One Flew High

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Character List:
Chief Bromden- Narrator of story- half-Indian man who has been in the institution the longest. Though people think he is deaf and dumb, he chooses not to speak.
Randell Patrick Murphy- A sane man who has entered the institution to avoid a labor institution. He looks out for himself mostly, but “faces up” with Nurse Ratched throughout the novel. He attempts to “pave the way” for other inmates in the institution.
Nurse Ratched- Nurse who controls the institution- she wants to diminish all resistance of patients in the ward. Ratched believes that people must be held back, and become unable to rebel, take away unique characteristics of people for uniform manipulation.
Billy Bibbit- young patient with a stutter. He is intimidated by his mother, which is known by the nurse.
Dale Harding- Leader of The Patients Council. Most educated patient in the institution.
Charles Cheswick- First patient to win the support of McMurphy. He later dies in the swimming pool.
Bancini- A Chronic (unable to be cured) “tired of life” “dead since birth”.
Eliis- change AT institution from Acute to Chronic
Vera Harding- wife of Dale Harding- uses sexuality to intimidate him
Candy Starr- Chaperones patients on fishing trip & has sex with Billy
Sandy Gillfilliam- comes to institution with Candy when she goes to visit Billy
Mr. Taber- complains about not knowing what is in his medicine- he was once a manipulator like McMurphy, but Ratched straightened him out.
Mr. Turkle- night watchman at the institution
Tee Ah Millatoona- Bromden’s father, married a white women, took her last name. She drove him to alcoholism. Man as symbol in relation to novel.
Sefelt- ignored by staff- has an actual condition of epilepsy.
Scanlon- ONLY other involu...

... middle of paper ...

...t to the disturbed ward, and McMurphy becomes a “legend” within the ward because of his resistance to the shock treatment and authority. Next, after bribing Mr. Turkle, the security guard, the boys sneak Candy in to meet with Billy and plan McMurphy’s escape with her. Billy and Candy have sex in a room, where Ratched later walks in on him sleeping in there. She chastises him, and threatens to tell his mother- this devesates Billy and he begins to stutter, and utterly “freak out.” He is led to the doctor’s office to calm down, where he then commits sucicide. Ratched blames McMurphy, and McMurphy attempts to strangle her. Nurse Ratched takes time off and some people check themselves out of the institution- McMurphy returns a few weeks later, where the Chief then smothers him with a pillow, and throws the control panel in the tub room through the window, and escapes.

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