Wednesday, March 31, 2010

A Great Character in a Great Novel

Holden Caulfield, The Catcher in the Rye. Ender Wiggin, Ender's Game. Jack Merridew, Lord of the Flies. Randall Flagg, The Stand. Miles, The Turn of the Screw. Scout Finch, To Kill a Mockingbird.

These are some of the greatest literary characters of all time. Some for their intelligence and resourcefulness, others for their portrayal of society at the time, and others for their unique character traits.

Now I can add to that list another amazing character, definitely one of the best characters of all time: Randle Patrick McMurphy.

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, by Ken Kesey, is, quite simply, an amazing book. Its portrayal of lunatics in an insane asylum was adapted into an Oscar-winning film in 1975, being the second of only three movies to win Best Picture, Best Director (Milos Forman), Best Actor (Jack Nicholson), Best Actress (Louise Fletcher), and Best Screenplay.

The novel is told from the point of view of Chief Bromden, a half-Indian who pretends to be deaf and dumb. He experiences hallucinations throughout the novel, making him a somewhat unreliable narrator. The novel takes place in the psychiatric ward at a hospital in Oregon. The two groups of mental patients in the hospital are known as the Acutes and the Chronics. The Acutes are patients who could still be "fixed." The Chronics, of which Chief Bromden is one, are patients who can never be changed from their insanity. These two separate groups live together yet separate in the hospital.

Enter Randle Patrick McMurphy. This cantankerous man was sent to a prison work farm for battery and gambling, and figured he might as well spend the rest of his sentence in the hospital, since it would be a lot easier than working every day.

R. P. McMurphy soon tries to change the way things work around the ward. The oppressive antagonist of the novel, Nurse Ratched, controls the patients with a dictatorial touch. McMurphy finds this control unfavorable to his wandering heart, so he challenges Nurse Ratched every opportunity he gets.

The novel is excellently written. McMurphy's and Nurse Ratched's battles throughout the novel display an excellent allegory of man against government. Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is certainly one of the best books ever written.

http://www.amazon.com/Flew-Over-Cuckoos-Penguin-Classics/dp/0141181222/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1270092735&sr=1-3

Grade: 9.5

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