"But seeing her coming lightfooted across the grass with her eyes green all the way up to the ward, and her hair, roped in a long twist at the back of her head, jouncing up and down with every step like copper springs in the sun, all any of us could think of was that she was a girl, a female, who wasn't dressed white from head to foot like she'd been dipped in frost, and how she made money didn't make any difference" (195). As clearly seen in this long quote, the men in this hospital are being deprived. Being locked up in this ward deprives them of the outside world. It is so refreshing to them to see a woman who is not a nurse. This is probably because the nurses essentially take away the men's masculinity by restricting them with rules and regulations. As seen in earlier chapters, the nurses tell the men when to wake up, brush their teeth, take their medication, and everything else they do during the day. By doing this, the nurses are taking away the men's independence as well as masculinity. However, they finally are able to see a woman who does the exact opposite. Instead of depriving them from their masculinity, Candy (the woman), is essentially giving them their masculinity back. By being a representation of sex, the men are able to feel more masculine and powerful than they did before.
"...I think apparatus burned out all over the ward trying to adjust to her come busting in like she did- took electronic readings on her and calculated they weren't built to handle something like this on the ward, and just burned out, like machines committing suicide" (197). This quote's meaning is very similar to the previous one. Candy is an example of something that the nurses deprive the men on the ward of. They are not use to seeing a woman who is not a nurse, and the hospital staff is not prepared either. The hospital staff expected to see McMurphy's old aunt walking in to gather the boys for a fishing trip. Instead, they were fooled when they saw the youthful and beautiful Candy walking in. They were not prepared for something like this. In the Chief's mind, the unpreparedness of the hospital staff was seen like machines malfunctioning and dying. Candy was not what they expected and because of this, she took away a lot of power from the nurses and the hospital staff.
" 'Never before did i realize that a mental illness could have the aspect of power, power. Think of it: perhaps the more insane a man is, the more powerful he could become. Hitler an example. Fair makes the old brain reel, doesn't it? Food for though there' " (202). This is the first time in the book where we see the men embracing their "mental disabilities". Before, we got the idea that all of the men were uncomfortable with who they were. They shamed themselves because of their disability and they always thought that something was wrong with them. However, this is the first time we see a positive take on their mental disabilities. They think that being called crazy gives them power because people are scared of crazy people. By having this power, the men of the ward are accepting who they are for the first time in the book. They no longer are intimidated by other people, but are intimidating other people. Due to McMurphy, the men are able to be more comfortable with who they are, giving them power and a bit of their masculinity back.
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