As can be seen, the majority of mythological heroes, such as Prometheus and Theseus fit the majority of the steps described in such a quotation. Some other religious heroes such as Buddha and even Jesus Christ may also somehow fit them.
This fact explains why Campbell makes use of such an encompassing approach, including myths from several different peoples and cultures, as well as fairy tales and many elements of folklore, to trace some points in common among all of them so as to build the archetypical image of the hero, ultimately the product of all human myths.
As far as McMurphy is concerned, if those traditional heroic characteristics are taken into consideration, he is likely not to be considered a hero. Thus, while figures such as Jesus Christ and Buddha are believed to be sons of virgin mothers, no information about McMurphy's origin is given in the novel.
Besides, there is no record of any supernatural power backing his actions, and the only resembling mythology in the novel is Bromdem's making his hero McMurphy larger than life, and the inmates' fantasies imposed on him. His sexual vitality and gambling infuse life and fun in the sterile lives of the inmates, and especially in Chief Bromdem's life, which allows us to envision a possible messianic mission of McMurphy towards his companions.
So, it is possible to speak of a ward before and a ward after McMurphy, which endorses the sense of the hero's completion of his mission. Furthermore, the hero's death was not in vain, for the changes brought about by his passage, staying and teachings to his community granted its members better conditions of life.
Nevertheless, if McMurphy's lack of a certain mythological support to characterize him as a full hero is still argued, it is proper to keep in mind that, while tracing some considerations on the functions of the myths in the life and journey of modern heroes, Campbell points out that mythology can be interpreted nowadays as a primitive set of efforts to explain the phenomena of nature; as a mere product of poetic fantasies of prehistoric eras; as a repository of allegorical instructions whose main goal is to adapt individuals to their groups; or as a group dream, symptomatic of the archetypical impulses that exist in the most profound layers of human psyche according to Jung.
As a consequence, the importance of mythology is to a great extent diminished in the cycle of the modern hero, due to the fact that the myth has been deprived of its old dreamlike web, as long as the modern man has fully emerged from the former ignorance by which the ancient societies were surrounded in the past.
In addition, the social unity prevailing in most modern societies is not pervaded by religion as much as it had been in the past, but by a social-economic orientation. Therefore, the modern hero's function must concentrate, among other strategies, on restoring the communications between the individuals' consciousness and the unconscious layers of their souls, as he points out:.
Moreover, if the fact that the patients on the ward did not even enjoy the status of half-individuals but that of machines is taken into consideration, McMurphy's portrayal as a modern hero may be ultimately and irrevocably endorsed.
Similarly, it is also plausible to state that McMurphy's death does not represent that he was defeated. Even though lobotomized, his ideas flourished, after being killed and then released from that vegetating life by the friendly hands of Chief Bromdem, as the following passage illustrates:. Everything was changing. Sefelt and Fredrickson signed out together Against Medical Advice, and two days later another three Acutes left, and six more transferred to another ward.
As a consequence, if the ward is seen as a metaphor for the world, McMurphy's disruptionist strategies against the authoritarian inflexibility of the Combine proves the feasibility of the changes even at the cost of human lives in an extremely hostile and anti-democratic status quo. However, if one still says that McMurphy's anti-heroic characteristics may constitute an irrevocable obstacle to his thorough classification as a hero, he is likely to change his mind if some other vital aspects are taken into account, such as the fact that being an anti-hero has been beyond doubt the most efficient way for McMurphy to fight fiercely against the Combine.
Furthermore, it is still plausible to argue that at the same time that McMurphy's playing the anti-hero becomes an efficient weapon against the Combine, this same circumstance produces a great number of benefits to the other inmates. Thus, such circumstances must be viewed as part of McMurphy's heroic role, and Kesey's strategy of producing new meanings out of dealing with oppositions.
The same stream of thoughts applies to Bromdem's killing of McMurphy, an action which bears no plausibility within the scope of common sense, for a friend is not supposed to kill his most beloved fellow-man, but that assumes a function of great relevance since it releases McMurphy's from a death-in-life situation and constitutes an indispensable step towards McMurphy's mythologization.
Finally, some other aspects must not be neglected either, such as the fact that, starting from the condition of ordinary man, McMurphy was successively promoted to father, leader, sacrificial victim, and hero.
In a word, he starts his journey as an ordinary man and closes it as a myth, for his death is not in vain, as has just been approached. Thus, working sharply through a series of deconstructive oppositions and inversions of values, Ken Kesey has offered us the most perfect hero, under the most appropriate, efficient, and disruptionist guise possible, to fit the requirements of the turbulent 's.
Within ourselves there are contradictory identities, pushing into different directions, so that our identities are continuously dislocated. If we feel we have a unified identity within ourselves from birth till our death it is because we have constructed a comfortable story about ourselves. The thoroughly unified, complete, stable, and coherent identity is a fantasy HALL, , p. Even Doctor Spivey begins to assert himself with the nurse. McMurphy wants to leave the ward with a prostitute he knows from Portland, Candy Starr.
Bromden notes that the nurse shows signs that her patience is starting to wear down. When the glass is replaced again, Scanlon accidentally smashes it with a basketball, which she then throws away.
Men begin to sign up for the trip, each paying McMurphy ten dollars for the boat rental. Meanwhile, Ratched pins newspaper clippings about rough weather and wrecked boats on the bulletin board. When Bromden spoke to them, they acted like he had not said a word. This memory represents the first time in a long time that he has remembered something about his childhood.
He tells McMurphy that he has tried for a long time to find out where Bromden, as an indigent patient, could obtain gum. After he leaves the dorm, McMurphy gives Bromden some Juicy Fruit, and Bromden, before he can think of what he is doing, thanks him. McMurphy tells him that when he was a boy, he took a job picking beans. The adults ignored him, so McMurphy silently listened to their malicious gossip all summer. McMurphy bets them that he can lift the cement control panel in the tub room and use it to break through the reinforced windows.
Everybody knows it will be impossible to lift the massive panel, but he makes such a sincere effort that for one moment they all believe it is possible. Bromden remembers how at the old hospital they did not have pictures on the wall or television. Bromden then further describes getting lost in the fog and finding himself two or three times a month at the electroshock room.
At the next Group Meeting, Bromden feels immersed in fog and cannot follow the group as they grill Billy about his stutter and failed relationship with a girl. McMurphy proposes another vote regarding the TV, with the support of some of the other patients. It is the first day of the World Series. Bromden observes the hands go up as McMurphy drags all twenty Acutes out of the fog.
Ratched declares the proposal defeated, however, because none of the twenty Chronics raised their hands and McMurphy needs a majority. McMurphy finally persuades Bromden to raise his hand, but Ratched says the vote is closed.
During the afternoon cleaning chores, McMurphy declares that it is time for the game. The Acutes follow suit and sit in front of the blank TV. She screams and rants at them for breaking the schedule, and McMurphy wins his bet that he could make her lose her composure.
SparkTeach Teacher's Handbook. Themes Motifs Symbols.
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