Summary Harding explains the technology and history behind electroshock therapy, which began when psychiatrists observed the calm cattle experienced following a blow to the head with a sledgehammer. The resulting convulsions in some of the cattle resembled epileptic seizures. Inspired, they used electricity to induce seizures to calm upset patients. […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Part 2: I Remember It Was Friday AgainSummary and Analysis Part 2: They Take Me with the Acutes Sometimes
Summary Chief accompanies the Acutes to the library, where Harding is visited by his wife. Harding introduces her to McMurphy. She tells McMurphy to call her by her first name, Vera, rather than Mrs. Harding. She insults Harding’s laugh as a “mousy little squeak,” which aggravates Harding. When she asks […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Part 2: They Take Me with the Acutes SometimesSummary and Analysis Part 2: Whatever It Was
Summary Chief observes that the Combine is running near optimum efficiency again, and that Big Nurse is running the controls. Analysis McMurphy’s withdrawal into conformity has reinvigorated the Combine. The sterile, white hands of Nurse Ratched once again operate the controls of the Combine.
Read more Summary and Analysis Part 2: Whatever It WasSummary and Analysis Part 2: Up Ahead of Me
Summary In the lunch room, the patient Sefelt has an epileptic seizure because he has refused to take his medication. The medication, Dilantin, prevents seizures, but he saves it to give to Frederickson, another epileptic patient. Dilantin is an anticonvulsant, Frederickson tells McMurphy, as an orderly sweeps up two teeth […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Part 2: Up Ahead of MeSummary and Analysis Part 2: In the Group Meetings
Summary Chief recounts that the group meetings have become gripe sessions now that the patients have been empowered by McMurphy’s rebelliousness. They challenge Ratched’s easy and often arbitrary rationales. Although she doesn’t challenge McMurphy, he suspects that “she acts like she still holds all the cards up that white sleeve […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Part 2: In the Group MeetingsSummary and Analysis Part 2: The Way the Big Nurse Acted
Summary McMurphy continues to bedraggle Ratched and her staff, while entertaining the patients with stories of his experiences. Chief observes McMurphy as an “enormous thing,” and feels small by comparison, even though Chief is 6’7″ tall. He says that McMurphy likes to paint pictures and writes with a perfect hand. […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Part 2: The Way the Big Nurse ActedSummary and Analysis Part 2: Just at the Edge of My Vision
Summary The second section of this novel begins with the patients still watching the blank television screen. All except McMurphy, however, are completely aware of Ratched’s anger. Even the orderlies and aides watch Ratched to see how she will react to the insubordinate behavior. Chief remarks that “there’s no more […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Part 2: Just at the Edge of My VisionSummary and Analysis Part 1: I Know How They Work It
Summary The conclusion of Part 1 begins with a stream of consciousness passage by Chief Bromden that details the extent of his paranoia and some of his mental condition’s causes. He first experiences the fog while serving in the military during World War II. He believes the fog machine used […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Part 1: I Know How They Work ItSummary and Analysis Part 1: There’s a Shipment of Frozen Parts
Summary Another of Chief’s hallucinations, this one reveals Chief’s perception that human body parts are being delivered to the hospital. Chief also writes that a patient on the Disturbed Ward performed a castration on himself and subsequently dies. Chief remarks that he considers this man’s suicide an act of impatience, […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Part 1: There’s a Shipment of Frozen PartsSummary and Analysis Part 1: It’s Getting Hard
Summary This one-paragraph portion reveals Chief’s relapse into paranoia. He imagines the fog increasing, forcing him to crawl on the floor to find the gum he hides beneath his bed. He writes that McMurphy doesn’t understand that the patients only want to be safe and not let him drag them […]
Read more Summary and Analysis Part 1: It’s Getting Hard