200616

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest TEACHER’S COPY
Part 3
After that, McMurphy had things his way…
1. List some ways McMurphy succeeds in disrupting the dull routine of Nurse Ratched’s
ward.
Answers may vary. Example: He forms a basketball team, sleeps late, makes sexual comments
to Nurse Ratched, organizes a fishing trip, writes nonsense in the log, and plays soccer in the
day room. His deliberate shattering of the glass causes Bromden to comment that Ratched’s
“remote patience wasn’t what it use to be.” After the glass is shattered a third time by Martini’s
errant pass, it seems as though Ratched is struggling to maintain her composure.
2. State a theme for this story based on the following observations from the Chief:
“But I remembered one thing: it wasn’t me that started acting deaf; it was people that first started
acting like I was too dumb to hear or see or say anything at all.” “People will force you one way
or the other, into doing what they think you should do.”
Answers may vary. Example: A person’s problems are frequently society’s fault.
3. One of the overall themes of this novel is the power of women to destroy men. Find an
example of this power in the Chief’s childhood story about when he first felt deaf and dumb.
A white woman comes with the government officials to talk to the Chief’s father about selling
his land to the government so they can build a dam. She is very shrewd and quickly realizes
that talking to the Chief is counterproductive. She knows his wife is white and is the person in
the family with the real power. She suggests they send his wife the offer by mistake and let her
persuade the Chief to sign away the land.
4. What are the first words the Chief uses?
Bromden says, “thank you” to McMurphy for giving him some gum.
5. Explain how bigness or size plays an important part in this section.
Bromden sees himself as small, despite his actual size. His father, another huge Native-American
was shrunk by his white wife. “The Combine’s big—big.” Alcohol also shrinks his father.
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