Different People, Same Stories

3 Pages 872 Words

Different people, same stories

R.P. McMurphy and Luke Jackson were very similar characters
with a few differences. R.P. McMurphy is the main character in Ken
Kesey’s classic novel about Mac’s experiences coming into a mental
hospital which is very corrupt, One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest. Luke
is the main character in the 1967 movie Cool Hand Luke, which won two
Oscars. Luke is sentenced to a stretch after he is arrested for drunkenly
decapitating the heads off of parking meters. Cool Hand Luke is the story
of Luke living in a chain gang. Although Lukes story takes place in
prison on a chain gang, and Mac’s Story takes place in a mental hospital,
these characters are shockingly similar.
One of the first differences between these two characters is how
they respond to higher authority. Luke does what he is told, while Mac
will resist authority and fight back. One example of this is after Luke
escapes. The guards order him to dig a hole and then fill it back up
repeatedly. Luke obeys and does not stop until the guards let him.
Whereas, Mac does everything his own way. Mac wants nothing more in
the world than to watch the world series, Nurse Ratched will not allow
such a distracting activity in her ward and sternly says no. During the
afternoon chores, Mac declares that it is time for the game. When he
turns on the TV, Ratched quickly cuts the power. This does not phase
Mac or any of the acutes, they just sit there watching a blank TV. Nurse
Ratched starts screaming and ranting finally losing her poise, and even
though Mac does not get to watch the world series, he still wins because
he won his bet that he could make the nurse lose her composure in a
week.

Another difference between these two is how they arrive at their
respective locations. Mac went to the hospital voluntarily, while Luke was
sentenced to go to the prison. Before the mental hospital, Mac was at a
work farm. He faked insanity ...