Zach Torbett

Character Analysis

My character analysis is on Chief Bromden, otherwise known as Chief Broom. He is known as Chief Broom mostly because he sweeps the halls of the institution. He pretends to be deaf and dumb probably as a tool to remain in contact with the same world. This gets him the ins and outs of the institution. Bromden is 6 feet 7 inches tall, and he is the narrator of the story. He isn't a reliable narrator though because of his hallucinations. While we are reading, we see two stories. One half of our reading is reality and one half is Broom's fantasy land. This proves for a great sanity vs. insanity storyline and theme.

One quote from Bromden that supports the insanity of an institution theme is, "If somebody’d of come in and took a look, men watching a blank TV, a fifty-year –old woman hollering and squealing at the back of their heads about discipline and order and recriminations, they’d of thought the whole bunch was crazy as loons." Bromden is describing what he sees and what the people think when they hear about institutions. Bromden is giving us insight about the people in the institution. He explains them as almost a crazy race/type of people. It's helps us see how the book progresses and what mental institutions are like.