Name:______Per:______Date:______
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Study Guide
PART ONE
Chapter 1 - pgs. 3-8
1. Who is the narrator, and how did he get this name?
2. What does the narrator believe the black aides are talking about? What else does he accuse the black aides of?
3. What episodes does the narrator suffer that suggest to the reader that he is genuinely psychologically disturbed?
4. Describe Nurse Ratched’s physical appearance.
Chapter 2 - pgs. 9-14
1. What does the black aides do with the chief’s breakfast?
2. What does the Public Relations man say to visitors that the Chief notices? How is this important to the story?
3. What disturbing implication does the Chief make about what happens when the aides get a new admitted patient?
4. How does McMurphy differ from other patients as he enters the ward?
5. Why is McMurphy in the hospital?
Chapter 3 - pgs. 15-26
1. What are the differences between Acutes and Chronics? Why do the Acutes write down information, much like spying, about each other in the nurse’s book? Why does the Chief think the Big Nurse really wants this? How does the narrator explain the condition of the Chronics?
2. What two procedures used by the hospital have changed Acutes into Chronics? Briefly explain each procedure. What does this say about the attempts at physical therapy used in mental institutions at this time?
3. What does the “dwarf black boy” do to Ruckly to upset him? Briefly explain its significance.
4. What veiled threat does the Nurse make to the Acutes when they act out of order?
5. What does McMurphy try to as he comes on the ward? What position does he consider establishing for himself?
Chapter 4 - pgs. 27-41
1. What is a “manipulator”? Why does Nurse Ratched smile to herself thinking about Mr. Taber?
2. How does the Chief describe the aides, and their suitability to Nurse Ratched?
3. Explain what Nurse Ratched means by the following comment: “Maybe after that take him to the electroencephalograph and check his head - we may find evidence of a need for brainwork.”
Chapter 5 - pgs 42 - 75
1. What issue does the group discuss at the beginning of the meeting? What can we infer about Harding’s “illness”?
2. What reason does McMurphy suggest the Nurse mispronounces his name? How does he counteract this?
3. Who has the power in the meeting - the Nurse or the doctor?
4. What is the theory behind the Therapeutic Community? What event in the Chief’s memory shows how the Nurse has perverted this theory? What does the Chief believe is the reason the men do this?
5. What one act of true defiance did Pete Bancini do? What did the aides do? Who finally solved it?
6. Why is McMurphy upset at the meeting? How does Harding try to explain it? What is McMurphy’s explanation? How does Harding change his story?
7. Why does the Nurse have so much power in the hospital?
8. What is Harding’s rabbit and wolf analogy? Is it accurate? What is McMurphy’s response to this analogy?
9. How does Harding explain the severity of Ellis, Ruckly, and the Chief’s illnesses?
10. What bet does McMurphy make to the others? In reasoning his bet, what does McMurphy admit about his illness?
Chapter 6 - pgs. 76-84
1. What is the significance of the Chief’s account at the very beginning of the chapter?
2. What details of the Chief’s illness are introduced in this chapter?
3. What happens between McMurphy and Nurse Pilbow? What kind of irony is this?
4. Comment on the heavy symbolism at the end of this chapter. Consider the Nurse’s birthmark, her crucifix and why she uses this as her defense against attack, McMurphy’s tattoos, and the co-ed at Oregon State’s comment that McMurphy is a symbol.
5. What does McMurphy discover about the Chief? How does this comment on perception in this story?
Chapter 7 - pgs. 85-90
1. Why does the Chief think the staff gives him pills at night?
2. Describe the disturbing vision the Chief experiences while in bed. What is the symbolic importance of the extent of the machinery?
3. Whose death does the Chief prophesize in his vision? How does the Chief view the public relations man’s role in this? How true is this?
Chapter 8 - pgs. 91-101
1. What seemingly harmless activity is McMurphy doing that disturbs the ward? How does this relate to the aides and Nurse Ratched’s control?
2. What is the ward policy regarding toothpaste? What comment does McMurphy’s reaction make about the underlying issue of control in this hospital?
3. How does McMurphy inadvertently but happily set Nurse Ratched into fury and against the aides? What does the Nurse threaten to do to Washington, and what are the implications of this threat?
4. What olfactory (smelling) “imagery” does the Chief use to contrast McMurphy to the hospital? Comment on its significance.
Chapter 9 - pgs. 102-113
1. How does Nurse Ratched get McMurphy back for the towel incident? What ward policy does she employ? Why does this policy exist? What do you feel might be its true intent? How does music match the Chief’s ideas of the Combine?
2. What cheerful idea does McMurphy have? Who supports it? How does Nurse Ratched quash it? Why would she want to quash such an idea?
3. What is the importance of the Nurse’s small twitches of the face? When do they occur?
4. How does McMurphy gain the upper hand in this chapter? What does the Chief know about how this will finally end up?
Chapter 10 - pgs. 114-116
1. Describe what role McMurphy plays in the Monopoly game. How does this comment on his character?
Chapter 11 - pgs. 117 - 125
1. What temporary change to the ward schedule does McMurphy propose? How does Nurse Ratched argue against it? Why does McMurphy get angry at the other patients? Who supports him? How do the patients explain themselves?
2. Why does McMurphy make the bet to life the hydrotherapy unit? Why does he bet so much that he could lose all he has won from the men? How is his attitude important in this scene? What is the blood on his hands symbolic of? What do his last words mean to the patients’ situation?
Chapter 12 - pgs. 126 - 127
1. Why does the Chief feel so connected to the painting? What is the significance of this? How is it significant that the fisherman isn’t fishing properly?
2. Why does the Chief portray the visiting doctor as a skeleton? Why does the Chief suppose the doctor feels the cold wind from the mountain in the painting?
3. Explain the irony of the public relations man’s comment: A man that would want to run away from a place as nice as this ... why, there’d be something wrong with him.”
Chapter 13 - pg. 128
1. How does the Chief perceive McMurphy’s attempts to drag them “out of the fog”? How do you think McMurphy perceives it?
Chapter 14 - pg. 129
1. Of all the ways a person could kill himself, what is significant about the fact that Old Rawler cut off his own testicles and bled to death? Why does the Chief think he didn’t need to bother?
Chapter 15 - 130 - 145
1. What do we learn about the Chief’s past at the beginning of the chapter? How might this past employment have contributed to his mental illness?
2. What insight do we gain into the Chief’s apparent, but false, deafness and dumbness, and how is EST related to it?
3. How does the fog relate to the public relations man and Nurse Ratched’s control fixation? What is the symbolic importance of the fog?
4. What example of a syllogism does Colonel Matterson use? What comment does this make about the validity of logic?
5. What does the Chief say about helping friends? How does this comment on what McMurphy is doing in the hospital?
6. What new vote does McMurphy call? How does Nurse Ratched defeat him? Who saves the vote, and why? How does Nurse Ratched preserve her victory?
7. How does McMurphy win in the end? How do the others support him? What important keywords give away the Nurse’s true nature? How does Nurse Ratched’s behaviour at the end of this scene comment on how ridiculous the hospital is?
PART TWO
Chapter 1 - pgs. 149 - 158
1. With the opening of Part 2, how has the balance of power changed on the ward?
2. What is the Chief afraid of now? Why? How does he trick the aide?
3. How does the extent of Nurse Ratched’s great power in this hospital show itself in the staff meeting? Comment on the validity of the doctors’ supposed diagnoses of McMurphy. How do they reflect upon psychology as a science? In what way does Nurse Ratched surprise them all, and reveal her true nature at the same time?
Chapter 2 - pgs. 159 - 166
1. How does McMurphy’s behavior positively affect the Chief’s mental illness?
2. What important experience does the Chief have when he wakes up at night? What is significant about the Canada geese? What happens to the dog, and how is this significant?
3. What symbolic meaning does the Chief attribute to the nurse with the birthmark on her chest? How does this comment on the conflict between society and nature?
Chapter 3 - pgs. 167-175
1. Why is the dorm room locked on weekends? How does McMurphy use this to criticize the therapy?
2. What complaint does Cheswick raise about another of Nurse Ratched’s use of power? How does she explain this, and how valid is this explanation? How is this affected by her reputation of abusing power?
3. What is ironic about the lifeguard, considering why he is there and the importance of his job? How did he get there in the first place? How long had he spent there? Assess the validity of this.
4. What sobering, even frightening, fact does McMurphy learn? How does he adjust his behavior? How do the other patients react towards this?
5. What happens to Cheswick? For you lifesavers and lifeguards out there, how could this have been avoided (if you don’t know, find out!)? How does this comment on the quality of the staffing at the hospital?
Chapter 4 - pgs. 176-180
1. What happens to Sefelt at the beginning of the chapter? Why does this happen, and why does Sefelt insist on doing what he does? How does Nurse Ratched exploit this event to her own ends?
2. What is Scanlon’s comment, and how does it relate to McMurphy?
Chapter 5 - pg. 181
1. What is the essence of this short chapter?
Chapter 6 - pgs. 182-187
1. How does the design of the library, with rickety bookshelves and disorganized books comment on society’s body of accumulated knowledge?
2. What is Harding’s wife’s name? What insinuation does Harding’s wife make about his friends?
3. At this point in the novel, what can the reader extrapolate about Harding’s supposed “illness”? Is this an illness worthy of treatment in this hospital? Why is Harding voluntarily in this hospital to treat this perceived illness?
4. After Vera leaves, how does McMurphy fail to emotionally support Harding in the way Harding expects? What is McMurphy really thinking about here?
5. What was hydrotherapy? Does it seem to have had the ability to work, or did it appear to just be a fancy method of appearing to address mental illness? In the Chief’s opinion, who benefited the most from it?
6. In the earlier Monopoly game, McMurphy most patiently endures Martini’s hallucinations and keeps him in the game. In what way does McMurphy act differently toward Martini at the end of this chapter, and why?
Chapter 7 - pgs. 188-196
1. What irony does Sefelt observe about the use of EST? What is the origin of EST, as Harding explains it, and why is this also ironic? What does McMurphy compare it to?
2. What is the significance of Harding’s comment, “Frontal-lobe castration”? Who appears to make the decision to use this procedure, and why does that seem out of order?
3. Compare the following two passages, one by The Chief, and one by Simon in Lord of the Flies, by Sir William Golding. What is similar about their thematic implications?
The Chief: “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.”
Lord of the Flies: (Simon) “maybe there is a beast .... maybe it’s only us.... Simon
4. What does McMurphy learn about his own status in the hospital compared to the others? What is so shocking about this? What is the others’ explanation? How does McMurphy accept this?
Chapter 8 - pgs. 197-201
1. What privilege does Nurse Ratched revoke, and why? Is this justified?
2. What defiant act does McMurphy do? What is the symbolic importance of the glass? What is McMurphy’s message? What effect does this have on the men?
PART THREE
Chapter 1 - pgs. 205-224
1. How is Dr. Spivey affected by McMurphy towards Nurse Ratched?
2. What does McMurphy do when Nurse Ratched turns down his request for an accompanied pass? What grounds did Nurse Ratched cite for her refusal?
3. What happens in the basketball game against the aides? In what respect do the patients gain victory?
4. How does basketball end? Who is responsible?
5. What is McMurphy’s next plan? How does Nurse Ratched try to undermine it? Why doesn’t the Chief sign up?
6. Describe the visit the Chief remembers from his youth. Discuss each of the three visitors in terms of their job, their opinion of Indians, and how they treat Chief Bromden (as a child). How does the Chief, as a boy, try to get the better of them? What results from this? Why is this important to the novel?