McMurphy the Martyr

            Although we have criticized McMurphy continuously throughout our reading of the One Flew Over the Cookoo’s Nest, we should do nothing but appreciate him now. He may have stolen a little money from the patients and conned them a bit but in the end, he gave his life for them. His upbeat and adventurous attitude inspired the patients to imagine a happy life outside the ward while his heroic actions against the Nurse Ratched provided incentive for the patients to leave the ward and seek the life he showed them. He managed to do all of this directly against the will of Nurse Ratched. She explains to her companions on the staff that she does not want McMurphy to “‘be a martyr to [the other patients]’” (157). Through the use of the inspiring diction “martyr,” Kesey indirectly characterizes McMurphy as a saintly figure to the other patients. His ability to overcome the nurse and achieve this saintly status highlights his perseverance. In addition, on many occasions during class discussions, we have criticized McMurphy for his apparent selfishness. But after Billy’s suicide, he displayed the opposite; he displayed total selflessness. Just before McMurphy attacks Nurse Ratched, Chief Bromden explains, “it was our need that was making him push himself slowly up from sitting” (318). Kesey juxtaposes the diction “our need” with the diction “making him” to show that McMurphy stood up to the nurse for the benefit of the men, thus indirectly characterizing him as selfless. McMurphy became the martyr that Nurse Ratched so badly wanted to prevent. He gave his life showing a bunch of men with poor social skills and low self-esteem how to live life to the fullest and stand up to the authority that puts them down. Randle McMurphy is the epitome of a selfless hero.