randle mcmurphy quotes + analysis

Question 1

“you couldn’t pay me to leave this place”

Answer 1

• this emphasises both McMurphy’s commitment and naivety about his stay
• McMurphy sees himself as these patients saviour’s and is the sole man to help the patients rise up and escape the rule of Nurse Ratched, and he wouldn’t give up anything to stop that
• however, its clear to see he doesn’t understand its in fact not that easy to leave the ward as its in the Nurse’s control about when he can leave.

Question 2

“he ran his and through the glass, her face shifting and jerking”

Answer 2

• This establishes that McMurphy has once again become a symbol of rebellion, as he breaks the glass in anger and frustration at the Nurse not willing to accept his and the patients requests
• This is a turning point for the patients rebellion as more patients begin to get involved in the rebellion.

Question 3

“Keeping an eye out for old number one, four months was the most he wanted to spend locked up in any place”

Answer 3

• This establishes McMurphy’s cagey attitude
• After the pool incident in which Cheswick drowns himself after failing to get McMurphy’s support to rebel, McMurphy comes to the realisation that the Nurse controls everything including when he can leave
• Causing him to become uncertain and cagey.

Question 4

“Bunch of chickens at a pecking party? Who pecks the first peck… the old nurse”

Answer 4

He explains that in a pecking party, if one chicken gets a spot of blood on it, the others will peck at it until it’s dead
- McMurphy suggests that Nurse Ratched initiates this process by subtly provoking the patients to attack each other psychologically, thus maintaining control over them
- It’s a powerful moment that highlights McMurphy’s awareness of the manipulative system within the institution
- This highlights the hierarchy between the nurse and the patients. The first chicken who pecks is the instigator and all he chicken follow suit
- Kesey is commenting that the patients on the ward have become dehumanised and as a result just follow whatever the nurse does

Question 5

“The hell with the schedule… he winks at the nurse, unwraps the towel and drapes it over his shoulder”

Answer 5

• This is the first act of rebellion we see from McMurphy in the novel
• He is the only patient to stand up to the nurse and even though this is a small, fairly insignificant rebellion it starts a wave of rebellions by McMurphy against the nurse

Question 6

‘loud, brassy voice’ ‘red hair’

Answer 6

• chapter 2
• confident-contrast, rowdy straight away, mcmurphy stands out, something brand new