The play brings to life Randle McMurphy, a paragon of individuality and free will that is emblematic of the spirit of the 1960s. Evading prison by voluntarily submitting himself to a mental asylum for rehabilitation, McMurphy raises hell and ultimately sacrifices himself in an attempt to inspire his fellow inmates—a motley crew of emotionally and psychologically crippled men—to rise up against the tyrannical and oppressive Nurse Ratched.