Thursday 9 August 2012

In part 3 of, ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”, McMurphy shows his solid leadership among the others from the ward. He proves his dominance and that he is fearless in the face of adversity. McMurphy does this by organizing the fishing trip and convincing Doctor Spivey to come along to drive when Nurse Ratched points out that there isn’t enough room for the other patients. Also, Nurse Ratched notices that McMurphy conned the other patients into giving him money for the transportation for the fishing trip. When she informs the other patients of the ward of this, the patients do not seem to care, and side with McMurphy. This shows that he is their leader and the patients are his flock of followers. Another example of how McMurphy asserts his authority is when the group stops for gas; he and the nervous Doctor Spivey have a chat with the two gas attendants. At first, the gas attendant seems friendly, but soon learns that the group is from the “asylum” by the uniforms the patients are wearing. While the gas attendant is on the verge of allowing service to the group, McMurphy enlightens him by saying how everybody in the van,”...ain’t ordinary nuts; we’re every bloody one of us hot off the criminal-insane ward...” (Kesey 201). I believe McMurphy intimidated the gas attendant to a point where the gas attendant had no choice but to do whatever McMurphy says.  This display of bravery mixed with audacity is brushed onto the patients. Chief Bromden says, “He’d shown us what a little bravado and courage could accomplish, and we’d thought he taught us how to use it. All the way to the coast, we had fun pretending to be brave.” This quote is a perfect example of how McMurphy’s presence and personality is absorbed by the other patients – the patients follow his lead. I believe this is a strong scene indicating McMurphy’s power. McMurphy is the patient’s fearless leader; he is the shepherd to his flock of sheep (the patients).
I googled the top 10 characteristics of a leader (with McMurphy in mind) and this is what I found:
I believe that McMurphy displays all these characteristics throughout the book, and according to that list, is an excellent leader. He carries through with his word (the bet of getting under Big Nurse’s skin), and has an extremely high self-esteem/self-worth. This is first displayed when he is introduced in the beginning of the book. McMurphy has that “swagger” kind of walk and he laughs, something that has not been done by any of the patients in the ward. McMurphy’s physical character description describes him of having heavily scarred skin, many tattoos, and also a fresh scar or cut on the bridge of his nose. Along with his mannerisms, (hanging his thumbs in the belt loop of his pants), McMurphy shows an arrogant amount of confidence. I personally, really enjoy reading of this character.

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