OFOTCN #3

How much do we really know about the personality and the rest of Nurse Ratched? (to answer this, think of her only as a character and not as a symbol)?
We may think we know all we need to know about Nurse Ratched to draw our conclusions about her, but in reality we don't. As you will find in the fourth question we have to trust Bromden based on process of elimination. Yes she is mean and nasty but there is also the chance that Bromden is exaggerating her shortcomings and potentially overlooking some things she may do well. For example, Bromden casts her as not caring about the patients outcomes at all and that she is irrational with her decision making, but because he is biased this may not be true in truth she could be very concerned about how her patients turn out it is just she doesn't have the most delicate touch when dealing with the patients. Yet, like in the answer to number four, because we have no second opinions we may never know the whole truth about Ratched, if Bromden is inaccurate.

What does having Chief as the narrator do for the plot, tone, and theme of OFOTCN?
Having Chief Bromden as the narrator, much like F. Scott Fitzgerald's choice in TGG, is an interesting one by Kesey because Bromden is not the protagonist. Similarly, Bromden is a patient in a mental hospital, making his appointment to be the narrator even more curious. Because Bromden is a patient at the ward he also has a severe bias against not only Nurse Ratched but the ward in general. -- Bromden's craziness twists the plot in very strange ways. Throughout the book it is fairly easy to tell what is actually happening and what is made up in Bromden's mind. The tone of the story is also affected greatly by Bromden's narration. The tone he creates is bipolar in a sense. One page it is glowing when the subject is McMurphy and the next it is violent and malicious because Ratched and her actions are what is on Bromden's mind. The only thing not affected on a major scale is the theme. I figure that no matter who the narrator was, provided it wasn't Nurse Ratched, the message would have been relatively universal.

Do you think society views the ward as being helpful or debilitating to the patients?
If I were in the world that this took place in and I was just the average person in society, just going through the motions, then I would probably not notice the mental hospital much. And I most likely wouldn't have any relations with any of the patients. Also, I don't know if I would be able to recognize the differences between some of the acutes before and after their time at the ward because it seems to me that in reading the book they either go in as acutes and become chronics, or they go in and come out with little change in personality and certainly no obvious improvements in their conditions. So, if I ever noticed or studied what was going in and coming out of the hospital I would have to believe that it is more debilitating than helpful.

Can we trust Chief as a narrator? -- is he totally crazy? does he make Ratched seem worse than she actually might be?
Because there is no other alternative we have to see Chief as a reliable narrator. Tying back to the first question, because we know little about what Nurse Ratched is like other than the way Chief describes what she does we have to think that she really is as bad as she appears to be. The entire story is also affected by Chief's  craziness. While I don't believe he is a complete lunatic, I would wholeheartedly support that he is mildly crazy. Based on some of the contents in the story that very obviously don't exist, this is an easy conclusion to come to. But again, because we have no other way of knowing, we must trust Chief.

OFOTCN #2

At the end of part one McMurphy and Big Nurse are still slugging it out waiting to see who will come out on top. Right now, I would have to give the lead to Big Nurse because she has still maintained control of the ward and the power to destroy the patients is still hers. However, because he started from the bottom and has caught up a considerable amount I would say that McMurphy right now is the moral victor. It's one of those situations where you don't expect the other to team to do anything but instead they come out and not only make a game out of it but they out play you. At the end of part one McMurphy is outplaying Big Nurse and with a little more time could end up beating her. This is demonstrated on pg 117 when McMurphy forces a vote about the World Series and ties the votes that fall in line with Big Nurse, but Big Nurse still won't let them. This alone was a huge momentum swing. Then McMurphy takes it even farther and even after he has turned it on and Big Nurse has turned it off again he continues to act as if it is on. Slowly some of the patients begin to join him until everyone is staring at the blank screen; this makes Big Nurse lose her mind. After this incident McMurphy knows he has gained the full trust of almost everyone in the ward, and I believe he is poised to make a big run in the game between him and Ratched, so to speak.

My expectations of the book led me to side with McMurphy as soon as he entered the story and Kesey's writing hasn't let me slip from that position one bit. As a political fanatic I understand how horrible a totalitarian government can be so between my own personal bias and the slowly but surely getting stronger bias of Bromden toward McMurphy I am rooting heavily for McMurphy.

Bromden's bias brings me to my next point. As the narrator I feel Bromden is effectively demonstrating and progressing the theme of OFOTCN, Although I neglected to think about his own voice in the beginning of the story I believe he is coming along and his own, purposeful thoughts are becoming more intertwined with how he tells the story. I think that is in large part due to the presence of McMurphy. Although, Bromden has just now backed McMurphy fully, the effective of McMurphy has been evident since the very beginning. Starting the story sullen and hopeless sounding McMurphy has rejuvenated Bromden and this, I think, is only a sign of things to come,

OFOTCN #1

Hero --  Half way into part one I can for the most part tell that there is not going to be a true hero in OFOTCN (unless a new character is introduced or someone else comes forward (both are highly unlikely)). However, with that said McMurphy is certainly the closest to being a hero, but I see him as more of an antihero because rebellion is not characteristic of a hero, especially when the rebellion is mostly just being rude and defiant. Clearly though, McMurphy is not a villain because his long-term aim is to free the helpless ward patients from the totalitarian reign of Big Nurse. This cause is very noble and earns him the hero portion of his character.

Antihero -- ^^^^^^^^^^^^

Villain -- Without a shadow of a doubt the villain in OFOTCN is Nurse Ratched, or Big Nurse. There is nothing pleasant about her control over the ward: she treats the patients with disrespect, does not view them as people but rather genetic mishaps, and she is irrational with her decisions about the treatment they will receive. Big Nurse is nothing short of a dictator and a brutal one at that. The only thing I can possibly see that she has done that isn't truly awful is send McMurphy to become a vegetable, and I believe this is only so that the story can continue.