Ken Kesey's Character development

I feel as if Ken Kesey has done a good job developing the characters of Big Nurse and Big Mac. He has vividly created each character in my mind. "Her face is smooth, calculated, and precision-made, line an expensive baby doll..." (Kesey, p. 11). He created the nurse as a powerful lady, someone that nobody messes with, not even the doctor. Big Mac is someone that is different, difficult, and stubborn. "She shrinks to about head-high to where that towel covers him, and he's grinning down on her." (p. 87) Throughout the book these two characters argue and are constantly trying to "conquer" each other. Kesey has a very creative way of building the suspense by making Mcmurphy's rebellion get more severe each time. It starts out as simple jokes such as brushing his teeth with the cleaning stuff to punching out a window, and eventually having a party. The nurse is able to keep her cool and power through most of the story. The men are torn through most of the story to decide who to support. The patients were afraid of the nurse, but enjoyed seeing Mcmurphy challenge the nurse. The patients were all "hen pecked" and Mcmurphy felt as if the men needed to get their masculinity back.

McMurphy is the more therapeutic character for the patients. Under the nurse it is a tight schedule where the guys have no say to what they do. Everything is by the book. When Mcmurphy wanted toothpaste and it wasn't time yet the only answer he got was "It's a policy." (p. 84) The nurse controlled their lives. McMurphy was the person who cured the men I feel. he got them to believe in themselves and challenge the nurse. Without him Bromden would never have changed, never have spoken, never have gotten away from that terrible place. McMurphy got their masculinity back and turned them into the men they originally were.

McMurphy definitely won the battle. Even though McMurphy was the one who ended up dead, he was the one who made the nurse lose all her power. he was the one who freed the men and changed their lives. Nurse's goal was to keep the men under her power and she was not able to do that. Even though McMurphy was a con-man, he gambled his own life to win the war against the nurse.