Protagonist
Character Role Analysis
McMurphy
McMurphy is the larger-than-life character who makes everybody on the ward come alive and decide that their lives are worth more than Nurse Ratched leads them to believe. He spurs everybody to action, which is in some ways the opposite of what Ratched does to people. McMurphy is also our narrator’s hero, which means that the story focuses on McMurphy and his actions in the ward.