Cuckoo's Nest
...ieve in; such as when the patients voted to watch the World Series. The men in the ward were accustomed to being abused and tormented by the nurse, but MacMurphy had changed this. “All of us in here are rabbits of varying ages and degrees, we need a good strong wolf like the nurse to teach us our place," was said by Harding. This shows that MacMurphy was given the talent to be a leader and this is what his purpose was, to be the hero of the ward. MacMurphy functions as the ongoing fight between man and the institutionalized civilization that goes against his will and idea of living. Nurse Ratched functions as the “combine” or the driving force to control everything. Nurse Ratched expresses the idealistic of a totalitarian government system, which dictates and expects total control of everything. She also symbolizes the dominance of females by either taking advantage or using their sexuality such as Harding’s wife did when she visited the ward. Nurse Ratched portrays the one in control, which usually leads to the destruction, as was the case with Billy Bibbit who committed suicide. Many parts in the book lead the reader to believe that MacMurphy also symbolizes Jesus Christ. This is shown when he receives shock therapy on a cross shaped table and before the therapy a schizophrenic patient approaches him and says "I wash my hands of the whole deal", just as Pontius Pilate said to Jesus before sentencing him to death. MacMurphy also befriends Candy as a friend such as Jesus befriends Mary Magdalene and this showed the acceptance of prostitutes as friends. The scene on the boat with the twelve patients is representation of Jesus and the twelve apostles. ...