This book is very unique in the way that it is written. Because it is writing from the perspective of a mentally-unstable person, I thought that it was very difficult to comprehend at times. I thought that the perspective of Chief Bromded allows readers to witness the story from a first person’s perspective as well as from the personal thoughts of the Chief. I say this because during portions of the book, he describes it as a narrator would, but as readers, we constantly are reminded that the Chief is mental himself. The mindset of the Chief causes him to hallucinate. For example, during his shaving routine, the Chief senses fog around him. “When the fog clears to where I can see, I’m sitting in the day room” (page 8). Considering the fact that he is mentally unstable, I thought that it was very unusual to have him be a janitor in the mental facility. Personally, if I were in charge, I would not have the patients work around the ward. I would think that it would be too dangerous having a mental person working around cleaning chemicals and such.
I am really curious as to the Chief’s motives behind his self-made muteness and deafness. The beginning of the book makes it clear that the Chief brought his condition upon himself. “Everybody think so. I’m cagey enough to fool them that much” (page 3). I thought that this was a really bad joke because this state of being is really unfortunate for those that are naturally deaf and mute. I would never be able to stand in the shoes of the Chief because I cannot go a long time without speaking. In my mind, I also have a doubt that the Chief was naturally mute and deaf and the reality of his condition made him believe that he decided to become like that himself. However, when the new patient saw through his act, my doubts were cleared. I am sure that he hears a lot of things around the mental hospital that he is not supposed to hear. Just as he states, I think that many people around him take advantage of his condition and talk about their secrets thinking that he is deaf.
To answer your question about the cruelness, I think that it seems reasonable that patients would be treated that way in a mental ward. I think of mental patients as people with underdeveloped brains. I know that sometimes, working with people under your age level—such as children may be frustrating because they cannot fully understand everything that you can. Maybe out of frustration, the ward officials get the patients to do something using force because that may seem to be the only option for them.
You mentioned that the two different types of mental patients kind of resembled the communities of the Hindus and the Moslems in Freedom at Midnight*, but I have a different opinion. It is evident that there is an establishment of two different groups in the mental ward, but I don’t think that the groups resemble “classes.” I mean, the two groups are not really competing with each other. Their placement in the groups only relied on their mental capabilities. The two seemed rather comfortable around eachother. You mentioned that the two groups in the mental ward did not really mingle with each other, but I think that is quite the opposite. I thought that both of the groups were rather friendly with each other-they listened to each other, and they also lived with each other.
I do not like the actions of the new comer, McMurphy. I think that he is wrong in his actions. Before he comes, the ward seems to accept the reality of their position in relation to the head nurse. They all seemed to think very highly of the head nurse. I did not really like how McMurphy acted around officials. I know that he thought very highly of himself, but I did not think that he deserved the authority to worsen the relationship between the head nurse and the ward’s patients. I thought that it was really brave of him to try to change the way the ward operated on his first day. What do you think about his character, Lauren?
*Collins, Larry, and Dominique Lapierre. Freedom at Midnight. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1975. Print.
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