Bromden Essays

  • Chief Bromden in Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

    719 Words  | 2 Pages

    Chief Bromden in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Chief Bromden is half American Indian. His father was a chief named Tee Ah Millatoona, which means The-pine-that-stands-tallest-on-the-mountain. That is why he is able to use the title chief. He took on his mother's last name of Bromden. He grew up in the Columbian gorge. The chief is massive and tall and would appear very intimidating and threatening to those who meet him. He was committed to the hospital and has been there for longer than

  • The Character of Chief Bromden in Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

    1139 Words  | 3 Pages

    Chief Bromden, a tall American-Indian mute is the central character that symbolizes the change throughout the text and also throughout society. Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest uses this character that is subject to change as the narrator event though his perceptions cannot be fully trusted. Initially the ward is run as if it was a prison ward, but from the moment the brawling, gambling McMurphy sets foot on the ward it is identified that he is going to cause havoc and provide

  • Point of View in Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

    2247 Words  | 5 Pages

    The choice that a novelist makes in deciding the point of view for a novel is hardly a minor one. Few authors make the decision to use first person narration by secondary character as Ken Kesey does in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.  By choosing Bromden as narrator instead of the central character of Randle Patrick McMurphy, Kesey gives us narration that is objective, that is to say from the outside of the central character, and also narration that is subjective and understandably unreliable. The

  • One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest

    859 Words  | 2 Pages

    One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest represents a rebellion against the conformity implied in today’s society. Ken Kesey, the author, offers many examples of imagery through the Chief’s detailed narrative of the story. Appealing to the sense of sight, Bromden, describing the reactions of some invalid patients, says: “the Chronics woke up to look around with heads blue from lack of blood” (214). A touch imagery is present when the Chief describes McMurphy’s hands: “I remember the palm was smooth and hard

  • Fear in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and The Scarlet Letter

    638 Words  | 2 Pages

    One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and The Scarlet Letter To Live With Fear To live with fear and not be overcome by it is the final test of maturity. This test has been "taken" by various literary characters.  Chief Bromden in Ken Kesey's One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest and Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale in Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter both appear to have taken and passed this test. It first seemed as though the Chief was going to fail this test of maturity in the mental ward that he was committed

  • Transformation: Randle McMurphy & Patients

    855 Words  | 2 Pages

    arrived at the ward from the Pendleton Work Farm. He was sentenced to six months at the prison work farm, but pretended to be insane in order to obtain a transfer to the hospital because he thought it would be more comfortable than the work farm. Bromden senses that there was something different about this new patient. After his first experience with the excruciating routine of the Group Meeting, McMurphy tells the patients that Nurse Ratchet is a genuine “ball-cutter.” The other patients tell him

  • Bromden vs. Himself

    1174 Words  | 3 Pages

    patient, R.P. McMurphy, is trying to free himself and his fellow patients from the manipulation of Nurse Ratched. Alongside McMurphy is Chief Bromden, a massive Native American, checking into the ward for being “deaf and dumb.” Chief Bromden is well known for having a low self esteem. Because of observing McMurphy’s reckless actions and carefree personality, Bromden slowly releases himself from his negativity. Bromden’s growth is portrayed to some extent in Milos Forman’s movie adaptation of the movie;

  • one flew over the cuckoos nest

    587 Words  | 2 Pages

    just like Jesus because the patients aren’t free until he dies. Those are a few examples of how Kesey uses Christ imagery in his book. On the fishing trip that McMurphy planned twelve patients went. Those patients were Martini, McMurphy, Bibbit, Bromden, Harding, Frederickson, Scanlon, Tadem, Sefelt, George, Gregory, and Dr. Spivey. By sitting back and allowing the others to handle the storm on their own, McMurphy helps them prove they are worth something to themselves. Just the way Jesus taught

  • One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

    1632 Words  | 4 Pages

    are simply guided through their mundane lives by the powers that be. Until someone comes along offering them leadership and the prospect to become “big again.” The man who does so is no other than R.P. McMurphy. Scanlon, Harding, Bibbit, and Chief Bromden may have become adjusted to the oppressive system in which they lived, but certainly were much better adjusted to the real world and life in general after their experience with McMurphy. Some people may argue that the people of the mental hospital

  • Racism in Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

    556 Words  | 2 Pages

    that seem crazy actually make sense. A good example is the narrator of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Chief Bromden. He appears to be an insane patient at a mental hospital who hallucinates about irrational mechanical people and a thick fog that permeates the hospital ward where he lives. In reality, Bromden's hallucinations provide valuable insight into the dehumanization that Bromden and the other ward patients are subjected to. Ken Kesey, in his writing of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

  • The Use of Laughter as Medicine in Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

    775 Words  | 2 Pages

    arrival of a new patient. Chief Bromden, who is presumably deaf and dumb, narrates the story in third person. Mr. McMurphy enters the ward all smiles and hearty laughter as his own personal medicine. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest is a story about patients in a psychiatric hospital, who are under the power of Nurse Ratched. Mrs. Ratched has control over all the patients except for Mr. McMurphy, who uses laughter to fight her power. According to Chief Bromden, McMurphy "...knows you have to laugh

  • One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest

    1202 Words  | 3 Pages

    There is much strength associated with both speech and silence. One can use either to their advantage in a power struggle. In the book One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Randle Patrick McMurphy and Nurse Ratched employ the power of speech and Chief Bromden uses the power of silence until the end of the novel when he gains the power of speech. These cases prove that the greatest power is not held in speech or silence alone, but in the effective combination of the two. Many people believe verbal communication

  • One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest

    2477 Words  | 5 Pages

    traveled around the country staging happenings. Kesey’s playful attitude is reflected in the main character, McMurphy, who is often pulling pranks in the psychiatric ward. The oppression of society is a big theme in the novel. The narrator (Chief Bromden) often reflects on how the Combine is taking over. The Big Nurse is never happy unless there is complete order in her ward. She often holds group meetings, in which she belittles her patients to where they are merely rabbits, and not men. Often, when

  • One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest

    619 Words  | 2 Pages

    Eventually, Mc Murphy is defeated when Ms. Ratched makes him get a lobotomy. When you first pick up the book, you will first notice that the story is told by one of the men who live in the ward. This is Chief Bromden; a half-Indian who is one of the long time committed men. In my eyes, the Bromden is a key character in the whole book. The Chief, in reality, is 6 foot 7 inches tall, but in his mind he sees himself as a man only two or three feet tall. This is because he has received over 200 electro-shock

  • Chief Bromden Sparknotes

    1589 Words  | 4 Pages

    Chief Bromden, a long-term patient in Nurse Ratched’s psychiatric ward and he narrates the novel. The story begins on how he awakens to a typical day on the ward, feeling paranoid about the certain nighttime activities of the ward’s three black aides. The aides make fun of him for being a pushover, they make him sweep the hallways for them, even though he is over six feet tall. The black aides have nicknamed him Chief Broom. Bromden pretends to be deaf and dumb; he overhears all the secrets on the

  • One Who Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

    1516 Words  | 4 Pages

    as a fable. He would be empowered to control the path of the narrative--if he were still sane. But Chief, who has not been lobotomized but freed, recounts McMurphy's story and takes the lesson to the outside world. He becomes the messenger. Chief Bromden believes in the "fog" and the power of the "Combine." The fog is, on an individual level, a kind of mental dimness or confusion that also represents the thickness of delusion and suffering that prevents the inmates from seeing their true situation

  • Comparison of Book and Movie of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

    695 Words  | 2 Pages

    behind the story. The characterization of chief Bromden is a good example of the changes made from book to movie.  His past is a vital piece of information contributing to the mood and understanding of the story.  In the movie, Bromden is nothing more than a crazy Indian who doesn't want to talk so pretends to be deaf and dumb.  Much of the understanding and respect is lost in the transition between book and movie.  In the book, Bromden has flashbacks to his childhood, lighting on significant

  • Summary and Analysis of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

    4131 Words  | 9 Pages

    how to start with my formulations but finally I wrote and wrote and in the end I had too many pages. As a result I had to shorten my text which was more difficult than my first problem. 2      Summary of the novel A half – Indian named Chief Bromden begins telling the reader about his experiences in an Oregon mental hospital. Head of this hospital is Nurse Ratched, also known as Big Nurse, “(…) a stern, controlling woman who behaves with a serene confidence”. She is the antagonist of the novel

  • one flew over the cuckoos nest

    1086 Words  | 3 Pages

    insanity to get out of a prisoners work ranch. The antagonist is Nurse Ratched also referred to as The Big Nurse . She is in charge of running the mental ward. The novel is narrated by a patient of the hospital, an American Indian named Chief Bromden. Chief Bromden has been a patient at the hospital longer than any of the others, and is a paranoid-schizophrenic, who is posing as a deaf mute. The Chief often drifts in and out between reality and his psychosis. The conflict in the novel is between McMurphy

  • Women's Control in Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

    648 Words  | 2 Pages

    Women's Control in Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" by Ken Kesey is about a man named Chief Bromden. He is half Indian and is locked up in a mental institute. He has led everyone in the ward to believe that he is deaf and dumb; instead he is just quiet and observant. Big Nurse is the head of the ward and mentally controls every patient she has, not allowing them to become better. McMurphy is a transfer to the ward and loosens up the atmosphere. He