The Struggles of Chief Bromden in One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, a Novel by Ken Kesey

Chief Bromden and The Struggling Ego

Chief Bromden doubles as the narrator and ultimate protagonist in Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Bromden is a Native American, paranoid-schizophrenic character who was raised by an alcoholic father and later joins the army before ending up on a mental ward in 1950's Oregon. Kesey demonstrates how struggles can be empowering through Bromden, who represents the constant struggle between a rebellious mankind and an oppressive society.

Bromden is characterized as both round and dynamic as he undergoes changes throughout the story. He feigns mute and deaf as a way to protect himself from the "Combine". The Combine is the ward. In the beginning, he views it as "a factory for... fixing up mistakes made in the neighborhoods and in the schools and in the churches... When a completed product goes back out into society, all fixed up good as new, better than new sometimes, it brings joy to the Big Nurse's heart; something that came in all twisted different is now a functioning, adjusted component, a credit to the whole outfit and a marvel to behold. Watch him sliding across the land with a welded grin, fitting into some nice little neighborhood where they're just now digging trenches along the street to lay pipes for city water. He's happy with it. He's adjusted to surroundings finally" (Kesey, 40). The ward is supposed to help the patients, yet under the iron fist of Nurse Ratched, it does anything but fix them. Chief Bromden is classified as a "Chronic" and "Chronics are... machines with flaws inside that can't be repaired, flaws born in, or flaws beat in over so many years of the guy running head-on into solid things that by the time the hospital found him he was bleeding rust in some vacant lot" (Kesey, 19). He does not think he can be helped and is set to live out his days, slowly slipping into "the fog". Perhaps Kesey's purpose in typecasting Bromden as a flawed Chronic rather than an Acute is to amplify his transition from meek and mild to bold and brave, or he wanted to broadcast a message: perfection lies in imperfections.

The aforementioned transition commences with the arrival of McMurphy. The world is just one giant machine to the Chief. Not speaking and putting on the dissembling facade that he cannot hear is his form of resistance. He does not want to be a part of the machine; he does not want to be controlled. Chief lacks confidence in himself, though, and fears the world around him because "it's not just the Big Nurse by herself, but it's the whole Combine, the nation-wide Combine that's the really big force, and the nurse is just a high- ranking official for them," and they are all trying to repress the patients (Kesey, 165). The nurse is one part of this show of power; his mother was a part, too. She convinced his father to sell his land, and Chief had to take her name instead of his father's. In his eyes, those who gave into power were small, and those who did not were big. His father became smaller in his eyes, and even at 6'7", Chief views himself as miniscule. He is clueless as to how he could make a change until McMurphy comes in as this boisterous, sexually immoral, loud character who immediately starts breaking ward policies. McMurphy's anti-hero status reinforces one of Kesey's themes-- the strength in weakness. He also serves as a foil for Bromden. People are like herd animals, constantly in need of a strong leader. Chief's reserved nature inhibits him from being said leader. Therefore, McMurphy steps in. Power is oftentimes taken advantage of through the Nurse. She should not have exerted her force by using electroshock therapy, induced seizures, forced unkown medication, signing off on lobotomies, retaining healthy patients, and leading one to suicide then blaming it on others. The government should not have mistreated Native Americans. McMurphy sauntered onto the ward and saw all this corrupt use of power, and he does something about it. He essentially is the catalyst or the stimuli in the Chief starting to believe in himself. Chief Bromden transforms from a reticent observer to a nonconformist, ready to make an impact. He no longer lives as a part of the machine, constantly blinded by the fog and manipulated time.

People are like unruly children in need of a firm parent. As Harding puts it, the "world... belongs to the strong... The ritual of our existence is based on the strong getting stronger by devouring the weak. We must face up to this. Nor more than right that it should be this way. We must learn to accept it as a law of the natural world. The rabbits accept their role in the ritual and recognize the wolf as the strong. In defense, the rabbit becomes sly and frightened and elusive and he digs holes and hides when the wolf is about. And he endures, he goes on. He knows his place. He most certainly doesn't challenge the wolf to combat" (Kesey, 60). He is showing how the ward worked. Nurse Ratched is the wolf and all the patients were the rabbits, succumbing to her display of strength. The patients did not want to be cowardly, but it was the only way they knew how to survive. McMurphy is rebellious, which is why he is labeled as a wolf. He knows how to survive on his own. Rules and policy are an important part to a properly functioning ward. They allow the daily routine to run smoothly, set boundaries, and prevented people from stepping out of line. This applies to people in general. People have natural instincts and desires. Not all inclinations are accepted, though. Rules serve their purpose by making sure everyone falls inside the box, while those who do not are punished. Leaders help to enforce the rules. Albeit, the Nurse goes overboard. She "locks the ward like a watchman's clock. Everything the guys think and say and do is all worked out months in advance, based on the little notes the nurse makes during the day... A number of Order Daily Cards are returned, punched with a pattern of little square holes. At the beginning of each day the properly dated OD card is inserted in a slot in the steel door and the walls hum up: Lights flash on in the dorm at six-thirty: the Acutes up out of bed quick as the black boys can prod them out, get them to work buffing the floor, emptying ash trays, polishing the scratch marks off the wall where one old fellow shorted out a day ago, went down in an awful twist of smoke and smell of burned rubber. The Wheelers swing dead log legs out on the floor and wait like seated statues for somebody to roll chairs into them. The Vegetables piss the bed, activating an electric shock and buzzer, rolls them off on the tile where the black boys can hose them down and get them in clean greens. ... Six-forty-five the shavers buzz and the Acutes lineup in alphabetical order at the mirrors, A, B, C, D... Seven o'clock the mess hall opens... Seven-thirty back to the day room" (Kesey, 32). The freedom of the patients is usurped and individuality is not encouraged but stifled. In One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, McMurphy is the rebellious mankind, while Nurse Ratched is the oppressive society. Bromden is caught in between the two and has to make a choice. He could continue to live in an oppressed environment, yet he chooses to break free.

Bromden symbolizes the struggle between humanity and authoritative figures within society. Obviously, living in an oppressive environment has negative effects on people. Some people accommodate, learning to live under the hardship and restraint. Some people simply fail, giving into the pressure. Yet, some people fight back. Chief serves as the eyes and ears of the novel. The knowledge gained through observations and picked up conversations that slip from unrestrained tongues and fall onto presumed deaf ears gives him power. Perhaps the whispered conversations and imagined scenes set fear in him, causing him to feel that he cannot successfully confront his foe. He does not recognize the extent of the power he holds, so he chooses to accommodate. Within society, people struggle with wanting to belong and wanting to be themselves. The reality is that each individual is a significant part of the whole, yet society tends to focus in on the small disparities, creating a "pecking party" of sorts among people as they turn in on each other and learn to be apprehensive of dissimilarities. "The flock gets sight of a spot of blood on some chicken and they all go to peckin' at it, see, till they rip the chicken to shreds, blood and bones and feathers. But usually a couple of the flock gets spotted in the fracas, then it's their turn. And a few more gets spots and gets pecked to death, and more and more. Oh, a peckin' party can wipe out the whole flock in a matter of a few hours, buddy, I seen it. A mighty awesome sight. The only way to prevent it—with chickens-is to clip blinders on them. So's they can't see" (Kesey, 55). When turned against each other, destruction ensues. Chief acts as the ego- the reality or balance between the id and superego. He recognizes that rebellion and individuality are instinctual, but he also knows that society (Nurse Ratched in this case) has the power to destroy those who go against her will. The ego can cause people to struggle because how to achieve that balance is not always evident. Chief Bromden is symbolic of this struggle as he tries to learn how to live on the ward and how to become free of it and the constraints of his own mind. He breaks free, leaving stronger than he was before.

The struggle is over for Bromden. It is not clear whether he could save all the patients, but he is able to save himself. "Even if it didn't happen," perhaps readers can gain insight from Bromden's story (Kesey, 13). Strength is more than big words and muscles. Physical health and mental health are equally important, and Bromden's journey proves that people can overcome their own struggles once they gain credence in themselves rather than deprecating themselves.

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