The definition of an anti-hero has developed throughout time. The concept originated in some of the first recorded literary works; nonetheless the core aspects have remained constant. An anti-hero’s notable flaws result in doing what is right for the wrong reasons, or in the wrong way. Most follow a decline resulting in the degradation of self or others. If an anti-hero’s decline results in death, this is at the hands of their hamartia – their fatal flaw. [1] Similarities and differences will be drawn from the following characters, to emphasise R.P McMurphy’s anti-heroic character: Achilles from Homer’s The Iliad, Heathcliff from Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights and Dr Victor Frankenstein from Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.
Ken Kesey’s One
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Moby Dick is the tale of a hopeless journey driven by obsession and pride to the point of self-degradation and the suffering of others. With this said, the boxer shorts allude to the story of McMurphy, as his hopes to overthrow the Nurse end ultimately hopeless and the journey comes at the expense of his life and others. Despite the differences, McMurphy relates closely to prominent literary anti-heroes. It can be seen through the development of the concept that McMurphy in turn is the archetypal modern anti-hero. But what purpose does this serve? Kesey’s The One Who Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest addresses and criticises the strict confines of society. By using the ward as a microcosm of the world, the effects Nurse Ratched’s misdoings have on the patients, can be a metaphor for the tragedy of the world in the eyes of the weak. But why was McMurphy made the anti-hero? People better identify with those who are flawed. If, in the case of McMurphy, a perfect person became the martyr who led to weak to their courage, the story would not be as powerful. An anti-hero offers suspense at their lack of perfection, as it leaves room for error, corruption or abandonment. This makes their heroic deeds all the more touching when it results in the bettering of others. That is why McMurphy was made and became, in a sense an archetypal modern anti-hero. As by being an anti-hero, the story and the ‘hero’, were not only more relatable, but
People often find themselves as part of a collective, following society's norms and may find oneself in places where feeling constrained by the rules and will act out to be unconstrained, as a result people are branded as nuisances or troublemakers. In the novel One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, the author Ken Kesey conveys the attempt McMurphy makes to live unconstrained by the authority of Nurse Ratched. The story is very one sided and helps create an understanding for those troublemakers who are look down on in hopes of shifting ingrained ideals. The Significance of McMurphy's struggles lies in the importance placed on individuality and liberty. If McMurphy had not opposed fear and autocratic authority of Nurse Ratched nothing would have gotten better on the ward the men would still feel fear. and unnerved by a possibility of freedom. “...Then, just as she's rolling along at her biggest and meanest, McMurphy steps out of the latrine ... holding that towel around his hips-stops her dead! ” In the novel McMurphy shows little signs like this to combat thee Nurse. His defiance of her system included
In Ken Kesey’s novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest the struggle for power is conveyed in the passage using visual imagery, parallelism, and conflict between McMurphy and Nurse Ratched. The use of the anecdote to compare McMurphy to the monster from Frankenstein allows Kesey to draw parallels between the characters from his story to the ones of Frankenstein, which raises questions as to who is truly “crazy.” McMurphy says that he dreamt he was his father who had a pole sticking out of his jaw like Frankenstein. By directly comparing a “crazy man” to a monster who also who is supposedly “evil” Kesey is able to set up parallel themes between the two books; the theme of “Nature vs. Nurture.”
Heroes in literature and history, more often than not, meet tragic ends, unless they were created by Walt Disney. These particular people are often seen as someone who is apart from the masses in morals and attempt to accomplish a higher calling for the common good. The problem with this type of hero is that they are destined for suffering.Two such characters exist in classic literature, Winston Smith of George Orwell’s 1984 and Hamlet of William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet, Prince of Denmark.” Hamlet is the true classic tragic hero, though, because he is of noble birth, possesses high moral standards, completes the task he is given to better the world, and causes tragedy in both his life and the lives of others.
As Beowulf possessed incredible the strength of 30 men, Luke Skywalker the force, and Harry Potter magic, epic heroes continue in every form of today’s entertainment and storytelling. Every culture from the beginning has had their own tales of heroes accomplishing great feats that no one else could. An epic hero is an icon for everyone to relate to, they symbolize different lessons to learn. The epic hero archetype exists as a source of entertainment but also as a demonstrative tool. Their morals and actions are there to help shape our own actions in life. The archetype of an epic hero is unchanging; it stands against the test of time to give us reassurance in the good moral values of human life.
The dominant discourse of conformity is characterised predominantly by influencing to obey rules described by Kesey’ novel ‘One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest’. At the start of the novel, all the acute and the silence chronic conform to Nurse Ratched’s rules before the arrival of McMurphy. Since, she was in complete control over the ward until McMurphy arrived. After he arrived, he begins to take control of the patients. He begins to take the role of leader, a leader that was unexpected. Kesey has foregrounded the character, McMurphy to be different thus creating a binary opposite that is represented in the novel. Kesey shows the binary opposites as being good versus evil. The former represents the con man McMurphy, and the latter represents the head nurse, Nurse Ratched. An example of this would be, “She’s carrying her wicker bag…a bag shape of a tool box with a hemp handle…” (pg.4), showing that Nurse Ratched is a mechanic. McMurphy is portrayed as being a good character by revitalising the hope of the patients by strangling Nurse Ratched. This revitalise the hope for the pa...
McMurphy’s dereliction of Nurse Ratched’s rules not only provides entertainment for Bromden and the other patients, but also acts as an impetus for their own rebellion.... ... middle of paper ... ... Works Cited Fassler, Joe. A. "The Endless Depths of Moby-Dick Symbolism."
Over time, history has given society many to whom we call true heroes. There are many reasons these heroes have been looked up to such as: bravery, dedication, confidence, and inspiration. However, a tragic hero requires a few different qualities. Aristotle describes a tragic hero as a “member of royalty,” someone who “must fall from tremendous good fortune,” and someone who creates pity for him or herself (“Connections: A Theory” 2000). In Greek drama, Sophocles’ Antigone and Euripides’ Medea both contain several possible tragic heroes including Medea, Jason, and Creon. More specifically, in Antigone Creon exemplifies the qualities of a tragic hero best due to his prominent power as king of Thebes, the way he holds strong to his stubborn pride, and the sympathy felt for him in his tragic downfall.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest written by Ken Kesey in 1962. This novel is based on the experience Ken Kesey had during his time working in a mental institution as an orderly. Ken Kesey’s novel is a powerful critique of early 1960’s American society. The three main techniques that Kesey uses to create the Tragic form. In this novel Kesey has used the three main technique to create an inevitable conflict and outcomes that is similar to tragedy. The three main literary techniques that Ken Kesey uses are narrative structure, foreshadowing and symbolism. In this essay I will explore how Kesey uses these three techniques to form the Tragic form and shows how McMurphy gets lobotomized in the end but still wins the war against the Big Nurse.
In both Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus and John Milton’s Paradise Lost, the concept of villainy is brought into question. The reader is made to question whether the main villain in the story is actually a hero, whose tragic experiences force him to take drastic measures, or if the villain is indeed carrying out his actions out of malice. However, it can be concluded, upon further analysis of the text that a fine line separates tragic heroism and villainy: the choices a character makes. Thus, we can conclude that the relationship between good and evil is, in its essence, a competition, both Marlowe’s Mephistopheles and Milton’s Satan have rare moments
The men in The Alchemist, The Odyssey, and The Count of Monte Cristo all went through extremely difficult, life changing journeys. They were all give many chances throughout their journies to choose the hero or anti-hero path. To become anti-heros they would have needed to give in to the temptations along their journeys. Anti-heros serve as a representation of greedy people that just want to be able to control anything they feel inclined to, without limit. On the flip side, heros are able to resist temptation and they show the positive side to themselves by being selfless and revolving their life and journey around personal sacrifice no matter how severe. The men in each of the three stories each had their downfalls like any person would and
Throughout history, there have always been heroes. Those strong-willed, brave individuals who perform courageous acts for fame and glory are prevalent in most cultures.. Societies have these heroes as standards of their cultures’ moral codes. Every society has their own definition of these codes are, so a unifying definition of hero can be hard to achieve. However, Philip Zimbardo says “Simply put, then, the key to heroism is a concern for other people in need—a concern to defend a moral cause, knowing there is a personal risk, done without expectation of reward.” With this basic definition, I will be examining various epic heroes I’ve studied throughout the course of my senior year for characteristics. From the copious amounts of studying, I’ve deduced that Achilles, Odysseus, Aeneas, Socrates, Gilgamesh, Beowulf, and Arthur all have characteristics that make them heroic.
An anti-hero is the protagonist of a story who lacks some attributes almost always present in a hero, such as selflessness and mercy. Where the hero will save the antagonist at the end of the story if such an opportunity presents itself, the anti-hero will most likely leave his or her foe to rot and choose to forgo saving the life of an enemy. The anti-hero might go as far as to hasten the humiliation or death of said enemy to further her or his own agenda. In Euripides’ play, Medea, Medea shows aspects of an anti-hero in how she deals with her problems, such as manipulating others to save her own skin, cursing those who have wronged her and destroying them, and scarcely ever displaying heroic characteristics such as mercy and sympathy; even as she takes Jason’s only hope for solace away.
A tragic hero is said to be doomed from his beginning. Though courage and loyalty dwell in him, the temptation of superior life can be unsurpassable, and a civil person can display vicious, primitive attitudes and carry out evil deeds. Macbeth was an unfortunate man, who seemed insatiable, pitiless, and power-hungry, but really just attempted to cover up a tiny weakness he obtained through incidences beyond his control.
“You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.” (The Dark Knight, 2008). This quote describes the archetypical tale of the tragic hero. As Aristotle had illustrated in Poetica, the tragic hero is defined as possessing hubris and harmartia, arrogance or a tragic mistake respectively. In Shakespeare’s Macbeth, we follow the titular character as we witness his rise to the throne to then see his immediate downfall. Macbeth stands among Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies, showing the effect of power on an individual. His ultimate demise in the story’s resolution gives insight into what catalyzed the supposed events. Without a doubt, Macbeth had transformed from the hero to eventually the villain.
For a time, the main characters in a story, poem, or narrative were easily classified as either being a hero or a villain. A hero would be easy to identify by the traits he'd possess, such as bravery, honesty, selflessness, trustworthiness, courage, leadership, and more. The villain would be easy to identify as well, possessing traits such as maliciousness, deceitfulness, immorality, dark, wishing harm upon others, and more. But what if the character lacked the natural heroic qualities but wasn't a villain either? What if the person displayed personality flaws that would traditionally be associated with a villain, but has heroic intentions? These questions were finally answered with the emergence of the anti-hero in literature.