Chapter 2

“I don’t remember if I got breakfast or not. Probably not. I can call to mind some mornings locked in seclusion the black boys keep bringing seconds of everything-supposed to be for me, but they eat it instead-till all three of them get breakfast while I lie there on that pee-stinking mattress, watching them wipe up egg with toast.--pg 14 Although the narrator is clearly delusion one cannot help but feel sorry for him. What interests me is that in this exaggerated description, there seems to be some truth. Like him not remembering if he got breakfast. Bromden most likely can’t remember due to medications but how can a person live like that. Especially an insane person needs to feel a sense of security and safety. As a result this quotation shows me that the mental hospital isn’t doing enough for Bromden if he still feels helpless.

“Whoever comes in the door I usually somebody disappointing, but there’s always a chance otherwise, and when a key hits the lock all the heads come up like there’s stings on them.”--pg 15

In my experience when someone opens a door to a classroom, auditorium or any other such place most people turn to see who it is because everyone is curious by nature. A mental hospital is usually anything but normal but to me this quote expresses that sometimes its just that, normal. However the narrator says that most visitors are disappointing, as is to be expected in a mental hospital where patients are made to be calm and without excitement. But this also means that these patients don’t get to have all the aspects of a normal human life because and there disability, and its disheartening.

“Still, even though I can’t see him, I know he’s no ordinary Admission. I don’t hear him slide scared along the wall, and when they tell him about the shower he don’t just submit with a weak little yes, he tells them right back in a loud, brassy voice that he’s already plenty damn clean, thank you.”--pg 15

“Chief Bromden” is much smarter than most of the people there and especially more than people think he is. Bromden has been around long enough to know the occurrences of life there and the people that go there. But he can tell through subtle clues that this new guy is different. This shows that the Chief knows a lot about the people there and can tell the differences more that most people. It even seems as though he is foreshadowing or predicting an issue surrounding this new patient.