mcmurphy is a tragic hero

A detailed Summary of mcmurphy is a tragic hero

McMurphy is a tragic hero who has many reasons that leads to his incentable downfall. McMurphy is a patient inside a ward with cronics and acutes. McMurphy enters the ward not knowing the policy of the ward causing mayhem by going against policy rules due to his actions. I think that his action is the spark to his incentable downfall. This is a scene of his actions, challenging the Big Nurse, "It's okay, Doc. It was the lady there that started it, made the mistake. I've known some people inclined to do that. I had this uncle whose name was Hallahan and he went out with a woman once who kept acting like she couldn't remember his name right and calling him Hooligan just to get his goat. It went on for months before he stopped her. Oh? How did he stop her? McMurphy grins and rubs his nose with his thumb. 'Ah-ah, now, I can't be telln' that. I keep Uncle Hallahan's method a strict secret, you see, in case I need it myself someday."(Pg.40-41). In this passage, McMurphy is telling of what he will do to the Big Nurse if she keeps on acting like she does, with what his uncle did to the woman he went out with.

In the beginning McMurphy seems to be winning his battles with the Big Nurse but she is simply waiting for the right time, awai

ting her opportunity. The Big Nurse has ultimate power over the patients and this is what makes McMurphy lose to the Big Nurse. McMurphy find out the reason why the other patients are in the ward when they say to him

He is surrounded by external forces that he has no or little control over which leads to his death. These forces include the Big Nurse, Chief Bromden, acute patients (his friends) and the ward (combine). An external force that McMurphy doesn't know about is what Chief Bromden knows, he says, "Nobody complains about all the fog. I know why now; as bad as it is, you can slip back in it and feel safe. That's what McMurphy can't understand, us wanting to be safe. He keeps trying to drag us out of the fog, out in the open where we'd be easy to get at" (Pg. 27). McMurphy doesn't really keep the Chief's advice in mind, leading to his death.

"Mr. McMurphy...my friend...I'm not a chicken, I'm a rabbit. The doctor is a rabbit. Cheswick there is a rabbit. Billy Bibbit is a rabbit. All of us in here are rabbits of varying ages and degrees, hippity-hopping through our Walt Disney world. Oh, don't misunderstand me, we're not in here because we are rabbits-we'd be rabbits wherever we were-we're all in here because we can't adjust to our rabbithood. ' Man, you're talking

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Approximate Word count = 863
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Novels

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mcmurphy is a tragic hero

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