George Sorenson (Rub-a-Dub George)

Character Analysis

George is a former fisherman who is deathly afraid of dirt. After the fishing trip, Nurse Ratched uses her power to enforce a mass cleansing of all the men’s genitals and George protests because he also has a fear of soap. To protect him, McMurphy and Chief get into a fight with the orderlies. By defending the helpless George, McMurphy proves to the men once and for all that he doesn’t only perform self-interested actions. All that McMurphy gets for helping George is a trip to the Disturbed Ward and a number of sessions of electroshock therapy. This makes McMurphy a hero to the men on the ward and is the catalyst for Nurse’s final attempt to pit the men against him.