m, and totally controls their lives. Through his strength, McMurphy single handedly makes the men realize that they are not too weak to take control over their lives and to stand up to Nurse Ratched. “He reminds the lost souls of their humanity and restores their belief in the possession of joy.” (Buchanan and Hofman, 2000) McMurphy inspires the men to the point where they can take control back in their lives. He starts to recover their control by influencing more of the patients to take part in his rebellion. He uses his control over the men to give them back control over their lives. His actions influence others to do the same. A couple of the patients break the new window in the Nurse’s Station with a basketball. McMurphy creates a basketball team, and before Nurse Ratched can dissolve the team, Dr. Spivey acts to keep the team. McMurphy organizes a fishing trip for the patients. Nurse Ratched again tries to influence the patients so that they will reverse decision, but again she fails to win the small battles of control. McMurphy even throws an after hours party for the patients. During the party, McMurphy and Candy Starr make a break through with Billy who discovers that he is in control of his own life. Through all these events, McMurphy reminds the patients that the people on the outside world are free of Nurse Ratched’s control and they all could be free of her control as well. McMurphy does not teach the patients to take a stand for purely unselfish reasons. He has other ulterior motives, such as making a profit out the fishing trip, but these other motives do not outweigh his main motive of helping the other patients. This is the reason he does not make his escape during the party, because he worries Nurse Ratched will regain control if he escapes. The climax of the novel, the final battle for control between McMurphy and Nurse Ratched is the ultimate testimony to McMurphy’s noble motive for contr...
