Blog 4: Favorite Character

Throughput the book my favorite character has fluctuated; at first I loved McMurphy, and he is still one of my favorites but ultimately I appreciate Harding the most. When Harding was first introduced into the story I hated him because I didn’t understand why he was so snooty to McMurphy and his formal dialogue irritated me to no end. “’So,’ he says, ‘it’s as simple as that, as stupidly simple as that. You’re on our ward six hours and have already simplified all the work Freud, Jung, and Maxwell Jones and summed it all up in one analogy: it’s a ‘peckin’ party’” (58) the way he mocked McMurphy with his responses really bugged me due to how seemingly rude he was being to him. “’Oh, yes; I forgot to add that I noticed your primitive brutality also this morning. Psychopath with definite sadistic tendencies, probably motivated by an unreasoning egomania. Yes. As you see, all these natural talents certainly qualify you as a competent therapist and render you quite capable of criticizing Miss Ratched’s meeting procedure, in spite of the fact she is a highly regarded psychiatric nurse with twenty years in the field. Yes, with your talent, my friend, you could work sub conscious miracles, soothe the aching id and heal the wounded superego. You could probably bring about a cure for the whole ward, Vegetables and all, in six short months, ladies, and gentlemen, or your money back” (59). This was when I started to hate Harding because his diction screamed arrogant. We had just been introduced to these characters and he was hell bent on backing the Nurse. His long sentences, excellent word choice, and very formal diction through me off; I didn’t realize that the two men were actually having a conversation. It didn’t occur to me that this friendly bicker was necessary, because I didn’t understand that this was part of his role as mentor.  Later on, I realized that Harding serves as a mentor for McMurphy; he is essentially a coach to our hero figure. Harding introduces McMurphy to his wife; “'Hell’s bells, Harding!’ McMurphy yells suddenly. ‘I don’t know what to think! What do you want out of me?’” (185) during this scene, McMurphy is in the denial phase of his hero acceptance. He just found out that he is one of the only patients that is committed, meaning his time is indefinite, and he is wondering ‘why me’. Harding sees something in McMurphy and he is not going to let it go.  “Harding’s hand touches McMurphy’s knee. ‘Put your troubled mind at ease, my friend. In all likelihood you needn’t concern yourself with EST. It’s almost out of vogue and only used in extreme cases nothing else seems to reach like lobotomy’” (191) When we had the class discussion over this section Harding finally made sense to me; I had thought he was just a smart jerk, but now I can understand why he was saying the things he was. Harding’s role in this novel is to act as a mentor for McMurphy.  Knowing this, he has made his way up to the top of my favorites, I just misunderstood his role at first glance.