Ken Kesey-The Alienated Hero essays

Ken Kesey-The Alienated Hero essays Ken Kesey creates one of Americas most famous alienated heroes in his work One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest. Keseys alienated hero, Randle Patrick McMurphy, is a wild red-haired American of Irish heritage. McMurphy is a lazy, rowdy fighter. He also gambles constantly and has been prosecuted on the charges of the statutory rape of a 9 year old. A character with many flaws, McMurphy is not the likely character for heroics, but it is his rebellious lack of authority that makes him the perfect hero for Keseys story. Transferred from a work camp to a psychiatric ward, McMurphy is the only patient sane enough to fight the tyrannical, oppressive Nurse Ratched and her staff. To understand McMurphys role as an alienated or anti-hero, the term must be clearly defined. The Living Webster Encyclopedia Dictionary defines a hero as a man distinguished by exceptional courage and nobility and strength. A hero is a character that the reader is intended to fully embrace due to the characters selflessness and moral values. The Wikipedia Encyclopedia defines an anti-hero as a character that has some of the personality flaws and ultimate fortune traditionally assigned to villains but nonetheless also have the heroic qualities or intentions to gain the sympathy of the readers. In other words, the anti-hero or alienated hero is the unlikely hero. These flawed heroes are similar to the heroes seen in comic books. Comic book heroes often have troubled pasts or justify their means by the end. McMurphy certainly has a checkered past, after being discharged from the military, and spending time in prison. His distrust of societys values helps carve out his status as an outsider. An alienated hero often moves from one failure to the next and usually in the end reach the fate of a villain, failure. Jay Gatsby is comparable to McMurphy. Both come from checkered pasts, and fight for som...