Strive for New Traditions: McMurphy
It's true, Randall Patrick McMurphy lives with passion. He represents freedom, self-determination, change, but with a little mixture of chaos. These characteristics clash with the oppressed ward ran by Nurse Ratched. What makes him different from every patient at the mental institution is his confidence, as well as his power of laughter. His laughter has been the first genuine laughter heard on the ward for several years. As he "swaggers" on to the ward as the new patient, it's obvious that he's a no "ordinary admission" as Chief Bromden implies. But so what about his confidence? How is he "special"?
McMurphy is potentially the Superman of the men on the ward because as no one first expected, his desire was to make a few beneficial changes for the men themselves, as well as the ward. He was determined to unite them together because they had been away from the outside world for a long time. He wanted them to embrace themselves: what they really had in them before they went "crazy", which he denies because they're "no crazier than the average asshole out walkin' around on the streets and that's it."
The initial tension was enacted when McMurphy arrived on the ward: McMurphy versus Nurse Ratched. If McMurphy strived for new traditions and Nurse Ratched wanted control, then the tension would also be change versus control, as both characters would represent those ideas, respectively. But due to the power struggle between the two characters, the nurses reputation AND the men were at stake. Would the men really benefit with these changes or are McMurphy's motives selfish? They weren't, they were selfless because of one single scene that shows how well change and chaos benefitted the men: the monopoly scene.
The monopoly scene consisted of acutes playing together, but they were talking with each other, which is a shock because their confidence is very low as McMurphy describes them as being "pecked". Because of McMurphy, life has finally been put into them and they are rising from their shells. As readers observe Chief Bromden's narration, one would expect that McMurphy's motives are selfish, but in fact they are selfless because of how he united them together.
The unity of the men and McMurphy may be one of the best bonds of all literature and in life. The Acutes have been following McMurphy's lead, when remembering that on day one, the men never trusted each other. As an unordinary admission, McMurphy posed as leader and put trust towards them, and eventually the men began to trust one another. Nobody was turning on one's back anymore after McMurphy arrived. Introduced to the ward was courage, hope, pride, compassion, sacrifice, and trust. As writer William Faulkner implies, "The human heart in conflict with itself...only that is worth writing about" this potentially means that the only reason the men and McMurphy were able to unite as one was because of the internal conflicts of the men. They really needed to think about being able to trust a "chaotic" man who wants change instead of tradition, and through McMurphy's ambition and perseverance, the men were able to pull through with their trust.
So how is this considered embracing the new? Well, remember when Nurse Ratched had her log book for the patients to record in and nobody trusted each other? That disappeared with McMurphy being introduced to the ward. He lived with passion and never gave up the ambition and determination to unite the men together so they could be expressed human beings.
McMurphy is potentially the Superman of the men on the ward because as no one first expected, his desire was to make a few beneficial changes for the men themselves, as well as the ward. He was determined to unite them together because they had been away from the outside world for a long time. He wanted them to embrace themselves: what they really had in them before they went "crazy", which he denies because they're "no crazier than the average asshole out walkin' around on the streets and that's it."
The initial tension was enacted when McMurphy arrived on the ward: McMurphy versus Nurse Ratched. If McMurphy strived for new traditions and Nurse Ratched wanted control, then the tension would also be change versus control, as both characters would represent those ideas, respectively. But due to the power struggle between the two characters, the nurses reputation AND the men were at stake. Would the men really benefit with these changes or are McMurphy's motives selfish? They weren't, they were selfless because of one single scene that shows how well change and chaos benefitted the men: the monopoly scene.
The monopoly scene consisted of acutes playing together, but they were talking with each other, which is a shock because their confidence is very low as McMurphy describes them as being "pecked". Because of McMurphy, life has finally been put into them and they are rising from their shells. As readers observe Chief Bromden's narration, one would expect that McMurphy's motives are selfish, but in fact they are selfless because of how he united them together.
The unity of the men and McMurphy may be one of the best bonds of all literature and in life. The Acutes have been following McMurphy's lead, when remembering that on day one, the men never trusted each other. As an unordinary admission, McMurphy posed as leader and put trust towards them, and eventually the men began to trust one another. Nobody was turning on one's back anymore after McMurphy arrived. Introduced to the ward was courage, hope, pride, compassion, sacrifice, and trust. As writer William Faulkner implies, "The human heart in conflict with itself...only that is worth writing about" this potentially means that the only reason the men and McMurphy were able to unite as one was because of the internal conflicts of the men. They really needed to think about being able to trust a "chaotic" man who wants change instead of tradition, and through McMurphy's ambition and perseverance, the men were able to pull through with their trust.
So how is this considered embracing the new? Well, remember when Nurse Ratched had her log book for the patients to record in and nobody trusted each other? That disappeared with McMurphy being introduced to the ward. He lived with passion and never gave up the ambition and determination to unite the men together so they could be expressed human beings.
