Chapter 28

"She saw that McMurphy was growing bigger than ever while he was upstairs where the guys couldn't see the dent she was making on him, growing almost into a legend" (244).

I chose this quote because it shows the ongoing struggle for power in the ward. Even though the Big Nurse has the clear power to end things immediately for McMurphy, McMurphy hangs around in the "battle" and makes the Nurse embarrassed too. McMurphy's latest move, however, is what really forces the Big Nurse to go through with his lobotomy. Ultimately I think that this quote is what symbolizes the Big Nurse's last straw in the fight for power and rule over the other patients at the ward.

"'I don't think, it was the feeling that the great, deadly, pointing forefinger of society was pointing at me- and the great voice of millions chanting Shame. Shame. Shame' It's society's way of dealing with someone different'" (257).

I think that this quotation is particularly one of the most important in the book. I believe this because when Harding describes how he feels about his fluttering hands to McMurphy it not only applies to Harding, or even just the patients in the book, but it applies to every individual in the world in their own different way. This quote shows how the social norm is easiest to follow, and in Harding's case his hands are what sets him apart from the normal image of everyone else. And every patient in the ward has a similar situation and doesn't fit in outside.

"I grinned back at them, realizing how McMurphy must've felt these months with these faces screaming up at him" (243).

This quote explains how Chief Bromden feels when he returns from Disturbed and everybody is asking him questions and congratulating him for taking down one of the black boys earlier. Chief is suddenly in the limelight of the ward since McMurphy is still in Disturbed, and he is enjoying every moment of this popularity. The quote also shows how much more comfortable Chief has become with himself over the past few months when McMurphy has been around. With his guidance and positive reinforcement, Big Chief Bromden is finally himself again and is able to talk (instead of being dumb and deaf) with all the other patients.