One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (Part 2)

• At this point, McMurphy is definitely winning against Nurse Ratched. At the end of the section, his latest act defiance was finally able to break her. When he sits there watching the blank screen, and the other patients join him, she loses it. One of the final lines displays this perfectly: "a fifty-year old woman hollering and squealing at the back of their heads about discipline and order and recriminations" (Kesey 126). Thus far, the nurse's biggest source of power has been her ability to remain calm and patient and not react to McMurphy's antics, but this latest act was too much for her to handle.
• I am becoming more fond of Chief at this point in the story because the presence of McMurphy and his actions have inspired Chief, and he is beginning to become a more active person rather than the wallflower he has been for so long. McMurphy is making him more lucid by yanking him from the fog that so often consumes him.
• I am wholeheartedly rooting for McMurphy at this point. This is perhaps, in part, due to Chief's obvious favor towards McMurphy and how it affects his narration. However, I genuinely believe that McMurphy's defiance towards the nurse is an attempt to both break her and to liberate the patients from oppression and their helplessness. He truly wants to help these men.