54 pages • 1 hour read
Born to Rock
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Symbols & Motifs
McMurphy
McMurphy is the last name of Leo’s biological father and the name Leo assigns to the part of his identity that comes from the McMurphy genes. Leo’s version of McMurphy serves as a motif for the theme of Genetics and Identity by showing how Leo links his McMurphy genes to aspects of himself.
McMurphy’s first mention is in Chapter 1, when Leo explains that he has “McMurphy, the eight-hundred-pound gorilla I carry in my DNA, a total loose cannon rolling around in my personality” (5). For much of the novel, Leo treats McMurphy like a separate entity from himself, referring to McMurphy as a “genetic hitchhiker” (24) and a “security breach” (34). Leo’s othering of McMurphy from himself began when he was ten and first discovered his biological father is a stranger named Marion X. McMurphy. From that point on, he began “replaying my entire life. Every misstep, broken rule, and temper tantrum—had that been him, hovering just below the radar screen?” (34-35). Leo also states in Chapter 1 that he joined the Young Republicans to “help myself control McMurphy” (5). Leo’s feelings toward McMurphy shows how he others and suppresses parts of himself that he deems unacceptable rather than exploring and accepting the full spectrum of his identity. Part of this suppression comes from the unknown. Leo isn’t sure who the real McMurphy is, so he fears allowing the internal McMurphy to make decisions.
However, Leo gets to know his own McMurphy as he gets to know King Maggot and the world of punk rock. The first time he sees King Maggot perform live, Leo observes, “I was witnessing, on that stage, McMurphy in its purest form” (103). This is the first time Leo gets to see this part of his heritage in person, but it isn’t the last. Repeated observation of King Maggot performing his heart out, raging and drawing a crowd, causes Leo to grow to appreciate King Maggot and McMurphy. In Chapter 18, with encouragement from King, Leo engages with his McMurphy side to summon “a deep wellspring of suppressed fury, a reservoir of pure McMurphy” to let out a guttural scream. This moment of bonding between Leo and King is also a moment of tolerance between Leo and his personal McMurphy, as he allows himself to accept that part of his identity. In the final chapter, after coming to understand himself, King Maggot, his own genetic heritage even more, Leo acknowledges that “this time my hitchhiker wasn’t some stranger. I was McMurphy, and McMurphy was me” (212). After years of separating himself from his McMurphy side, Leo admits that he and McMurphy are one and the same. This symbolizes Leo’s acceptance of every facet of his identity, including the parts of his genetics he was previously unfamiliar with.
Puzzles
Throughout the first 12 chapters of the novel, jigsaw puzzles are a symbol of Leo’s mom’s avoidance. Puzzles first appear in Chapter 4, when Leo recalls his attempts to speak to his unwilling mom about his biological father: “If I pressed the issue, she’d pull a jigsaw puzzle out of a cabinet and begin fitting pieces together […] just to avoid telling me the story of my own origin” (35). Leo’s mom uses puzzles as a diversion from the painful memory of Leo’s conception—a sexual experience that she was not sober enough to consent to. Puzzles come up again in Chapter 6, after Leo’s mom learns that Leo has discovered who Marion X. McMurphy is. Leo’s mom pulls out “A vast underwater panorama of the Great Barrier Reef” (42) to occupy herself and avoid discussing King Maggot. She pleads, “Can’t you see what an awful memory this is for me, Leo? […] how can I talk about it without setting a bad example for you?” (44). Because she struggles to give Leo more information about his origins, Leo’s mom chooses to avoid the conversation altogether as she works on her Great Barrier Reef puzzle.
Puzzles return in Chapter 8, after Leo makes the news for rushing the stage during Purge’s press conference, claiming to be King Maggot’s son. He returns home to “the biggest puzzle my mother owned, a 3-D tour de force of 6,000 pieces, too large to fit on any table in our house” (70). As Leo continues to pursue information about and connection with his McMurphy side, Leo’s mom’s puzzles grow larger and more complex, symbolizing the great deal of effort it’s taking her to continue to avoid talking about the past. Puzzles become almost overwhelming in Chapter 11, when Leo’s mom must face the fact that Leo is joining King Maggot on the Concussed tour: “Every table, counter, cabinet top, and a good percentage of floor space hosted an elaborate jigsaw puzzle” (91). Leo’s mom has suffused the house in a sea of puzzles to drown out the fact that Leo is going away with King Maggot. Leo calls her out, correctly accusing her of “doing fifty puzzles because you won’t face the fact that I’m going on Concussed” (91). Leo’s mom’s increasingly complex and growing number of puzzles symbolizes the greater effort it takes for her to continue to avoid the subject of Leo’s biological origins.
Pinballs
In the Prologue, Leo introduces pinballs as a symbol for the uncontrollable nature of life. He previously believed “that we are masters of our own fate” (4). However, now he thinks that “just the opposite is probably true. You are a sum of what happens to you, a pinball, bouncing from bumper to bumper, hoping the impact of flippers won’t hurt much” (4). Leo uses pinball to explain his helplessness at circumstances he cannot control that nevertheless impact his fate. Leo considers major events that change his life course to be the flippers and bumpers and likens himself to a pinball bouncing between them. The seemingly random movements of the ball flung this way and that illustrates Leo’s frustration at having life happen to him without his say-so.
Leo’s narration returns to this symbol when he recalls learning that his dad is not his biological father. Leo describes, “A silver ball, ricocheting across the angled tabletop of a pinball machine, battered by flippers, jolted by bumpers, snared in traps, and just as suddenly sent careening around again. […] It was also the story of my life” (31). Leo says his “first run-in with the flippers” (31) was his conception, the circumstances of which he learned about in 4th grade. Leo’s use of pinball to describe his life shows that he feels there are many factors that have been out of his control, which explains why he uses similar imagery to convey to Owen the mathematical concept of vectors, or forces pushing a specific direction. However, by connecting pinball—his symbol for random and uncontrolled circumstances—to a subject he has mastered, Leo shows that he is starting to see how to take control of some aspects of his life despite the presence of “the flippers” of fate.
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