Continuing our discussion from today, consider the role of Harding. What was Kesey trying to convey to the reader through Harding? Why might Kesey include this effeminate character? Is it important that he is often described as a latent homosexual? Why is he in the mental hospital? Respond to any or all of the proposed questions, or respond to another student's comment.Post by Monday, 12:00 AM.
49 comments:
As brought up today in class, I believe Harding's purpose is the voice of reason relating to McMurphy. Especially during the rabbit conversation, Harding is the one that places McMurphy's train of thought into perspective. Harding is mainly in the novel to act as a mediator between what is unknown to the reader and the connection to this knowledge - or - Harding is the aspect which connects the reader's perspective and McMurphy. If any of the wording in this post is confusing, ask me to explain it when you see me in class. This response in easier to convey verbally than written.
Harding is meant to elevate McMurphy's character. He is there to spark or enhance McMurphy's personality, thus creating many twists and turns in the plot. So far, we've seen McMurphy's first sign of rage and his establisment as a leader, because of Harding. This is important as it shows and develops the conflicts that the protagonist must go through.
Harding is in the novel because he often makes events more clear and provides needed information not given by chief. Also, Harding causes conflict in McMurphy, but sometimes reasons with him giving further evidence that Harding may not have a mental disorder. I am not sure why the author chose to give Harding characteristics of a homosexual except that it seems the women in the novel have power over the men which may mean that Harding has some kind of power over McMurphy.
I agree with everthing that has been said. Harding is more reliable than Chief and is kinda like a second narrator. He is the most educated out of all of the patients. Harding also is the opposite of McMurphy. Harding couldn’t please his wife and feels overpowered by her, but Mc Murphy has reputation of sleeping around a lot. Harding submits to what he is told, but McMurphy challenges his authorities. In addition, he seems to trigger McMurphy's actions.
I think that Harding is in the novel to show the humane side of characters. Being the smartest and most well educated of the lot, Harding makes all these intelligent comments that make me wanna believe that he's not mental at all. The only thing that gives him away is the spasms he gets when he sees his hands, and that he's insecure about his wife. But the wife problem is (as we answered on the quiz) rational, because she's really seductive. He's only in the hospital because he doesn't want to face her if he gets out, and he's too chicken to divorce her. He also doesn't have any hallucinations or seizures, which further demonstrates his "normal" side. Kesey just wanted to emphasize the fact that even though the patients are in a hospital, they aren't all necessarily crazy lunatics, but just guys that can't face the Outside and the pressures/humiliation it would bring. They have legit problems but don't respect themselves well enough to make themselves better.
And I definitely don't think Harding's gay. But he might feel some hostility towards women, though. I mean with women like Vera and Nurse Ratched around, why wouldn't he feel a little iffy about the opposite sex?
And man, did Jack Nicholson age over the years...
I think that Harding is the voice of reason in the mental ward. He seems to be the one that starts arguements but at the same time has brings logic and reason to Mcmurphy and the others. He also seemed to be the one who gave information about everything aside from what Chief Bromden would explain. I dont believe that Harding is a homosexual, I just believe that his wife "wears the pants".
And the gorilla would win, by the way!
I agree with Diego that Harding is the voice of reason. I also think he plays the Devil's Advocate. He's always against what Mcmurphy stands for and is always trying to prove him wrong, even if deep inside (so i think) he wants to see Big Nurse lose. Also i changed my stance on him being a homosexual, I was reading about Harding today and read back on parts in the book with him in it. And it all points to homosexuality. His hands are a metaphor for it, his inability to pleasure his wife. Who is described as being very beautiful, but when she comes to visit him he attacks her.
I also agree that Harding is the voice of reason. He provides background information that is not given by Chief's narration. I think he could be in the mental hospital for being gay since during the time the book was written homosexuality was considered a mental illness.
I believe that Harding is used as a foil to McMurphy and helps to regulate the voice of reason. I also agree with Lizzie. Harding emphasizes important events that happen and seems to regulate what the other Acutes do. However, we have to keep in mind the Harding is also in the Mental Hospital and he is the 'most sane' out of the bunch. I do believe that Harding may have the possibility of being a homosexual because of his inability to 'please' his wife, but his wife seems to make Harding feel subordinate which appears to be a reoccuring theme of men being 'lesser' to women. Kesey's use of Harding allows for many different points of view to be conveyed by our narrator, Chief. We have to keep in mind that what Chief interperts may not always be what happens directly. :]
The ward is filled with crazy people. A relatively hyperintelligent (oh noes, a contradictory phrase!) person who speaks rather formally would fit quite well in the universe of the Nest. Kesey effectively uses Harding to provide necessary information.
[...The nine comments before mine contain the phrase "voice of reason" five times...]
I agree with everyone else. Harding is there to take the spot of the narrator when our narrator , chief, becomes too unreliable or makes things very confusing. He also lets us in on things about the ward we did not know. He also has the opposite personality of McMurphy which makes McMurphy's qualities seem much more extreme and make them alot more noticible.
A few people have already mentioned it but during this time period, homosexuality is not as accepted as it is today. Any signs of it was probably considered an illness.
Kesey uses Harding to present other information about the ward and the hospital in general that we wouldn't be able to deduce from Chief. He also presents a cool sense of logic due to his college (i think?) education.
And in a sense, Harding is used to balance out McMurphy's wild tedencies. Maybe he's not a complete foil but he's close.
Harding is a rather odd character. He seems to be the most "normal" out of any of the characters. He has interestingly beautiful hands that can weave pictures, but he chooses to hide them. I believe he is partly a foil of McMurphy, but also stands to be the voice of reason. He seems to be the most reasonable and offers the suggestions that are most logical. I also think he represents the voice of the nameless acutes. Most acutes don't really say anything, except repeating McMurphy's last lines in a meeting, so Harding kinda speaks on behalf of them, almost like a...(can't think of the word)
I think Harding is like the big representative for all the patients, whether the other men know it or not. In the beginning of the story, when Harding and McMurphy first meet, Billy says that Harding's the president of the people's council (something to that extent). There, in a way, it shows how Harding's the big boss of everyone.
I'm continuing with that thought here: after Harding introduces his wife and McMurphy, Harding asks McMurphy what he thinks. McMurphy gets mad and says, "Alla you! Quite bugging me!" Even though Harding brought it up, McMurphy's gotten fed up with everyone in the ward acting like he's their savior.
.. It made better sense it my head, but my point is that Harding represents the ward as a whole.
Along with what everyone else says, I think Harding's a source of information for McMurphy, who's new in the hospital and doesn't understand the majority of things. Chief can't explain to him because he's supposed to be mute, so we get our information from Harding.
The way I see Harding, he is the soft and in-line patient who is used to set the example for the rest of the patients. He was the leader before the arrival of McMurphy and still has some power over them. This can be seen when McMurf provides a situation to the group, such as watching the World Series, and not too many of them go along until Harding is swayed to McMurf's thinking rather than the brain washing of the ward.
I think that harding is there to show the readers that not all of the people in the ward are crazy, harding can behave just like a regular person. i also think that harding is there to serve as the voice of normalcy and reason
I think Harding's homosexuality is important because Kesey has made it a point to include minority figures in his novel. Chief is a native American, one of the most abusive minorities in the US. The patients themselves also represent this because they are considered mentally ill and their differences make them unaccepted in society. I think Kesey's just making another political statement about minority groups.
VOICE OF REASON!!!
No just kidding I just felt like yelling something.
Anyways, I think that Harding functions as a source of information to the reader about the ward and its hierarchy. "But wait!" you say, "Isn't the Chief, being the narrator, more of a source of information than Harding?" and to you I would say "Not really." While the Chief accurately explains the ward and Big Nurse through metaphors and other roundabout methods, Harding comes right out and says it: "Oh the b****, oh the b****, oh the b****!" when describing Nurse Ratched. He then proceeds to describe how exactly she has forced them into this position over time. He is responsible for bringing McMurphy and the reader up to speed on the ward on many occasions.
I won't go so far as to call him a foil McMurphy, but I think he was included by Kesey as a refreshing contrast to rest of the cast. Here is this group of mentally hardened, often burly men, and then there's Harding. Harding composes everything that would be opposite them.
I feel that Harding is included in this novel to represent the complete opposite of McMurphy. For this reason, he causes conflict, and brings up ideas that are essential to the story. Harding is included in the novel to represent everything McMurphy despises, and to cause conflict between McMurphy and himself.
Like many people have said before, Harding's purpose in the novel is to provide us with more information about things and to clarify certain things. Also, Harding seems to sometimes protect the patients from McMurphy by standing up to him.
I think Harding is in the novel to show irony. It's ironic that he is a really smart guy and it doesn't seem like anythings wrong with him, and yet he's in a mental hospital. He could also be the voice of reason, saying to McMurphy that he can't do whatever he wants all the time.
I believe Harding acts as a source of information. As has been previously stated, he is more reliable and more grounded than Chief is. He appears to know the hospital and how everything works tehre. Therefore, he gives the reader and McMurphy explanations as to why ceratin things occurr and why the employees of the hospital get away with some of their actions. I also agree that he enhances McMurphy's character and causes him to act and react to certain events throughout the novel.
I think Harding is a foil to McMurphy and is presented to clarify the plot. As a foil, Harding enhances Mcmurphys characteristics at times when Chief Bromden's narrative is lacking in description. Through Harding, Ken Kesey is trying to convey the idea of putting ideas to action. Harding is full of words and ideas, but it is McMurphy who takes a stand and actually does something. The idea of Harding being homo is presented because he is afraid of Big Nurse, whose large breasts represent femininity, and because he is gay, he might try to hide at the mental ward
I stand by my opinion that Harding was put in the book as McMurphy's foil. I believe they are almost complete opposites of each other, except for some minor characteristics. Also, some people think Big Nurse is a foil to McMurphy, but I think they share alot of the same traits rather than opposite ones. Another reason I think Harding was put in the story, as alot of other people think, is that he serves as a source of information. Without him, Kesey may have had to explain things through Chief, and not only will it have hurt the flow of the story, but it also wouldn't be as credible, given Chief's hallucinations/mental instability.
I believe Harding is in the mental hospital because he is overwhelmed with the conflicting pressures of having a wife he can't satisfy and the fact that he can't have the relationship he really wants (given that he's homosexual and all). Being in the mental hospital gives him the opportunity to escape from those problems - while his wife isn't visiting him, anyway. While she was visiting him in Part 2, I felt like he wasn't himself, and was a lot more self-conscious and nervous than when she wasn't around.
I believe that Harding was put in the novel as a second source for the reader, as some of the previous comments have said. I believe that Harding gives the reader information needed to understand the novel even more. The reader can rely on Harding because he isn’t having hallucinations. I also believe that Harding helps McMurphy hear a second opinion about what he plans to do. As to why Harding is in the mental institution, I’m not quite sure, but we must remember that he is there voluntarily.
back then, homosexuality was considered a mental disorder. Therefor i believe that he is there to show foreshadow what will happen to Macmurphy, how a relatively normal person could be broken in by the "Combine"
i think he's gay! and i think hes theres to kinda be out of place with his intelligence... idk why hes in the hospital though. hes obviously not crazy (is anyone?) is he commited or voluntary?
I agree with others that Harding is included in the novel to provide information that is not given by Chief. He acts as a second opinion for McMurphy and his decisions, just like others have said. He seems to have a strong understanding of what goes on in the ward and also provides different perspectives to the novel.
Kesey included Harding in the novel to show readers that not all patients in mental hospitals are crazy. I agree with others that he is in the novel as a second narrator to provide the readers with credible information since it is hard to tell if Chief’s narration is accurate or not. I think that Harding is in the mental hospital not necessarily because he is crazy, but more because he has no self-confidence to be able to face the outside world by himself.
I believe Kesey added Harding to the novel to not only foil McMurphy, but the entire concept of a mental institution as well. Harding was the educated man who had a beautiful wife and a promising future. Harding's presence in the hospital is supposed to contradict the common stereotype of mental patients being stupid and incapable of reacting with the outside world. I believe that Kesey also added him to make the entire situation/ novel more personable to the audience, for we are able to relate to Harding and his problems better than those of Chief, Cheswick, Big Nurse, etc.
Harding supports McMurphy's character. MsMurphy is an 'alpha' type person but he alone cannot persuade the patients without backup from someone they know and trust. And I think he might be a homosexual so that he can't interphere with McMurphy's dominance over the ward.
Vincent brought up a good point-at the time homosexuality was often considered a mental illness and given that and his apparently shy and scared manner this could be the very reason why he is in the hospital in the first reason. There seems to be very little else wrong with him-he just seems to be quite confused and the wife problems make this point even more likely-maybe he was in the hospital in his view to be cured of what was at the time a "mental disease"
Also in reference to his purpose i stick with my previous conception that he is a foil to mcmurphy. He is every mcphury isnt. Shy, unwilling to stand up for himself, a believer in the system, weak. He is sort of an obstacle to McMurphy at parts in the novel which actually help him and help progress him. His minor fights with Harding allow him to be ready for his battle with Big Nurse. So, he also plays that role of a helper and instigator of sorts. His final role i believe is to prove that McMurphy can get to anyone even his exact opposite and a believer in the system.
I think Harding was put in the novel as a source of information. He was there to supply the information that kept the book moving in a non boring way as oppossed to the author just coming right out and saying what was happening. He was there to "connect the dots" in the story.
Also I believe that he was voice of reason among the rest of the crazy people. He seemed more sane than the rest of the patients.
I agree with many of the things said about Harding thus far. I believe the author added him as a way for the readers to see the ward in a different view from just Chief's. I believe Harding is also a source of knowledge for McMurphy because he is new to the hospital. I also think that Harding is like McMurphy in that all the men respect him but is some ways it seems that the men look up to Harding more than McMurphy becuase he is less intimidating than McMurphy and does not make them do things in which they are uncomfortable in doing.
I think he's there to provide a more detailed account of the events taking place at the hospital. I don't believe he's gay but I think the way he's described is to emphasize the impact women have on men in this novel.
I think that Harding's role is to deliver information more clearly. Also, he represents other patients and causes conflict with McMurphy. I think that his homosexuality represents his neutrality.
I agree with many of the comments already posted. I think that Kesey used Harding in the novel as a foil to McMurphy. Harding provides information about the plot that allows the reader to better understand what is going on because Chief's narration is sometimes confusing and difficult to understand. I aslo think Harding is in the novel to contradict Mcmurphy and to bring about reasonable opinions to some of mcmurphy's crazy ideas. He also represents the opinions of other patients who do not agree with McMuphy's ideas or actions.
In my opinion, Harding serves several purposes in the novel. He represents the outside world and a 'normal' life, in a way. He's educated, married, and practical. He's everything rational in the ward. He is also a foil of McMurphy. While McMurphy is a rebel, Harding follows everything he's told. McMurphy has rough, manly hands, while the effeminate Harding has really smooth, beautiful hands. McMurphy led a hectic life filled with brawls and women, while Harding leads a mostly uneventful and generic lifestyle. Harding is also a more reliable source of information than Chief as he does not hallucinate, and he tells things as they really are. As to whether Harding's a homosexual, I think he very well may be. His femininity is pretty clear, and homosexuality may be the reason he cannot satisfy his wife. In fact, he's probably only in the ward to hide from that fact because I honestly don't see anything particularly insane about him. The fact that he tries to hide his womanly hands supports that.
I think Harding serves various purposes in the novel. In my opinion though, Harding's main purpose is to provide information to McMurphy about the hospital and represent the body of patients. Harding clarifies the rules and why things in the ward are the way they are for McMurphy and provides an alternative point of view to McMurphy's. He of course relates to the patients, and helps McMurphy to understand their personalities and actions. I think Kesey used Harding to convey the opposing ideas and attitudes of those of the patients in the ward and those of people from the combine.
I think that Harding is a foil of McMurphy but on a lighter note than the foil with big nurse. Big nurse is a charcter foil against McMurphy while Harding inhances McMurphy's character while also providing a sane man's point of view. I think that him being the voice of reason and being a foil to McMurphy go hand in hand. Harding's character is also very useful in providing facts when Chief is unclear.
Harding is in the story because he can weave in and out of the plot at will. At times, he can show the point of view from the patient's side and then in other times, he can help reveal the innner plans of the staff. He shows that maybe not all of the staff's actions are motivated by hate as chief states.
I still think Harding is sort of a foil to McMurphy; he's eloquent yet weak and efimenent. He's very intelligent and generally delivers informative and cynical remarks. Desite occasional shows of eccentric behavior he seems like the most sane and reasonable of the patients in the ward. Unlike the other acutes he doesn't show a clearly definable mental problem, he's not simplistic and timid like Billy, he's not reckless and wild like McMurphy and he's not completely out of it like the chronics. All in all Harding is the most reliable character that the reader is given and is invaluable in figuring out what the heck is going on.
Harding is included to contrast life in the warde with life outside of it. His characters personality reinvigorates the dull scenery of the warde. His homosexual reputation exhibits the patient's tendency to jump to conclusions and make false inferences.
I think that Harding is provided as the obvious foil of McMurphy. McMurphy is loud and crude and the defition of a masculine character, while Harding is the timid, feminine counterpart. By contrasting these two characters, I think each other's personalities are especially enhanced.
I don't get y he's even there in the first place, to me he seems like the sanest one in the hospital. I think Molly's right about him being there to give information. and I also think he's gay. notice how every women in his life we've met in the story imtimidates him, not to say women intimidate gay men, but i think Kesey wanted us to think of him in that way.
I hope this isn't TOOOOO late... i kind of forgot about it. Just as most other people mentioned, Harding seems to be the brightest of the bunch. He is included because he can clearly explain the events that have taken place on the ward. I think that his homosexuality bares no symbolism other than showing how the women in this novel are much more assertive than the men.
Harding is in the hospital because of his homosexuality. In the 1960's(i believe this is the setting of the novel), homosexuality was not accepted and was considered an illness or defiency by many people. Kesey created Harding's character to provide the reader with background information on other characters and the hospital. Harding often counters McMurphy's ideas and increases his character depth. Harding triggers McMurphy in many situations which shows the reader the range of Mac's emotions and strength.
I believe harding is introduced to directly contradict the actions/demeanor of McMurphy. He is truly a polar opposite and is sometimes described as a bigger foil than McMurphy and Nurse Ratched herself. In the time period in which the book was written, homosexuality was not at all accepted the way it is in the world today. Kesey could have also been attempting to throw this fact into sharper focus.
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