Post #3 pages 80-Part II

The end of Part I, was mostly about McMurphy’s conflicts in the mental institution. From day one, everyone knew that McMurphy was someone special and would get his way, whenever he would want to. “But the new guy is different, and the Acutes see it, different from anybody been coming on this ward for the past ten years, different from anybody they ever met outside.” (82) Actually, I was quit surprised on how slow the book goes, because on page 83, it is the next morning since McMurphy arrived. From that point on, until the start of Part II, it is about McMurphy and him getting his way through everything. For example, he walks around the ward with just a towel, because the black boys forgot to give him the uniform. When the Big Nurse comes, she gets furious about this and yells at him about the policies of the institution. However, McMurphy doesn’t care and blames the black boys for good, which they later on get in trouble for not preparing the laundry. Another thing that has changed throughout the book is that the Doctor of the institution is now on the side of McMurphy which makes things easier for him to get his way. Another conflict is that McMurphy wants to watch a baseball game which is on TV when there is no TV time in the institution. To change the TV time the patients have to vote for it. However, the end vote is 20-20, but then Chief Bromden, stands up and decides to give that last vote, to change the TV time. This is another step towards the relationship of McMurphy and Chief Bromden. The last thing that happened in Part II was the revolution that started between all the patients against the Big Nurse. All patients decide to stop doing their chores and sit down in front of the blanked out TV. “..then we all put down our mops and brooms and scouring rags and we all go pull us chairs up.” (125) This is how Part I ends…

Language:

I have noticed that at some parts, the paragraphs are short, and tell different stories from the past and the present. I almost have the feeling that it has something to do schizophrenia, of the main character Chief Bromden. Maybe this also has something to do with the war experiences, he had. This is also one of the reasons why Chief Broom is in the institution. However, the word choice has not changed a great deal; maybe it will change more in Part II.

Questions:

I do not understand the things with the fog. Is it a hallucination that Chief Broom has from his war experiences or is it reality? Personally, I think that it is something he feels, and sees but actually it is not there. A reason for this might be that it is his fantasy world where he is trapped in, due to his prior experiences. So far we haven’t found out much about the past of the patients, and I think this will be a crucial point to find out more about Chief Bromden.