begginning, fighting against the Big Nurse, Ratched. McMurphy goes to the metal ward to escape community service, the men are there voluntarily. He realizes that he needs the men to fight with him if he's ever going to save himself; this develops into the idea that McMurphy is eventually the hero for the men. Although he was selfish at the start. He now is with them and needs their help. His freedom and their's rely on him. The Big Nurse says, "...he
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should most definitely be sent up to Disturbed. But now I believe it is too late. Would removing him undo the harm that he has done to our ward? I don't believe it would, not after this afternoon. I believe if he were sent up to Disturbed now it would be exactly what the patients would expect. He would be a martyr to them." And she's exactly right. In the end, McMurphy is a martyr for the men, for freedom, and for Bromden. Chief was actually freeing McMurphy from the prison of his body when he killed him after the lobotomy. It was the least he could do for his friend.
Teenagers |
Winesburg, Ohio |
Could Have Been Me |