One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Mcmurphy Transformation

How would it feel like for one to be a child trapped in a man’s body? In Ken Kesey’s novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Billy Bibbit’s past of being raised by his overprotective mother and childlike behavior results in his lack of confidence in the ward. He is shown to be dependent upon others and unable to act on his own terms. Thus, he lacks the strength to survive in society and is left on the ward’s care. The entrance of McMurphy sparks a catalyst which allows his change into a more confident individual. Although Billy Bibbit experiences a positive growth in his character through his gain in confidence, tensions from the past prevent him from evolving and cause him to surrender back to his former self. Billy Bibbit’s relationship

Tired of his oppressive life, Billy starts to favor McMurphy for his ability to live at ease. McMurphy aids in loosening the grip that the ward holds on Billy. He does so when he takes Billy on the fishing trip, allowing him to experience freedom and an uplift in his spirit that he never thought he had before. “All the way to the coast we had fun pretending to be brave” (pg. 203). Although he is a mental patient, Billy finds ease in expressing his new self to the world by acting tough and brave. During the fishing trip, Billy experiences a positive growth around women. From the start, Billy was known to be inferior to women but when McMurphy sets him up with Candy, he easily connects with her and displays maturity through his polite actions. He begins to stutter less and finds comfort around Candy than the other women. In a meeting discussing McMurphy’s behavior, Billy exclaims “Nobody said he wuh-wuh-wuh-was!” (pg.222). In contrast to the previous meetings where Billy was passive and more likely to blame others, he shows an increase in strength when he steps up and aggressively defends McMurphy against the Nurse. Even though his argument aids little in McMurphy’s defense, his will to contribute shows growth in his