McMurphy is Not a Christ Figure in Ken Keseys One Flew Over the Cuckoo

McMurphy is Not a Christ Figure in One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest literary fiction is littered with references to Christianity. It is very obviously a large and influential force in the western world so it is hardly surprising that a novel such as One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, which is so skepticisming of our society and moral values, should be so full of references to what is arguably the basis of these values. What the question asks, however, is if the character of McMurphy is portrayed as a Christ figure. A Christ figure being a reflection of the New Testament messiah at heart the characters actions, beliefs and effect on those around him. The figure will then redeem his followers, lead them to salvation, be martyred and resurrected. The similarities are prolific in their presence in accepted parts of the novel, the very context of both stories shows similarities, both are dealing with an oppressed factor that is set free by an outsider who teaches and challen ges the system in which the oppressed are caught. The first allusion to the New Testament comes when the chief introduces the reader to the patient Ellis. Ellis arms our outspread in the pose of crucifixion, an affectation caused by many a(prenominal) treatments on the Electro-Shock Therapy(EST) table, a pose that McMurphy later adopts when he receives the treatment. Ellis also tells Billy Bibbitt before the fishing trip to be a fisher of men one of Christs book of instructions to his disciples. The purpose of the character seems to be an introduction for the reader to this theme and to have it introduced so early on both highlights the universal nature of the struggle that McMurphy and the patients hardiness and also allows the reader to be ... ...erely alludes to Christ. Works Cited Kesey, cognizance. One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest. Toronto, Ontario Canada The Macmillan Company of Canada Limited, 1962. Kunz, Don. Symbolization in Keseys One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest. A Casebook on Ken Keseys One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest. Ed. George J. Searles. Albuquerque University of New Mexico Press. 1989. Pratt, John Clark. One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest. New York The Viking Press. 1973. Semino, Elena, and Swindlehurst, Kate. Metaphor and Mind Style in Ken Keseys One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest. northern Light (online posting) Spring 1996. Unknown Author. Ken Keseys One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest. (online posting)