1. One Flew over the cuckoo’s nest
Part One Questions with Answers

2. Questions: Pg. 3 - 41 Who is the narrator? How does he get his name?
The narrator is Chief Bromden, or Chief Broom, as he is called by the orderlies. His nickname is based on his “job” for the ward – he sweeps the halls, listening in on conversations.
What does the narrator believe the black boys are talking about? Why doe he believe they are filled with hate? Explain this in the socio-cultural- context of the novel.
He believes they are talking about everything they hate – the hospital, the patients, the other workers – and that they are also spilling hospital secrets. This “hate” he believes they have is why the Big Nurse hires them in the first place. This takes place during segregation, so it makes sense that the black boys would hate the world at this point.

3. Questions: Pg
What episode does the narrator suffer that suggests that he is genuinely psychologically disturbed? What does this episode infer about Nurse Ratched? How does her name show her character?
The chief hallucinates, and many of these hallucinations have to do with a person’s size or stature. He describes the Nurse as coming in and catching the black boys talking instead of working. As she starts toward them, she grows larger and more animal and/or mechanical, and she and the black boys face off, about to tear each other apart.
For an analysis of her name, visit this site: one-flew-over-the-cuckoos- nest/character-analysis/nurse-ratched
Describe Nurse Ratched’s physical appearance as Chief Broom sees her.
He describes her as someone who is almost robotic. She uses “precise, automatic gesture[s]” and her “face is smooth, calculated, and precision-made, like an expensive baby doll,” (pg. 5) that has been made in a factory. However, her one feminine, or even human, quality is that she has a large chest.

4. Questions: pg
What do the aides do with Chief’s breakfast? What does this say about the type of care that facility offers?
The aides eat the Chief’s breakfast while he watches from the Seclusion room. This indicates that the treatment of the patients is not out of patience, understanding, and a need to help, but rather out of spite and derision.
Sum up the Chief’s history. How did he become deaf and dumb? What happened to him in the war?
Oops – this question is actually answered later on in the book!

5. Questions: pg
What does the Public Relations man say to visitors that the Chief notices? How important is this to the story?
The PR guy gives tours, and he always brags about how “cheery” the atmosphere is in the hospital ward. He tells the (typically frightened women) that they have “eliminated all the old-fashioned cruelty” from their ward. This is important because it’s not true – it’s simply what they want the rest of society to believe about what goes on here.
What disturbing implication does the Chief make about what happens when the aides get a new patient?
When someone is admitted, the orderlies can’t wait to “take his temperature.” The process of taking the man’s temperature involved using a rectal thermometer and Vaseline, and the orderlies would make sure they had several ounces of Vaseline to do the job, then would gang up on the patient. They enjoy inflicting pain.

6. Questions: pg
What is unusual about McMurphy? His voice and his laughter affect the ward – explain. Hands are an important symbol in the novel. How are McMurphy’s and Harding’s hands different?
McMurphy’s laugh is the first one the men have heard on the ward in years. He jokes with the men and is laid back, while the rest of them are afraid of letting go.
McMurphy has rough, “manly” hands that “[ring] with blood and power, while Harding’s hands are delicate and hold a feminine quality. This is the first indication that Harding may in fact be a closeted homosexual.
Why is McMurphy in the hospital?
He tells the men that he no longer found the work farm interesting and that he was tired of working. He also tells them that he got into too many fights and was labeled a “psychopath” by the court and admitted.

7. Questions: pg
Describe the ward prior to McMurphy’s arrival. How does McMurphy upset the ward? How is he able to establish control among the patients?
Before McMurphy arrived, the ward was under a “fog” and the complete control of the Big Nurse. McMurphy brings a human element to the ward, attempting to get to know the men and be jocund with them right away. He begins gambling with them, teaching them how to play certain card games and reeling them in by allowing them to win the games in the end. He doesn’t believe in the Big Nurse’s complete power, so he attempts to disrupt her control.
What procedures are used by the hospital to transform Acutes into Chronics? How has Nurse Ratched set up the ward as an anti-cure?
The hospital uses electro-shock therapy and lobotomies as “cures” for those men who are deemed to be manipulative or too disturbed. Nurse Ratched threatens the Acutes with these procedures when they step out of line, not allowing them to learn from, or even make, mistakes that are applicable to the real world.

8. Questions: pg
What happens in the morning (generally)? How does that make the inmates less than men? What does docile mean? Why does Ratched want “docile” men?
The men are used to a strict routine that is completely controlled by the staff at the hospital. They get the same food and the same pills and the same games every single day, creating a robotic feel to the ward. They must take their meds or they are seen as creating a disturbance and will be “taken care of” the way Taber was. The Chief believes Nurse Ratched works for the Combine and monitors inside and outside the ward. If she keeps the mean docile, then they will not try to fight the system she has worked so hard to maintain.

9. Questions: pg
What is a manipulator? Why does Nurse Ratched smile to herself thinking about Mr. Taber?
A manipulator is someone who, according to the Big Nurse, will “use everyone and everything to his own ends” (pg. 27). She calls McMurphy a manipulator because he wants to take over so quickly, when in fact she is also quite the manipulator. Actually, her smile at the episode with Mr. Taber is because of how she manipulated that situation to her own ends.
What connection does the Mill have with the Ward?
The Chief sees both of these as “factories” for the Combine. There’s a certain mechanical nature to both of them, an assembly line that keeps everything flowing smoothly.