Why didn't mcmurphy escape in one flew into the cuckoo's nest?

Answer 1

McMurphy doesn't escape because he is, in a literary sense, Jesus Christ. From the beginning, McMurphy was a tragic character; the martyr archetype. Like Christ during the last supper, he planned to escape with his Appstles, or the other patients, but the person who was supposed to awaken him before he was to be crusified, failed to do his job. In this novel, the crusifixtion of Christ is portrayed when McMurphy is lobotomized. The religious symbols in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest allow the reader to make predictions about the plotline, however of one does not know the story of Christ, then these parellels are useless. By knowing the journey of Christ, you know that McMurphy will never escape the ward just as Christ never escaped crusifixtion.

Answer 2

McMurphy ultimately chose not to escape because he felt responsible for the other patients in the ward, particularly Chief Bromden. He wanted to continue standing up to Nurse Ratched and help his fellow inmates, even at the cost of his own freedom. Additionally, McMurphy's character valued rebellion and challenging authority, so staying in the hospital became a way for him to continue defying the oppressive system.