I believe Kesey chose Bromden as the narrator because of all the different views he provides us. He allows us to comprehend the story better and realize in text clues we wouldn't pick up on. This is because with Bromden as the narrator we have to pay more attention. We have to decipher what is real from what is hallucination, and in doing so, we see many extended in depth metaphors we wouldn't realize otherwise. Chiefs perspective allows us to truly see how cruel mental institutions were back in the 50's. He allows us to see how torturous workers were and how bad patients had it. Chief says, "First I had a quick thought to try to stop him, talk him into taking what he'd already one in let her have the last round, but another, bigger thought wipe the first thought away completely. I suddenly realize with Kristen to that neither I nor any of that have scored of us could stop him" (Kesey 318). This makes us truly realize how powerless the patients are. They get no say and can't help themselves at any time in the novel. It's a true dictatorship in the combine.
Chief as the narrator adds tons of effect and meaning. He gives us the ability to piece parts of the story together and truly comprehend it for everything it is. I think he allows us to see the ward as a machine. He lets us view this as a big, routine, industrial machine. One that never messes up until McMurphy comes along. My opinion on Chief is that he's a quiet, caring guy who just keeps low. He does everything from his heart, unlike McMurphy, which is why they are friends. Opposites attract in the story and Chief only proves this. This is why in the end I believe Chief was just a good guy, unlike the beginning of the story where I thought he was just power hungry.
Sunday, February 28, 2016
Abby Hudrlik
Question 2:
I believe Ken Kesey chose Chief Bromden to be the author was to get readers to see through the eyes of a mental patient. The perspective being from a patient instead of a nurse completely changes the way the story is told. If it was told from an outsider or a nurse's point of view, readers wouldn't think that Nurse Ratched is evil as depicted by Chief Bromden and McMurphy. By reading from the perspective of Chief Bromden, we as readers automatically are on the patient's side in the story and view Nurse Ratched to be mean and cruel. It adds more personality and introduces different types of people.
Chief Bromden also faked being deaf and mute, so he got to know all of the characters better than anyone else in the story. The people believing he cannot hear a word he's saying, therefor trusting he won't have a clue as to what they're saying or what's going on. Bromden says it wasn't his choice to start acting deaf though. He sees the wrong doing going on in the hospital and Miss Ratched and caught on to it a while ago through his observing. He states, "McMurphy doesn’t know it, but he’s onto what I realized a long time back, that it’s not just the Big Nurse by herself, but it’s the whole Combine, the nation-wide Combine that’s the really big force, and the nurse is just a high-ranking official for them(Kesey 192). He's smarter than played out to be and his listening has paid off by giving him the information of the evilness of the "Combine." This is another reason Kesey chose Bromden as the narrator. He's smarter than he thinks and agrees with McMurphy.
My opinion of Chief Bromden is that he is a lot smarter than he thinks or used to think. Him pretending to be deaf and mute was very clever for the situation he was in. He got to know secret information that no one else knew except himself. This gave him an advantage. I'm also proud that he finally built up some courage through McMurphy and was able to break free form the hospital.
I believe Ken Kesey chose Chief Bromden to be the author was to get readers to see through the eyes of a mental patient. The perspective being from a patient instead of a nurse completely changes the way the story is told. If it was told from an outsider or a nurse's point of view, readers wouldn't think that Nurse Ratched is evil as depicted by Chief Bromden and McMurphy. By reading from the perspective of Chief Bromden, we as readers automatically are on the patient's side in the story and view Nurse Ratched to be mean and cruel. It adds more personality and introduces different types of people.
Chief Bromden also faked being deaf and mute, so he got to know all of the characters better than anyone else in the story. The people believing he cannot hear a word he's saying, therefor trusting he won't have a clue as to what they're saying or what's going on. Bromden says it wasn't his choice to start acting deaf though. He sees the wrong doing going on in the hospital and Miss Ratched and caught on to it a while ago through his observing. He states, "McMurphy doesn’t know it, but he’s onto what I realized a long time back, that it’s not just the Big Nurse by herself, but it’s the whole Combine, the nation-wide Combine that’s the really big force, and the nurse is just a high-ranking official for them(Kesey 192). He's smarter than played out to be and his listening has paid off by giving him the information of the evilness of the "Combine." This is another reason Kesey chose Bromden as the narrator. He's smarter than he thinks and agrees with McMurphy.
My opinion of Chief Bromden is that he is a lot smarter than he thinks or used to think. Him pretending to be deaf and mute was very clever for the situation he was in. He got to know secret information that no one else knew except himself. This gave him an advantage. I'm also proud that he finally built up some courage through McMurphy and was able to break free form the hospital.
Zach Torbett Q. 1
In our novel, our narrator is Chief Bromden. He's a 6'7 American Indian male that hallucinates frequently. He pretends to be deaf and dumb throughout the whole novel. This may be because of his troubled past of constantly getting ignored by everyone. Through pretending to be deaf and dumb, Chief learns all the secrets of the ward. No one censors anything around Chief, which gives him the upper hand on a lot of situations. He receives the nickname "Chief Broom" because he goes around the ward and sweeps all the time. It's actually briefly discussed that Chief went to college and lived a pretty normal life before his time in the institution. The only one that knows Chiefs secret is McMurphy, and they seem to become close friends as the novel progresses.
A common belief about Chief is that he can't comprehend anything; however, Chief actually can comprehend and shows it at the end of the novel. In the beginning of the novel my opinion on chief is that he was just some crazy lunatic who couldn't think out anything. As a novel progresses like many others I thought Chief turned into a power-hungry psychopath. Kesey proved me wrong through his word usage in the final pages of the novel. Chief states, "I lay there on top the body for what seemed days" (Kesey 323). Chief goes on to say, "Then I lay on my bed. I lay for a while, holding the covers over my face" (Kesey 323). This shows us that Chief didn't do this for power, he did this from his heart. He did it for his friend McMurphy who was in a vegetable state. In that state, McMurphy had no power, so Chief didn't gain power for what he did. Chief helped McMurphy find peace, and in the end it was the right thing to do.
A common belief about Chief is that he can't comprehend anything; however, Chief actually can comprehend and shows it at the end of the novel. In the beginning of the novel my opinion on chief is that he was just some crazy lunatic who couldn't think out anything. As a novel progresses like many others I thought Chief turned into a power-hungry psychopath. Kesey proved me wrong through his word usage in the final pages of the novel. Chief states, "I lay there on top the body for what seemed days" (Kesey 323). Chief goes on to say, "Then I lay on my bed. I lay for a while, holding the covers over my face" (Kesey 323). This shows us that Chief didn't do this for power, he did this from his heart. He did it for his friend McMurphy who was in a vegetable state. In that state, McMurphy had no power, so Chief didn't gain power for what he did. Chief helped McMurphy find peace, and in the end it was the right thing to do.
Abby Hudrlik
Question 1:l
In "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" by Ken Kesey, the narrator chosen was Chief Bromden. He is a patient in the mental ward and got the nickname "Chief Broom" because of his job in the ward which is to sweep. Since he is the narrator, as a reader we know the most about him. While in the hospital, he pretends to be deaf which gives him an advantage in the ward. People feel that they can speak freely around him because he won't hear. With his knowledge of the people without them knowing, he has unknown power.
He talks a bit about his family and heritage. We learn that he is Native American his mother was a white woman who convinced his Indian father to sell his tribal lands. He received his last name from his mother instead of his father which upsets him. He is 6'7 and played high school football. He joined the army during WW2 where he learned about different types of machinery which later on influences his hallucinations of machines.
In the beginning of novel Chief Bromden is weak to say the least. He's constantly hallucinating and experiences seeing a "fog" quite often. Also, he's bullied in the ward which makes him self conscious and small; but being 6'7, he is clearly not. He feels trapped in his own mind and I believe he was depressed until McMurphy came along and helped distract his fear and taught him to believe in himself. Bromden says "One of these days I'll quit straining and let myself go completely, lose myself in the fog the way some of the other Chromics have, but for the time being I'm interested in this new man" (Kesey 42). This is him basically admitting to his lack of self confidence and that one day he'll lose his marbles, but for now he's going to distract himself with this peculiar new face in the ward. As the story goes on, Bromden starts to find confidence within himself. This all with the help of McMurphy of course. He helps Bromden see that Nurse Ratched is a "monster" and not trying to help the men at all in the ward. His hallucinations start to decrease and even starts to talk. His breakthrough in the story is whenever he murders lobotomized McMurphy and manages to escape the hospital. Over all, my opinion on Chief Bromden definitely changed. I saw him as some crazy guy who hallucinates and doesn't see himself for his worth at first, but then I realized how smart he actually was. He faked being deaf to get insight on patients and with the nurses. He found himself and slowly became stronger with the help of McMurphy.
In "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" by Ken Kesey, the narrator chosen was Chief Bromden. He is a patient in the mental ward and got the nickname "Chief Broom" because of his job in the ward which is to sweep. Since he is the narrator, as a reader we know the most about him. While in the hospital, he pretends to be deaf which gives him an advantage in the ward. People feel that they can speak freely around him because he won't hear. With his knowledge of the people without them knowing, he has unknown power.
He talks a bit about his family and heritage. We learn that he is Native American his mother was a white woman who convinced his Indian father to sell his tribal lands. He received his last name from his mother instead of his father which upsets him. He is 6'7 and played high school football. He joined the army during WW2 where he learned about different types of machinery which later on influences his hallucinations of machines.
In the beginning of novel Chief Bromden is weak to say the least. He's constantly hallucinating and experiences seeing a "fog" quite often. Also, he's bullied in the ward which makes him self conscious and small; but being 6'7, he is clearly not. He feels trapped in his own mind and I believe he was depressed until McMurphy came along and helped distract his fear and taught him to believe in himself. Bromden says "One of these days I'll quit straining and let myself go completely, lose myself in the fog the way some of the other Chromics have, but for the time being I'm interested in this new man" (Kesey 42). This is him basically admitting to his lack of self confidence and that one day he'll lose his marbles, but for now he's going to distract himself with this peculiar new face in the ward. As the story goes on, Bromden starts to find confidence within himself. This all with the help of McMurphy of course. He helps Bromden see that Nurse Ratched is a "monster" and not trying to help the men at all in the ward. His hallucinations start to decrease and even starts to talk. His breakthrough in the story is whenever he murders lobotomized McMurphy and manages to escape the hospital. Over all, my opinion on Chief Bromden definitely changed. I saw him as some crazy guy who hallucinates and doesn't see himself for his worth at first, but then I realized how smart he actually was. He faked being deaf to get insight on patients and with the nurses. He found himself and slowly became stronger with the help of McMurphy.
Rachael Stevick
Question 1:
The narrator of our book is Chief Bromden. He is a
patient in the mental institution. I could describe Bromden as a tall man about
6’7 who is a little bit of a pushover however he is a very smart man. He faked
being deaf that way people would talk around him and he could know what was
going on. I’d say he was rather sensible and picked up on people quickly. I
think in the beginning of this novel he lacks confidence, but it is returned
during the story. Because he is the
narrator we know a lot about him. We know his past such as getting his mother’s
name and not his dads do to his father having a drinking problem. He played
football which enabled him to travel much. He has had a women ask him to take
her away. A big thing we realize is that Chief was in the army during World War
2. This is a very big factor into who he is due to the fact that now he is
known as crazy.
When he is the
army he learns all about these electronics which he now schizophrenically hallucinates
to. My opinion of Bromden did however change in the story. The whole novel I
really liked him I had a good look on how he saw things. I felt sorry for him
but had respect for him. He saw things in the hospital that were not right and shared
them with the reader. I thought I had an understanding he made me think.
Figuring out if what he was saying was real. But of course with every great story
comes a plot twist. He is the reason for McMurphy’s death. He suffocated him
with a pillow. I never saw this coming from him.
Q2:
I think the author chose Chief Bromden to narrate
because if he didn’t he’d be a nobody. He was a fly on the wall character for
most of the story. The main characters were the Nurse and McMurphy. If he has
chosen either of those two the story would be even more bias. Yes I said even
more in a sense the story is in a sense bias due to Bromden being a patient. Obviously
he was stating what was wrong in the ward and putting most of the blame on the
nurse who was in charge of the patients. When Mcmurphy stepped in it was like
he was the super hero and as a reader that’s what we thought until Bromden didn’t
see his as one. If it was from another side maybe we would have thought the
nurse was a hero.
Another big thing he changes is the fact of what is
real and what is not real. He is paranoid and obviously in a ward for a reason.
We as the reader had to see what was real and what wasn’t. I like Bromden a
lot, I think he could have been a lot better off if he was in a ward in today’s
world. He didn’t seem to have zero hope I felt the hope I could tell the rest
of the characters didn’t. Yes he did kill McMurphy and there is no excuse for
that but I do think he a least put him out of his misery of being a vegetable.
I am really happy the author chose Bromden my favorite character I loved
watching his character development.
Maya huggins- part 2
By choosing the paranoid and hallucinating patient, Chief Bromden, as the narrator, ken Kesey gave readers an insight to the system of a mental institution. Chief's perspective sometimes proved unreliable due to his hallucinations, such as the fog or the machinery within the hospital walls. I found it hard to distinguish reality from his imagination at times. For instance, he explains in vivid deatail, "I'd wander for days in the fog, scared I'd never see another thing, then there'd be that door, opening to show me the mattress padding on the other side to stop the sounds, the men standing like zombies among shiny copper wires and tubes pulsing light, and the bright scrape of arcing and electricity" (Kesey 131). because of his countless hallucinations similar to this, the story was turned into an imaginative maze coursing through puzzling paranoia.
Even though Chief suffered from seeing things that weren't actually real, helped readers see into the inner workings of the institution. This was a result of his fake deafness and eavesdropping. Since the staff and other patients assumed he was deaf, they found his presence irrelevant when telling secrets or making plans. Chief explains his role by saying, "...I had to keep on acting deaf if I wanted to hear it all" (Kesey 209). This left my opinion on him staggering because he has been able to keep up this lie for so long. He plays people with this act of deafness which adds insecurity to his story-telling in the novel. He fills me with mistrust since he has conned so many people into believeing this lie, just as McMurphy has conned others with his games and leadership. Chief Bromden's paranoia consumes him and ultimately left the end of the story in shambles.
Even though Chief suffered from seeing things that weren't actually real, helped readers see into the inner workings of the institution. This was a result of his fake deafness and eavesdropping. Since the staff and other patients assumed he was deaf, they found his presence irrelevant when telling secrets or making plans. Chief explains his role by saying, "...I had to keep on acting deaf if I wanted to hear it all" (Kesey 209). This left my opinion on him staggering because he has been able to keep up this lie for so long. He plays people with this act of deafness which adds insecurity to his story-telling in the novel. He fills me with mistrust since he has conned so many people into believeing this lie, just as McMurphy has conned others with his games and leadership. Chief Bromden's paranoia consumes him and ultimately left the end of the story in shambles.
Megan Stanford
1.) The narrator in the novel is Chief Bromden. He has been one of the longest staying patient in the hospital and has almost been there was long as Nurse Ratched. During the time there, he has acted like he was deaf and dumb. We know this because the author says, "There's not m-much else he can do, I guess. He's deaf" (Kesey 24). Because of this, he is able to hear more information since others talk freely around them because they do not think he is listening. He also gets the job of sweeping while the faculty is having meetings, giving him even more information than other patients. We also know that he is an unreliable narrator because of his hallucinations. He will occasionally tell us something that actually does not happen and is just in his head.
I felt bad for Chief for most of the book. He was always the quiet one who didn't seem to fit in. This did have something to do with the way he presents himself, but it is still said to read. It fun to read how McMurphy began interacting with him more once he figured out that he was lying about being deaf. Chief was able to go on the fishing trip with the other patients and also worked to lift the control panel, which he did accomplish. However the ending of the book did change my opinion of him. It surprised me when he was the one control of hospital after McMurphy's incident with Nurse Ratched. I was happy for him that he finally got out of his shell, however I did not approve of killing McMurphy. Even though McMurphy was a "vegetable" and he was really saving him, I do not believe anyone should kill anything.
2.) The author probably chose Chief to be the narrator to give the view of a patient in a mental hospital during this time. We see the side of the patients and how the faculty are treating them unfairly because one of the patients is telling the story. If a faculty member was telling it, we would see more of how crazy the patients are and how the nurses and doctors are really helping them. His perspective added a negative view towards the faculty. One example of this is when McMurphy wants to change the time of when they are allowed to watch television in order to watch the World Series. McMurphy tries get this change by a vote and begins rallying others: "How many of you birds will vote for me if I bring up that time switch again?" (Kesey 121). As readers, we see that not changing the time as unfair because the patients are unable to watch the game. However, Nurse Ratched knows that a schedule is really important and changing it would hurt the patients.
In my opinion, Chief reminded me a lot like McMurphy. They both conned people, just in different ways. McMurphy would make them believe he was their leader when he really was just looking out for himself whereas Chief made them believe he was deaf. They both changed how the other patients viewed them which was different from the truth. I feel that McMurphy's arrival simply brought this aspect of Chief even more, which is why he was ready to take control of the hospital at the end. This is also why McMurphy could figure out the truth about Chief's hearing because they were so much alike.
1.) The narrator in the novel is Chief Bromden. He has been one of the longest staying patient in the hospital and has almost been there was long as Nurse Ratched. During the time there, he has acted like he was deaf and dumb. We know this because the author says, "There's not m-much else he can do, I guess. He's deaf" (Kesey 24). Because of this, he is able to hear more information since others talk freely around them because they do not think he is listening. He also gets the job of sweeping while the faculty is having meetings, giving him even more information than other patients. We also know that he is an unreliable narrator because of his hallucinations. He will occasionally tell us something that actually does not happen and is just in his head.
I felt bad for Chief for most of the book. He was always the quiet one who didn't seem to fit in. This did have something to do with the way he presents himself, but it is still said to read. It fun to read how McMurphy began interacting with him more once he figured out that he was lying about being deaf. Chief was able to go on the fishing trip with the other patients and also worked to lift the control panel, which he did accomplish. However the ending of the book did change my opinion of him. It surprised me when he was the one control of hospital after McMurphy's incident with Nurse Ratched. I was happy for him that he finally got out of his shell, however I did not approve of killing McMurphy. Even though McMurphy was a "vegetable" and he was really saving him, I do not believe anyone should kill anything.
2.) The author probably chose Chief to be the narrator to give the view of a patient in a mental hospital during this time. We see the side of the patients and how the faculty are treating them unfairly because one of the patients is telling the story. If a faculty member was telling it, we would see more of how crazy the patients are and how the nurses and doctors are really helping them. His perspective added a negative view towards the faculty. One example of this is when McMurphy wants to change the time of when they are allowed to watch television in order to watch the World Series. McMurphy tries get this change by a vote and begins rallying others: "How many of you birds will vote for me if I bring up that time switch again?" (Kesey 121). As readers, we see that not changing the time as unfair because the patients are unable to watch the game. However, Nurse Ratched knows that a schedule is really important and changing it would hurt the patients.
In my opinion, Chief reminded me a lot like McMurphy. They both conned people, just in different ways. McMurphy would make them believe he was their leader when he really was just looking out for himself whereas Chief made them believe he was deaf. They both changed how the other patients viewed them which was different from the truth. I feel that McMurphy's arrival simply brought this aspect of Chief even more, which is why he was ready to take control of the hospital at the end. This is also why McMurphy could figure out the truth about Chief's hearing because they were so much alike.
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