Why is mcmurphy a christ figure

Any type of essay. McMurphy is not an average mental patient stuck on a ward at an institution. While most of the men on the ward committed themselves, McMurphy opted to be placed in the institution in lieu of fulfilling his sentence to spend time on a work farm. McMurphy is a burly man, with remarkable confidence. The other men idolize him and fear him all from the very first moment that they spend in his presence.

At the beginning of the book, McMurphy toys with Big Nurse and the other staff at the hospital. Prior to this realization he was an inspiration, someone that others were in awe of and attempted to emulate. When McMurphy realizes that he is destroying his own chance to be free and continues down this path anyway, he effectively becomes the savior of the ward. McMurphy makes Chief, a Native American with a broken spirit and rampant insecurities, his project, embodying all who need to be saved.

It seems to Chief like McMurphy is literally giving up his own blood to make him whole again. People are encouraged to see Christ in themselves and in each other: He was brought into this world a mere mortal so that He could spread The Word in a way mankind could easily relate to. McMurphy is just a man, like any of his friends on the ward. He knows that if he continues on as he has thus far, he will become the primary focus of Big Nurse. The men will be free to witness his strength and her weakness, and will therefore grow as men and as people, free to take pride in their lives.

McMurphy has not had a particularly enjoyable path in life: Christ was forced to carry a cross and wear a crown of thorns, and McMurphy has endured hours of shock treatment and a lobotomy.

Both of these men save others by enduring unthinkable torture. The deaths of Christ and McMurphy are also more similar than one might initially think. When Christ died, he set mankind free. They offer us strength and hope in our everyday lives and have given new hope and meaning to the lives of many people.

We can see the evidence of the importance of the Suffering, Death and Resurrection around us today. Christian faith is based on the Suffering, Death and Resurrection and this is reflected in Christian practices and feasts today. Open Document. Essay Sample Check Writing Quality. Kesey uses foreshadowing and images, the fishing trip, actions and feelings of other characters to develop this character.

Foreshadowing clues and images are used to contribute to McMurphy as a figure of Christ. In the beginning of the novel McMurphy is baptized with a shower before entering the ward. The reader is also introduced to Ellis, a character who spends the entire novel in a cross position "nailed against the wall, arms out," page Another clue to McMurphy's developing character is presented during the electroshock therapy. McMurphy willingly lies down on a cross shaped table, ending up in the same position Ellis foreshadowed.

McMurphy also asks for his crown of thorns. Before the therapy a schizophrenic patient approaches him and says "I wash my hands of the whole deal", as Pontius Pilate said to Jesus before sentencing him to death. Jesus was also friends with a prostitute named Mary, just like McMurphy was friends with prostitutes.

The development of McMurphy as a Christ figure deepends, when he leads the patients on a fishing trip. McMurphy takes the "twelve of us [patients] towards the ocean," page just like Jesus' 12 disciples, to test and strengthen their faith in him and empower them.

Fish have also been an important religious Christian symbol, as the fishing trip is an important symbol of the novel. When the trip is over, the Chief describes the sense of change that most of the patients had and even claims that they "weren't the same bunch of weak-knees from a nuthouse anymore. This really shows the way McMurphy is starting to guide and lead the patients, just as Jesus lead his disciples.

Finally the actions and feelings of the other characters successfully shows the development of McMurphy as a Christ figure and hero. Clearly smiliarities can be drawn between McMurphy and Jesus' healing. Social and cultural values, attitudes and beliefs informed his invited reading of his text. Ken Kesey was a part of The Beat generation and many of their ideologies and the socio cultural context of U.

Ken Kesey is. Involvement in Vietnam was increasing, civil rights marches were taking place in the south and a new era of sexual promiscuity and drug use was about to come into full swing. The Nest is a product of. SBA Mr. According to William Dubose, Ken Kesey has aroused numerous issues concerning social oppression and the ramifications on the individual.

This is why characters in this novel are discreet. Their rights are paralyzed in the psychiatry ward. The author and poet are able to strongly convey their beliefs to the reader from their personal experiences. A novel based off of a nursery rhyme must be peaceful and cheerful right?

Not according to Ken Kesey.