Chapter 29

"I've given what happened next a good lot of thought, and I've come around to thinking that it was bound to be and would have happened in one way or another, at this time or that, even if Mr. Turkle had got McMurphy and the two girls up and off the ward like was planned. The Big Nurse would have found out some way what had gone on, maybe just by the look on Billy's face, and she'd have done the same as she did whether McMurphy was still around or not" (Chief, p. 260) This quote is important in the way that it explains how the Chief really is aware of what is going on around him, perhaps more so than others. He accepts that things are the way they are, and there is no sense in attempting to change them; fate is fate. He is perhaps more attuned to the way things work around here than others, having spent a decade of his life solely observing. He knew this was going to happen, and he understood there was nothing more than to accept it.

"'It's all right, Billy. It's all right. No one else is going to harm you. It's all right. I'll explain to your mother.'" (Nurse Ratched, p. 265) It was shortly after this that Billy Bibbit committed suicide by cutting his neck. Yet another display of Ratched's manipulative power, this one sticks out because it caused a death. She knows that Billy's mother is his weak point, and that she can get him to switch sides at the snap of a finger.

"I been away a long time." (Chief, p. 272) As the closing line to this novel, it carries some weight. This is about how far he has come--from pretending to be a deaf, dumb mute to finally achieving escape. Throughout the story, we are given snapshots from his memory, about how he used to live a good strong life, and was a gifted fisherman in his hometown village. He has gone from insane and returned, all because of the power of the influence of McMurphy, who protected him from the manipulative tendencies of the Big Nurse.