Cuckoo's Nest Short Essay

544 Words3 Pages
Throughout history there are those certain few who use their very existence as a tool to teach others. These people make examples out of themselves so at to show others something important. Within One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kessey, Randle Patrick McMurphy was one of these few people. Ken Kessey in his novel One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest used his character McMurphy to teach those within the book and those reading the book the importance of perseverance and the willingness to try. Kessey uses sensory imagery to portray McMurphy as a role model for the other men as a masculine figure. McMurphy within this passage has made a bet that he could lift an obviously very heavy object. All of the other men do not believe such a feet is possible even for this Wildman McMurphy. As McMurphy begins to attempt lifting the object he is described as, “His arms commence to swell, and the veins squeeze up to the surface. He clinches his eyes, and his lips draw away from his teeth. His head leans back, and tendons stand out like coiled ropes running from his heaving neck down both arms to his hands”(Kessey, 110). The raw power and strength given off by McMurphy within this passage is enough to shock and awe his spectators, even giving them the idea he might be able to do this unimaginable feet. Kessey uses words such as “swell”, “squeeze”, “clinches”, and “draw away” to give visual imagery to this section. Each of these words portrays the amazing strain that is being put upon McMurphy’s body and how much pain he is going through. It almost makes the reader wince from the description. Also within this passage Kessey uses simile to describe how his tendons looked like rope. Not only does this provide visual imagery by reminding the reader of rope, but it also compares McMurphy’s tendons to rope, which is generally a strong, tight, rugged item. With all this
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