One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Blog Post Number 4

PART III

The smell of rebellion mires the air once again!  McMurphy continues to solidify his relationship with Chief Bromden as they begin to converse for the first time.  McMurphy begins to empathise with the Chief’s position of solitude.  He regales the Chief of a story of when he was an ignored child and decided to be  silent in order to hear all that was around him.  When he was silent, he was invisible.  Using his invisibility to gain knowledge and leverage of those around him, McMurphy unleashed his knowledge and leverage in a wave of strife, discourse, and havoc.  Initially in utter disbelief that someone so small could cause so much damage, the Chief begins to see that one the size of an ant can do great things as long as the feel like they are the size of mountains.  McMurphy begins to organize a fishing trip and enlists all available inmates to accompany them.  Using his two  “Aunts” (in reality prostitutes) for transportation, McMurphy obtains approval from the executives of the ward. On the day of however, only one of his “Aunts” arrive with one car.  Nurse Ratched declares the lack of two cars to be unacceptable for transporting the group.  Quick to counter, McMurphy invited one of the ward’s doctors (a huge fishing aficionado) to join them.  Taking his car as well, the group heads off to the local harbor where they quickly “borrow” a boat from an unaware dock master.  Heading out to the deep sea to go fishing and get drunk, the men (Billy in particular) are entranced by Candy Starr’s (the prostitute) femininity and beauty.  Being the caring guy that he is, McMurphy arranges a date for Billy so that he may try to court Candy.  Returning to the mainland, the men of the ward are happy and in high spirits, except for McMurphy who has a terrible case of nostalgia once they drive past his old house.  

Undoubtedly comical, this section of One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest brings smiles back upon the readers’ faces.  McMurphy is back in the fight and he’s in it to win it.  The book inspires the innate sense of rebellion that lies dormant in every human being.  McMurphy resurfaces old memories of Tom Sawyer, albeit he is not as selfish.  Both share a distinct love for mischief, are capable leaders, and a strong sense of willpower.  McMurphy, while selfish in his own right, does not use people as much for his own goals.  Instead he endeavors to inspire his followers to continue his work once he has left. This dichotomy between to the characters really shines forth in this section of the book.