Throughout the book so far, Kesey uses the image of hands in order to reflect physically the mental state of some of the characters. For example, I was really interested in the image he uses when describing Cheswick’s death, because it mirrors Cheswick’s internal conflict before his suicide. The image of Cheswick’s “chubby pink and blue fingers” really says a lot about his character (166). The “chubby” and “pink” description represents life. Pink connotes blood circulation and his chubbiness suggests nourishment. These adjectives illustrate that there was a part of Cheswick that was alive at the institution. His “blue” fingers, on the other hand, represent death, numbness, and a lack of feeling and life. These adjectives represent the two conflicting ideas Cheswick held during his time at the hospital. He did indeed want to end his life; otherwise he would not have committed suicide. Drowning oneself is extremely difficult because it goes against the inherent, natural mechanisms of the body. Cheswick retaliated against his inherent wish to live, and subjected himself to a painful and slow death. Even in his death, there still remained some life in his “pink” fingers, or more analytically, there still remained an internal desire to live and feel alive. I like how Kesey juxtaposed these adjectives with opposing connotations in order to convey Cheswick’s internal thought process before his death. So far, I like how Kesey uses physical extremities to convey personal and internal descriptions and I look forward to observing more of this technique throughout the book.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Priya, I think you’re right on target with your analysis of “chubby” and “pink.” When I think of chubby and pink, a pig immediately comes to mind. Pigs are plump and full and certainly represent alimentation and life. Furthermore, I believe your analysis of Chewick’s blue fingers representing death is quite acute. A blue baby, who doesn’t have enough oxygen at birth, is very close to death. Consequently, relating numbness to death is a great observation. Indeed, Cheswick struggles to have the people in the ward listen to his opinion. When he cannot convince the others of his views, he resorts to suicide. Thus, Cheswick’s character and spirit are rather feeble as compared to those of the other men on the ward. Great close reading.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with what you have noted about Cheswick's hands and their involvement with his death. Additionally, I think the image of Cheswick's hands stuck clinging to the grate is a a good representation of his imprisonment and desire to escape. When I first pictured this image, I thought that it mirrored the image of someone's hands clinging to the bars of a jail cell longing to be set free. Cheswick's firm grasp on the grate of the pool shows his extreme longing for escape and his use of suicide as a form of it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what you have stated here about how Kesey uses hands to represent life, but i think that hands in this story also carry greater meaning. Hands hold all power in this story. Kesey talks about how Mcmurphy's hands bleed after he tried to life the controls to throw through the window and escape. This is another example of how hands show life because of the blood, but also the power that they have to grant his freedom. Hands also represent power because whenever there is a vote during the group meetings, they vote by raising their hands. Hands represent many different things in this story
ReplyDelete