ystemin a mental hospital. McMurphy is very outgoing, loud, rugged, manly, a leader and arebel. From the first couple scenes of the book, there is a constant power struggle betweenthe patient's new found savior McMurphy, and the evil Nurse Ratchet who rules theirwing of the hospital with an iron fist. McMurphy fights to change the system to try to winback the patients' rights and in the process gain more privileges for the patients andhimself. McMurphy also seems to get pleasure out of fighting the system. His motivesseem simple, he wants to help out his fellow patients, his friends, and make their livesbetter. This is very similar to the real life rebellion against the "Tyranny of the Majority"which was occurring during this time period. McMurphy was successful in changing manyof the rules and regulations that were imposed upon them by Nurse Ratchet. McMurphywas a very inspirational speaker and during the regularly occurring meetings between thepatients and the doctors he would rally the patients to fight against Nurse Ratchet. Thushe was able to win back some of their rights. This type of action was also witnessedduring Ken Kessleys time, and quite similarly, revolutionists also won many rights fromthe state that had once been taken from them during their life time. In the novel,McMurphy also uses his cunning wit and his skills as a con man to persuade the doctorsinto giving the patients more rights and activities. An example of this is when McMurphyis able to con Dr. Spivey to get a room where he and a bunch of other patients can go toplay cards without the loud music coming over the intercom. This type of persuading thepolitical leaders of the system was also seen and very helpful during the time this novelwas published. In real life many fights against the system are lost. Even though McMurphyloses some of his fights, he keeps on fighting, trying to change the system. In this novelMcMurphy uses many tools to try to change the syste...
