One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest: Jesus Christ And McMurphy

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"laces his fingers over his belly without taking
his thumbs out of his pockets,"(Kesey p. 16) a very relaxed poise. McMurphy
also appears to be much like the Western hero, a risk taker; he would go to
meet a challenge, ready to risk a confrontation, usually with the Big Nurse.
One such occasion was when McMurphy rose to meet the Nurse's confiscation
and rationing of cigarettes by breaking her window and taking the
cigarettes. The Chief comments on this confrontational aspect of McMurphy's
character when he says of McMurphy:

He was the logger again, the swaggering gambler, the big redheaded brawling
Irishman, the cowboy out of the TV set walking down the middle of the
street to meet a dare. (Kesey p. 172)

It was this daring aspect of his character that made him even more distinct.
Yet another aspect of McMurphy's character similar to those of the Western
hero is that of being a loner, a person who does not build bonds with the
people around themselves. McMurphy was a man who ...

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hero. One example of this
special portrait is that McMurphy's disappearance, contrasting Jesus' death,
is what frees the Acutes. It was because of his sacrifice that the men were
freed from the oppression of the Big Nurse; they became more like men and
less like rabbits under the control of the wolf, Nurse Ratched. Not only
did his attack on the Big Nurse and his disappearance help to reinstate the
masculinity of the patients, but it also had the effect of weakening Nurse
Ratched. This occurrence was shown by the Chief describing the condition of
the ward following McMurphy's disappearance as a place where the Big Nurse
"couldn't rule with her old power."(Kesey pg. 269) In other words, ...

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