In the third part of the book, McMurphy has everyone starting to be themselves again. A bunch of the men are starting to laugh and to be rebellious like McMuprhy, flirting with staff and having a good time in general without worrying about the things that had worried them before. It a very inspiring thing to read about, a so called crazy guy subtly helping dozens of men who could not be helped in any medical or "therapeutic" way, and he helps them just by trying to make them feel good, not focussing on what’s bothering them, but giving them confidence and happiness.
McMurphy plans a fishing trip for the guys, and says its with his two Aunts. That night, the black boys are giving Bomdon a hard time and McMurphy gives him a piece of gum. Bromdon speaks to him and says thank you. This is very significant because for a great number of years that he has been in the institution he has not said anything at all and was considered deaf and dumb. He talks about how he’s really small (in reality he’s the largest in the whole institution) but its just because he's self conscious and scared, and he talks about how McMurphy is so big, but its because he has a big personality, he’s not scared of anything. He talks about how his dad used to be big but than the "combine" got to him. "That's what they said to him. He said, What can you pay for the way a man is? They didn't understand. Not even the tribe. They stood out in front of our door all holding those checks and they wanted him to tell them what to do now. They kept asking him to invest in them, or tell them go, or buy a farm. But he was too little anymore. And he was too drunk, too. The combine had whipped him. It beats everbody. It'll beat you too. They cant have someone as big as papa running around unless he's one of them. You can see that." I like how it is like he’s talking crazy, but it all makes sense.
MrMurphy told him that he would be big again, he would make him big, and went on during the night trying to boost his confidence. When the morning came around and the black boys tried to push him around he didn't take any of it and walked away. Everything is starting to change for the better, the patients are getting their courage back.
Turns out that the fishing trip was actually with a girl named Candy, who is friends with McMurphy and its not really legal. They go on the fishing trip anyways, and the men have the most fun they could ever have. The doctor even ends up having fun and breaking rules. McMurphy refuses to help anyone do anything, he wants to prove to them that they can do it themselves they only have to believe in themself. And they do it, they do everything themself. In the end everyone laughs, which is the first anyone laughed in a long time. "It started slow and pumped itself full, swelling the men bigger and bigger. I watched, part of them, laughing with them- and somehow not with them."(pg 214, Ken Kesey, One flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest)
Ken Kesey does an amazing job, showing through Chief Bromdon's view of people and their size that laughter cures and makes people feel good, no matter the circumstances. He shows how it boosts a person's confidence and makes them feel bigger and seem bigger to other people. This was one of my favourite parts of the book, it gave me a good feeling inside, because the men are finally realising how to live again and the surprisingly little amount of effort and stress it took. Before they were scared of the outside world, even going into it for the fishing trip, but now that they are there they know its not so bad, they just have to keep facing their fears.
In the very end of this part, it talks about how McMurphy looks "dreadfully tired and strained and frantic, like there wasn't enough time left for something he had to do.." (pg 221, Ken Kesey, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest) This could foreshadow more radical behaviour from McMurphy, maybe to get out of the hospital, or to help the boys more, or to win his battle with the Big Nurse. I think it might be all of them, since he tries to help the patients so much, sometimes without them realising, but he also doesn't like rules or structure, so doesn't want to stay in the ward.
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