Leading
people is something of great responsibility that people should not take
lightly. Not many people are born leaders but the ones that are must realize
how important their actions are and how what they do reflects upon the people
they lead. In One Flew Over the CuckCoos nest, McMurphy is a born leader. He’s
opinionated, charismatic, and has many leadership qualities. He leads the other
patients in rebellion against the rules Nurse Ratched has created in the asylum
and helps to give them newfound hope. I personally believe in the beginning he
was doing this for selfish reasons. He saw himself as invincible and led the
other patients for his own entertainment. In part 2 though, he soon realizes
the power Ratched has over him, how she decides when he is able to leave the
asylum, before this he thought he had to only serve his previous term. After
learning this new knowledge he becomes less confrontational and more subdued,
following the rules Nurse Ratched has in place. It becomes too late for this
though. He has started something amongst the patients of the mental hospital,
he has lit the fire of rebellion and with every waking day it grows larger
in their spirits. McMurphy knows he’s the only one that can lead the other
patients to having a better life in the hospital. He reinstates his rebellion
with Ratched, fully knowing this time the consequences he may face. I see this
as heroic and an example of martyrdom, the signs of a great leader. I think
great leaders don’t lead because they want too, I think they lead because they
have too. We need people like McMurphy cause if we didn’t have people like him are world would be much different, I think it would be a much darker world.
I’ve been
watching a lot of Game Of Thrones lately. I actually finished 2 seasons of the
show in a matter of a couple days, 20 hours of television in two sittings. In
some way I’m kind of proud of this and I don’t know why haha. It just an
awesome show and I highly recommend it. The reason I bring up Game of Thrones
though is because the show deals with many different leaders. It’s about the
struggle of many different people fighting to become king, fighting to become the
leader of the 7 kingdoms. Each different person could be leaders for their own different
reasons and I believe that in the end of the series, the person who is meant
for the job will become the rightful king. The others will fail because of
their intentions of why they want to be a leader. A leader doesn’t choose to be
a leader, a leader is chosen by the people.
The pursuit
of finding leaders has been glorified in our society I think. If you watch any
of the coverage on the current American election I think it’s a fucking gong
show. Two politicians picked by not the people of America,
but picked by the corporations that have decided to fund their campaigns. They
have not the interest of the people in mind but the interests of their backers
in mind and whoever ends up winning doesn’t change anything. We need real
leadership in society, we need someone we can believe in. 4 years ago Obama
promised the American people hope, and he failed them, showing he is too just a
puppet of wall street. I hope the idea of a true leader isn’t dead in society.
My views are pessimistic as of late though, and I fear we will forever be led
by idiots.
Hey Austin!
ReplyDeleteGreat post Austin! I dig the game of thrones photo, even though I never watched it feels like that photo looks like a photo of him leading his town or something. Standing strong and walking tall! Leadership has a huge role in this novel. Especially with McMurphy and the patients. I always thought McMurphy is like Jesus in a way. He leads the patients to a better life in the hospital and makes them feel that they are special and important. I’ve been a leader at camps, Schools and work but not something so big like a hospital. I would love to be a leader! So much responsibility and challenges to help others! The biggest fear of being a leader is bringing the team down and failing them. I have never watched Game of thrones but one day eventually I’ll find it when you said Obama made a promise about America having hope... If I were in his shoes I would be terrified of everyone. Everyone is hoping that the president will make a change in four years... I always believed something so large like that will take several years to fix. That’s like you trying to do two ISU’s in one hour ... It’s hard and pressuring, everything takes time. Well I have to admit I’m not the one to follow politics but I have to say I believe their promises are huge and will take YEARS to recover. I still think this blog is very strong and right on the point about Leadership GOOD JOB!!
Wow. That was some crazy deep stuff you got into.
ReplyDeleteI like your talk about McMurphy being a leader and how he has lit a fire of rebellion among the patients. That being said, when you talked about how he decides to lead with non-selfish means this does resemble an act of heroism. But we have to look at the events that made him become interested in leading again, assuming it is a choice. Could it have been he decided to lead again because he noticed that the way of life was deteriorating? Or, after Cheswick’s death, was he forced back into leading. Fascinating how the definition between choice and destiny is very blurred under these specific circumstances.
Your talk of King of Thrones and the struggle between power and leaders is true. Leaders tend to be appointed by the people; they tend to be something that people can put stock and hope into. That being said when you have the clashes of power; two leaders with two different parties, there are major issues. Examining the how people follow a leader, or how a leader motivates people, we can see that the nurse leads out of fear and McMurphy leads out of pressuring. On a more holistic term, both parties follow their leaders; both parties (in most circumstances) agree with the terms and wishes of the leader. Therefore you have a clash in beliefs of sides that believe there way is right. Amazing how such a simple topic can become so very complicated and so very askewed with bias.
Fantastically written. Keep up the great work man!
Austin, Austin, Austin. I really like the first line your blog, “leading people is something of great responsibility”. I defiantly agree. I believe that there are people whom posses all characteristics which make them a true born leader as you said. This can be a good or bad thing depending on the person. Leaders are people who lead other people. Some leaders though can be leading others into the wrong direction. In this case McMurphy I believe is a good leader and only trying to truly benefit the patients. I also agree with “I think great leaders don’t lead because they want too, I think they lead because they have too.” People don’t go through life trying to pursue these characteristics, they’re born with them. And with that power they should not want to lead but feel the need to lead. If you posses the skill than pursue it.
ReplyDeleteI’m not too familiar to the show you were comparing but it does sound interesting. Seems like a battle for King. The idea of many leaders fighting for what they want, to rule seven kingdoms. I can only assume this is pretty extreme and medieval show. It’s a good reference to leadership.
Austin, I’ll give you some hope and tell you true leaders do still exist. Well in my opinion.I know how now the Americans are participating in this “gong show” which can on lead you to think society had lost the idea of true leaders completely. Why do you think things ended up this way? Thinking way back about politics and leaders and in today’s society how different those thoughts can be
you have great points =) and i and i strongly agree on the fact that mcmurphy is a natural leader and he is a great character to influence the other patients, i think that he knows it and as you said in your blog at the beginning he uses this for selfish reasons which are just to disobey and have fun, but it is not until later on that he realizes that he has affected everyone on the ward specially the patients, he has given them hope and confidence and they are finally recovering after all the damage that the nurse has caused them. i think that mcmurphy is still a very selfish person until the end of part 2 because even do he has given the patience confidence and hope mcmurphy learns that the big nurse controls his time in the ward and that by making her mad she can keep him here forever, msmurphy automatically changes his behavior and listen to the rules so that the nurse lets him leave the ward, but by him listening to the rules after he has given confidence to the patience mcmurphy is letting everyone down and only thinking about himself. only until the end when mcmurphy realizes that the others patience need him he realizes that he has to do whites best for everyone instead of just what’s best for himself. I don’t know too much about politics so I don’t really know if they are doing a good or bad job I just know that in any decision they make there is always people that get mad because of the results so I think they have a hard job. in conclusion i agree with all of your points, and i have never heard about the show Game Of Thrones but it sounds cool i might check it out =)
ReplyDeleteWhat you've said about leadership is perfect. It's hard to be a leader, it truly is, so kudos to those who are and have it come so naturally to them. I can't imagine how McMurphy feels - being the only one who can lead the other patients to, as you've said, a better life at the hospital.
ReplyDeletePersonally, that would be too much for me. I could never be able to have other people's happiness placed upon me. McMurphy, like Michelle has said, also reminds me of Jesus. I definitely think it's foreshadowing that he's going to sacrifice himself in a severe way, perhaps a similar way to how Neil, from The Dead Poets Society, did.
I completely agree that "a leader doesn't choose to be a leader, a leader is chosen by the people."
Harry Potter example (because I love Harry Potter a little too much): Voldemort chose to be a leader. He sent out and looked for followers - they didn't come to him. And look how horrible of a leader he was. Well, in a way he was a strong leader because of how many followers he ended up having, and how he was able to convince giants and trolls to follow his side, but it was all in the wrong way! Harry, on the other hand, didn't want anyone to fight for him. In Dumbledore's Army, he was chosen to lead and teach his fellow students Defense Against the Dark Arts, and look how great of a leader he was. He lead them and made sure they were ready to fight when the time came.
On a side note: wow, 2 seasons in 20 hours? Impressive. The most I've done is one season in two days.. which, compared to your 20 hours seems pretty lame. :)
Austin - great post! Very profound comment about leaders not leading because they want to but because they have too. However, does this mean that Obama and Romney, Harper and McGuinty are the best of the best and meant to lead our countries?
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