Is McMurphy sane?
Randle McMurphy, an Irish-American rebel, guilty of assault and gambling (and statutory rape), is described as being a larger than life figure, seen from some around him as their hero. Instead of finishing his short prison term, he decides to have himself admitted to a mental institution, where he will definitely enjoy the the remainder of his sentence in a nice, comfortable setting. Or so he thinks..
As we all know from part 1 and half of part 2, he's the strength and willpower of all those around him. And they see him at their savior. We've seen two personalities from him so far, him rebeling from Big Nurse, and him staying silent towards Big Nurse. Most, including myself, would think that his "normal" state would be the rebelious side. In the middle of P2, when he's told by the lifeguard that he has overstayed his original sentence by many years, McMurphy begins to fear that he too may be leading down this past. Throughout the whole novel so far, he's been acting out of control in spite of the system. In fact, he eventually wins the bet with the group of guys that he can get to her. But now, knowing what he does, he begins to come to a realization. He must conform and behave in order to get out of the mental institution. So that brings me to the question, is McMurphy crazy? He decides to behave UNDERSTANDING what he was doing before was wrong. That makes him guilty, yes, but does that make him crazy?...
Is society sane? Am I sane?
We're living in a world of craziness. A world that never sleeps. We are far too busy to appreciate the simple things in life. And like McMurphy, we also pretend to be things we aren't. We conform. Maybe for different reasons though, as we're not locked up in a mental institution. But why is it that we pretend to be things we aren't, like McMurphy? Everything has a purpose. McMurphy is being obedient in order to someday get out of the mental instituion. Instead, we want to be cool, or maybe to get a different job or new friend, or maybe to gain access to something we wouldn't have otherwise. Maybe we're like McMurphy in a way, and just don't realize it. We all have our problems. Instead of conforming to others to try to be something we aren't, we need to stay to true to ourselves. Would this advice help McMurphy out at all? Probably not, because he's already demonstrated that his true self could be the wreckless and rebelious McMurphy, and this will likely land him in the disturbed ward.
If I had to give McMurphy advice to assist him in his current situation, I would just tell him to be himself and to do what he thinks is right. Whether he's a psycho or not, we probably won't know. There is no wrong answer to this question, but honestly, I believe he is somewhat crazy. Crazy like his peers? Maybe not. But as Ken Kesey said, everyone has a little crazy in them.
Hmmm am I crazy? Compared to what? You, western society, eastern society, natural human behaviour or at least what we western society perceive as natural, normal or even conformed. What if we’re the crazy ones? And there normal like human history demonstrates. These are the questions that pop into my mind when you ask what is sane. You could I guess sum them all into one statement, without a reference point how can one tell the difference. In my personal opinion you can’t, we’re all a little crazy like you said in different ways. Some for good like geniuses example Elbert Einstein and others for bad like Ed Gein, or jack the ripper. I agree with your statement that we all conform to some degree to the main steam normal or as chief puts it the combine, which also changes over time. So I guess that answers your questions to is society sane, I would answer that question with a no society isn’t sane. If society was sane we would be stagnate, boring and probably still living in caves. For it’s the “crazy’s” that come up with new and creative ideas that move the world forward. As for McMurphy and the advice you gave him to be himself, I would refute that statement because his personally and goals conflicted with one other. In that his personally would warrant him a like time in the hospital and but his goals and are to get out as soon and smoothly as possibly. Witch bring up the age old question of listen to what you want and go for it or to do what you want. In the end I guess I can say that you are right nobody is sane not even society itself.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your interpretations of McMurphy. I must admit, I am a little disappointed that he's beginning to conform to what the hospital wants, but like you said, we all eventually conform to something.
ReplyDeleteI know with myself, especially at work, I'm always trying to be this sweet, friendly person. Of course, hospitality is a huge importance at my job and I have to remain friendly, but the thing is is that the company is then getting you to conform to what their standards are. It seems almost impossible to totally not conform to anything. The way things are set up - work environments, school, what's 'socially acceptable' - all make you conform to their standards in some way. Of course it's not as bad as it was many years ago, but will we eventually be accepted to be who we truly are?
"To thine own self be true." It's so important to be ourselves, but at the same time there's certain situations where it's best not to be. Job interviews, for example; the majority of people put on an impression that the interviewer WANTS to see. I can't speak for others on whether or not people are themselves in first impression situations, but I'm definitely not. I'll always try to come off as some friendly, caring, out-going person. In reality, I'm super shy and do have a moody side to me. We're not perfect, but is it so bad to try to be our own personal definitions of perfection? Or does that make us crazy to even think about being "perfect"?
Hey
ReplyDeleteSo I liked your blog, it was a good read. However, McMurphy didn't choose to be sent to the institution, like other members of the ward, he was sent there from prison for being too out of control. Sometimes in society we fear what we do not understand, and McMurphy's intentions are sometimes misunderstood. This is why I think some people choose to conform to a group, for the feeling of a mutual understanding between the members. If the views of another person contradict the current views it can upset the balance of the group and possibly destroy it, which can making way for new thoughts and ideas, like the battle between Monarchy vs. Communism. Sometime you need someone a little “crazy” to change the system, for better or worse.
Hey dude, sweet blog entry, lot of cool points!
ReplyDeleteDo I personally think McMurphy is insane? A little bit, I mean he has to be a little off mentally to pull off some of the things he does at his stay the mental hospital. He also chose to be in there and the accepted him so I guess clinically they consider him insane. I don’t think he’s as worse off as some of the patients though. He obviously knows the gravity of his situation after learning Big Nurse has the power to keep him longer than his initial sentence. He plays it cool, tries to go back in to the background. He’s not a psychopath, he knows right from wrong and he shows compassion towards the other patients at the mental hospital. He decides to be their leader, and not for his own entertainment, but to stand up to Big Nurse and make a better environment for his new found friends at the mental hospital.
I agree with you in part that we should be true to ourselves, but it’s hard to gauge what ourselves are. Who is the real you? I remember hearing someone say that we are collection of everyone we’ve ever met, anyone who is ever lived, any person our lives have crossed. We take things we like about someone and mesh it into our own personality. Is there any original thought? Can we be true to ourselves when we may just being honest with one aspect of ourselves? I think we are all a little insane, but it’s the ones that can’t fit into society that are labelled this.
Very nicely done.
ReplyDeleteWhen we talk about McMurphy: his recklessness within the ward, his constant battle against authority and his coming of realization; we see change. We see the change of a leader by the end of Part 2. When he comes into the ward at the start he is leading and taking control as a mean of self amusement. He pokes fun at the patients and enjoys taking advantage of them. However, we then see his role change from pure selfishness to a bit more empathetic. McMurphy notices that the men will not stand up for themselves. He coaxes them, and persuades them to stand up for themselves and take part in the votes. Now we must not forget that he is still doing this out of self interest. But then, sadly, we see McMurphy turn into the selfish anti-leader again when he realizes that his stay could be continued if he continues to act up, even though he has already reignited the fire in many of the men.
How does this tie back into sanity. Well you see, he is sane, McMurphy can think and out-wit the nurse in many ways. He also comes to the realization that his change in character has caused more issues for his fellow patients then it may for him. He makes a sacrificial decision to become their leader again by punching the window, but this time he is not a selfish leader. He is crazy for going against the system in this way, but his is very sane and smart when it comes to his methodology.
Keep up the fantastic work.
Geoff - excellent character analysis and connections to yourself/world. Great way to generate discussion
ReplyDeleteBrett - I like your comment about needing a reference point to judge being crazy. However, who has the ability to determine what that reference point should be? I also like your point about crazy people being the ones to move society forward and seeing the contradiction in Geoff's advice.
Nicole - Great connections to yourself. Your comment about interviews in interesting - should we conform to get a job and then act ourselves when we are actually at work? Isn't this false advertising to a potential employer by selling him on a personality that doesn't exist? Because, lets face it, we can't keep up the facade for ever. Eventually we will start acting like our true selves.
Tyler - good job seeing that crazy leads to innovation (similar to Brett's point above). However, I think it says in the book that McMurphy chose to go to the institution. He thought it would be better and it solved the jail's problem of dealing with his behaviour. McMurphy would never have agreed to go if he knew he could be kept against his will and that is why the information was kept hidden from him.
Austin - great comments about our personality being a combination of many people. How would we ever learn what our true personality is? Even if we went into seclusion to avoid contact with others we still have the influences of people we met earlier in life. I know I am always influenced by all of you about my opinions on life and current events. If it is that easy to sway my opinion, I can see how it could also be possible to influence someone's whole personality as well.
Peter - good job connecting intelligence and sanity... however, just to play devil's advocate, people thought Einstein was crazy...