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Biblical Allusions in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

 

"All the other Acutes leave what they've been doing and ease up close to see what new sort this fellow is. Nobody like him's ever been on the ward before. He says he's a dedicated man. He say he was just a wanderer and logging bum before the army took him and taught him what his natural bent was," (Kesey 24). He was not only noticed immediately, but there was something about him that made most of the patients give him their full attention. It becomes clear very quickly that he will be an important person - almost as if he has the word "leader" spelled across his forehead. Like Christ, he captures the complete attention of his crowd, they pick up that he is a very unique individual. His description also compares with Christ in how he is a dedicated man through some fashion and also with the fact that he was an average man until he was taught of the gift which he possesses. Kesey uses McMurphy's Chris-like impact, not by chance, at the beginning of Part One to show that a small alteration which will quickly lead to drastic changes within the patients is the beginning or first step of a deconstructing society.
             Kesey furthers the use of characterization in order to portray the patients as Christ's disciples. Like Christ's followers the ward patients do not initially believe in McMurphy's power. They challenge him when he declares that he will be able to set off Nurse Ratched and get under her skin. However, once they see him in action and how he has proved them wrong they begin to give him their respect and support. "And we"re all sitting there lined up in front of that blanked-out TV set watching the gray screen just like we could see the baseball game clear as day, and she's ranting and screaming behind us," (Kesey 128). In a major turning point the Acutes, after much convincing, finally decide to stand behind McMurphy against Nurse Ratched and her firm system. After days of convincing and arguing McMurphy shows them that his way is right and helps the patients to not just change there minds but the people that they are.


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