Cuckoo's Nest #2

At the end of part one, McMurphy appears to be winning the argument between Nurse Ratched and himself. After McMurphy convinces the Acutes and the Chief to vote to watch the World Series, Nurse Ratched starts to show her aggravation at him, which she never would have done before. She wasn't even able to wield her power over the men to pull them back to their chores and away from the television. At this point in the book, the Chief isn't much more than a narrator. We sometimes forgets that he is even there until he mentions things about himself, which is very rare. However, he has gotten more involved in the story since McMurphy appeared in the asylum. He gets more involved with what the Acutes are doing and he inputs more of his own opinions and ideas about what is going on.

Cuckoo's Nest #1

The characters in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" seem to fit into the molds of three basic character forms; hero, antihero, and villain. Based on the first half of part one, I think that Mr. Bromden is the hero, McMurphy is the antihero, and the Big Nurse is the villain. Mr. Bromden hasn't been very prominent in the story so far, just playing the part of a narrator, but he possesses all of the qualities of a hero. He recognizes that what the asylum does is wrong. He also doesn't appear to actually be insane like some of the other chronics. At the beginning of the book, he is listening in on the black boys and the nurse, like he was planning to use information against them at some point in the future. McMurphy fits the role of an antihero because he wants to help the men in the asylum and make it a better place for them. The way he goes about this, though, is not exactly how most people would solve the problem. He goes against what the Big Nurse tells him to do. It is also mentioned that he gambles and might be a sex addict, which gives him the qualities of an antihero, because those aspects are not exactly admired by the audience. So far, it appears that the Big Nurse is the villain. She seems determines to make life even more miserable for the men in the asylum, even when they are already suffering severely from mental illnesses. She will not let them enjoy their lives, and enjoys making them live in fear of being tortured.