What I find really interesting so far is the similarities between McMurphy in the book and in the movie. Both obviously represent joy, freedom, and life. McMurphy bursts into the institution with a smile and a hunger for feeling alive. He does so by going against the establishment by commandeering a fishing boat, and trying to convince Nurse Ratched to put the World Series game on the television so the patients could enjoy the "outside world" a little more. Both in the book and the movie McMurphy's sole ambition is to get under Nurse Ratched's skin and make her break.