First Cuckoo's Nest Blog

In many novels, including One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, the roles of hero, anti-hero, and villain are largely based on the perceptions of the narrator. Since our narrator is a mental patient with skewed views of reality, it might not be as clear-cut later on. But for now, it actually makes it easier to identify these roles, since the narrator is quite blunt in his descriptions and emotions.

The villain is quite clearly Nurse Ratched. You can tell right off the bat that she is not a nice character. Her first action in the novel is to almost explode with rage at the aides. Bromden said she was going to "tear the black bastards limb from limb, she's so furious." Then later, he describes her as smooth, cold, and calculating. This women obviously controls the ward with an iron fist, and her inhumane treatment of the patients definitely goes against the reader's moral compass. Being the moral opposite of most readers, and being described negatively by the narrator, she is clearly the villain of this story.

I believe that this story has an anti-hero: McMurphy. He is certainly a positive character since the narrator reveres him almost with awe, and our very first impression of him is when he sees the ward and begins to spontaneously laugh heartily. According to Bromdem, "it's the first laugh I've heard in years." The audience immediately likes McMurphy, simply because he can manage to cheer up a soulless, laugh-less mental hospital full of mistreated patients. Throughout the rest of the first section, his odd sense of humor sticks around, and he even openly defies the "evil" Nurse Ratched. However, McMurphy is an anti-hero because he is not a good person. He was serving jail time, was once arrested (but not convicted) of rape, and has a tendency towards sex, fighting, and gambling. However, the audience still likes him because he is funny and can brighten up the ward.