Madame's Munchkins discussion

Why does Chief pretend to be dumb and mute? What advantages are there for him due to faking the condition? Are there any disadvantages in his view?

I am not completely sure as to why chief does this but I think its almost a defense mechanism he has had a very difficult life and he feels small. All he wants is to vanish he doesn't want to get in the way or cause any trouble. The advantage to this is people will say anything in front of him without thinking twice. The disadvantages are that he lacks the ability to have real human interaction he cant express the way he feels.

Adding on to John's point about the advantages of faking his condition, chief becomes very observant of all the people in the ward and he learns things about others that not everyone else knows. I also think faking his condition has helped chief survive and not go completely insane like some of his fellow chronics. It is interesting to see if chief was always like this or if he developed a more introverted personality as he stayed longer in the mental ward. His upbringing definitely was a cause for him faking his condition and being so unsocial but i think his time in the ward might have also contributed.

To back up my statement on Chief having a difficult life and feeling inadequate he says “I was a whole lot bigger in those days” (p. 36) when describing his youth.

On page 58, McMurphy calls Nurse Ratched a "ballcutter." What does he mean by that? Back your response up with evidence from later in the novel.

He normally would be seen as intimidating and possible threat to the order/power (by Ratched & staff) this is a way to (as John said) "be small" or to disappear. It is a smart strategy. IMO he is the most sane (in reference to Julian's post on the other thread - who is craziest?)

To answer julians first question, in my own opinion i would say he had it all planned out. Just give me a sec, it all makes sense. So i would say in my mind at least, that chief is very intelligent. Normally when someone goes to jail their first action is to establish some sort of dominance and let everyone know who you are. this is exact what mcmurphy did when he first came to the asylum. he was loud and big, letting everyone know who he was. Mcmurphy was sentenced to jail and then ended up in the asylum. But there is a large difference between a jail and a prison right? a prison you're constantly fighting for food and fighting others and dominance is how you survive. This is an asylum where you don't need to fight. No one is trying to take what you have and everything is provided for you. the only person that you will be picked on, are the doctors and staff at the asylum. By being the ignored deaf and dumb person, Chief created a cloak around which prevented most of the attention from getting put towards him. So when Mcmurphy came along, he brought a lot of attention to himself. something that chief did not want. It was a defense mechanism like john said, but just for different reasons.

McMurphy means that Nurse Ratched really obliterates the confidence and masculinity of the men in the ward. She holds the men on a tight leash and oppresses them severely as John previously mentioned in the Ward thread. Her depriving of the inmates masculinity really destroys them as men, as they are unable to express themselves as we have talked about before. My evidence of her conniving methods to trick the inmates is by her posting of news updates about boat accidents to scare the men out of going on the fishing trip. She tries to scare them back into her arms and away form McMurphy's rebellious charisma and adventurousness but at this point in the novel, it is just too late for her games. The men go anyway, which is a reassertion of their independence, as they would no longer be controlled by her manipulation. In this respect you may be able to say that McMurphy cut the ballcutter's own balls off.

I believe that chief's reasoning to stay quite is as said before that he wants to be to himself. He is not interested in socializing. Also chief's past on the tribe and his fight to keep his land plays into his personality. Furthermore i feel that this helps him because he is overlooked by everyone, staff and patients. In the start of the book, Nurse Ratched and the black boys are arguing at each other which brings the true dark side of each of them. Bromden is watching all of this as he mops but as other patients come out, the staff quickly go back to their normal selves. this shows how not even Nurse ratched seems to care about what Chief sees as she truly believes in the ruse set by chief. this helps him because he is able to see what really happens in the ward which no other patient is really aware of. Furthermore if Chief was to openly talk his thoughts, he would be likely noticed and treated, stopping his thinking process. But being quiet allows him to observe, analyse and think what he wants without anyone noticing.

Id have to agree with Abe. Chief pretending to be deaf and mute allows him to remain in the shadows, away from the bad side of Nurse Ratched. I feel that McMurphy was exactly what Chief needed to break out of his shell. I think that McMurphy helps the other inmates through the fishing trip, card games, disobeying of Nurse Ratched and group discussions that they are all in some way less sick than they think they are.

Julian wrote: "On page 58, McMurphy calls Nurse Ratched a "ballcutter." What does he mean by that? Back your response up with evidence from later in the novel."

In my own opinion, besides the literal assumption, feel that he knows that she is trying to restrict in the other inmates in what they do. My prime example would be when Billy Bibbit kills himself after nurse Ratched told him that she would have to tell on him for sleeping with a prostitute. After Billy kills himself, McMurphy then strangles Ratched, almost killing her. He felt like she was to blame to death and that he was only living life and did not deserve to die. Lastly, I felt like McMurphy felt like there was a better way for these Chronics to be treated an healed. He saw that the best way to heal was through social interaction and physical activity, not through medicine and experimentation.