destroyed but not defeated- One flew over the cuckoos nest-
... destroyed but they still have chance to overcome this and turn into normal men. The hope that McMurphy brings through is to Chief Bromden and Harding but also in McMurphy himself. Chief Bromden is the narrator of the book, telling his story; he has been in the ward longer than any of the other patients. Authorities believe him to deaf and dumb, this is one of his defence mechanisms to survive his way through the ward. Chief talks little about himself, just that he is half Indian and describes many experiences he had in the war and growing up in Columbia George with his dad. Chief is a prime example of the impact of control he has received in the ward. He is a large man who does not know it, lost his self-confidence, in that he does not talk. He thinks everything is run by the combine, machines, and the fog machine is often used, it is a metaphor the author uses to show the effects of the drugs and his mental stability of the chief. One may see that he is destroyed, but hope soon joins him when McMurphy takes large interest in him. Chief’s first words in years are said to McMurphy, he tells McMurphy about his life in the country and being Indian and his tribe. McMurphy helps Chief to become ‘big’ again, and through this Chief starts to find himself again, boosting his confidence. Chief could be classed as ‘destroyed’ by what the impact of control had on him, but there’s no way that he was defeated. He escaped from the ward and ventured back to his hometown. Harding is a patient in the ward who was the ‘leader’ before McMurphy came, he is in the ward voluntarily but realises a while after McMurphy arrives that the “therapeutic values” are not helping him at all but are just belittling his mind. Harding and his wife do not have a close relationship and asks McMurphy for guidance. This ward and the big nurse had destroyed Harding’s charisma and self- esteem, but he finally come out of his shell towards the end of the book when he realises how it feels to enjoy life again. This is evident in the fishing trip that McMurphy organised, it is the first time McMurphy had heard these men laugh since he had been on the ward. McMurphy is very much the lead character in the book and the battle between him and the big nurse is forever going which ties readers to the book in anticipation of what will happen. McMurphy joins ward in disgust of the rules, routine, and the staff. He realises the men are not entirely all “nutcases” and further in the book he became quite close to. McMurphy started to realise that he could help these men against the evil of the “combine” which is the machines of society, what chief Bromden believes that the Big Nurse runs all. McMurphy helps many of the patients come back to life again, he helped Chief Bromden talk again, and many of the men laugh again, but in doing this he had a huge battle against the authority, the Big Nurse. She despised the way McMurphy lead the men and how they went under his leade...