Antiheroes are here to stay

“He who marches out of step hears another drum” Said Ken Kesey, author of the whimsical novel “One flew over the cuckoo’s nest.” Let’s try to answer this simple question, what makes someone good or bad? I guess it all depend on which side you’re on. In our constricted way of interpreting reality, we are usually on the side of the good guys, is it really true? Let’s dig a bit deeper to really understand what differentiate an antihero from someone we can look up to. Is there any difference?

Definition of antihero.

According to the Merrian-Webster dictionary, an “Antihero” is a “Protagonist or notable figure who is conspicuously lacking in heroic qualities.” In this case, I want to focus on the character of Randle Mc Murphy, a newly transferred patient in an Oregon Psychiatric Hospital. He still carries with him, something that many of the patients left at the front gate while walking eagerly (or by force) towards the institution.

AGAINST ESTABLISHMENT.

The protagonist of the novel. A 35-years-old gambler, someone who has a special touch with women, he is what we can call a “player.” Using his intelligence, he fakes Psychosis to get out of the work farm he has been sentenced to work at. He was humanely transferred to a ward, where using his innate talent he tried to break the order that was established by Miss Ratched. The lady that controlled the facilities with an iron fist. She was capable of removing the last traces of masculine dominance from the psyches of those who have to live under her rules.

LADY IN WHITE.

As soon as he enters the ward, our antihero sense the gloomy influence of Miss Ratched on the population. Her demanding and pushover personality has taken its toll on them. No one is capable or even dare to contradict her. She moves around the halls with an exquisite rhythm, as she walks, you can hear the harsh sound of the starched fabric fight with her skin as she moves, bringing an unaccented beat to the sound of her shiny shoes. A rude, heartless woman who takes no prisoners.

TURNING THINGS UPSIDE DOWN.

Our antihero’s words were like drops of lead into the tormented minds of the others patients. He was telling a harsh truth, Miss Ratched took what was left of their manhood and crushed it with infinite malignance. Mc Murphy made them realize that to overcome her ruling power, there’s got to be a change of horses. He systematically fueled that sense of freedom and boundlessness of the human spirit in each one of the patients. The dimmed light of self-awareness shone again in their afflicted intellect with measureless clarity.

ARE WE THE DRIVER OR THE DRIVEN?

While nurturing those feelings, he opened a Pandora’s box that lead him to face a top of the line cure for troubled patients, the staff performed on Mc Murphy a lobotomy to “heal” his singular pathology. After the procedure, he remained expressionless on his bed, not able to speak or move, he watched the days pass by in silent desperation. One of the patients, ready to escape the white halls of Miss Ratched, had the idea of taking Mc Murphy out of the ward, not physically, but spiritually. To set him free from the hands of the vicious nurse, he placed a pillow over Mc Murphy’s face, suffocating the drooling man to make him rise above the white brick wall and soar into the quiet calm of heaven, far away from their so-called therapy.

Mc. Murphy defied authority, he was able to bring back what was taken from his comrades. In a twisted way, he did what was right. You might think he was a lunatic, a delusional freak trying to overcome the existing rules of society. He only tried to do one thing and succeeded. He did brake the chains of emasculation; he was able to freed their minds from vile oppression.

The price was high, but most of the times, we don’t count the cost. In a twisted way, Mc. Murphy is a true hero in disguise.