1) Who was the cause of Cheswick's suicide? McMurphy or the Big Nurse?
Although I think that both McMurphy and the Big Nurse played some part in Cheswick's suicide, it was ultimately McMurphy that spurred Cheswick's actions. If it really was the Big Nurse that had caused his suicide, then he would have already done it a long time ago, even before McMurphy would have shown up at the ward. But since Cheswick had started to feel more comfortable saying what he felt and had someone to back him up, he deflated when that all went away when McMurphy decided to stay out of the spotlight. McMurphy disappointed Cheswick into feeling like he could never win against the Big Nurse, ultimately causing his suicide.
2) What did the fog represent for the Chief?
I think the fog that the Chief continuously reported was symbolic of his detachment from reality. After years of living in this mental ward and never talking to anyone, or having anyone talk to him, the Chief felt cut off from everything else. He had basically convinced himself that he deserved to be in the asylum, even though he was most likely not even insane to begin with. However, after McMurphy appears, the fog lessens. Once McMurphy starts to help Chief become a normal man again, the appearance of the fog is almost nonexistent as the Chief is brought back into reality.
3) How did McMurphy represent a Christ figure in the story?
Although I think that both McMurphy and the Big Nurse played some part in Cheswick's suicide, it was ultimately McMurphy that spurred Cheswick's actions. If it really was the Big Nurse that had caused his suicide, then he would have already done it a long time ago, even before McMurphy would have shown up at the ward. But since Cheswick had started to feel more comfortable saying what he felt and had someone to back him up, he deflated when that all went away when McMurphy decided to stay out of the spotlight. McMurphy disappointed Cheswick into feeling like he could never win against the Big Nurse, ultimately causing his suicide.
2) What did the fog represent for the Chief?
I think the fog that the Chief continuously reported was symbolic of his detachment from reality. After years of living in this mental ward and never talking to anyone, or having anyone talk to him, the Chief felt cut off from everything else. He had basically convinced himself that he deserved to be in the asylum, even though he was most likely not even insane to begin with. However, after McMurphy appears, the fog lessens. Once McMurphy starts to help Chief become a normal man again, the appearance of the fog is almost nonexistent as the Chief is brought back into reality.
3) How did McMurphy represent a Christ figure in the story?
McMurphy shows several similarities to Christ in this story. First of all, when he takes the men fishing, it is an allusion to the story in the Bible where Jesus refuses to help his apostles while they are fishing because he knew that they had the ability to do it themselves. McMurphy does this very same thing with the twelve other men on the fishing boat. Another reference to Jesus is when McMurphy is going through the electroshock therapy and he has to lie on a cross-shaped table and even asks if he would get a crown of thorns. Also, towards the end of the book, McMurphy "dies" (gets lobotomy) for the benefit of the other ward patients, just like Jesus sacrificed himself for every one's sins.
4) Was Chief Bromden ever really insane?
Because Chief was ignored whenever he spoke around people who weren't from his tribe when he was young, he taught himself to believe that he was unwanted by society. I think that this faulty idea is what made him commit himself to the asylum. He mentioned that he pretended to be deaf because people would never respond to him in the first place. This troublesome childhood is what drove him to the asylum, even though he really had no mental illness in the first place. He just allowed his mind to be warped by the Big Nurse.
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