What is the combine in Cuckoo's Nest?

The Combine is the invention of Chief's paranoia; a large mechanized matrix that enforces its control over humankind by making it conform to rigid standards of behavior.

What is the combine what is the relationship of Nurse Ratched McMurphy and the chief to the combine?

What is the relationship of Nurse Ratched, McMurphy, and the Chief to the Combine? The Combine exists in Chief Bromden's mind; "Big" Nurse Ratched is an instrument of the Combine. RPM is the rare individual whom the Combine has been unable to fit into a mold.

How does McMurphy avoid the combine?

According to the chief, how had McMurphy managed to avoid the Combine, prior to coming to the ward? He moved around from place to place.

What does the fog mean in Cuckoo's Nest?

In this novel, fogs symbolize a lack of insight and an escape from reality. When Bromden starts to slip away from reality, because of his medication or out of fear, he hallucinates fog drifting into the ward. He imagines that there are hidden fog machines in the vents and that they are controlled by the staff.

What mental illness did Martini have in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest?

Martini. Another hospital patient. Martini lives in a world of delusional hallucinations, but McMurphy includes him in the board and card games with the other patients.

The Combines | One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

What did the lobotomy do to McMurphy?

McMurphy is given a lobotomy for his attack on Nurse Ratched. When he is returned to the ward after the operation, he is a vegetable. That same night, Bromden suffocates McMurphy with a pillow.

Why is Billy Bibbit afraid of his mother?

Why is Billy Bibbit afraid of his mother? Billy's mother has controlled him throughout his entire life. By her own design, she is the only person with whom he has a relationship. He is afraid of losing his mother because she is the only woman and family in his life.

What do birds symbolize in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest?

In the novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, birds symbolize freedom, hope, and fear.

What does McMurphy's laugh symbolize?

The longer McMurphy is on the ward, the more the men begin to laugh. Laughter becomes a symbol and an active representation of the men's freedom, even though they are basically imprisoned by the ward and by society.

What do cigarettes symbolize in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest?

In contrast to keys, cigarettes represent freedom. The men use cigarettes as chips in blackjack, each cigarette representing a dime—their only money to spend as they wish. Cigarettes provide the men with a makeshift currency, giving them power to place bets, take risks, and feel like men instead of children.

What is the combine that chief describes?

The Combine is the invention of Chief's paranoia; a large mechanized matrix that enforces its control over humankind by making it conform to rigid standards of behavior.

What does Mack teach them in the tub room?

He teaches the men that he's not willing to give up, even when something seems impossible. He shows them that they should stand up against the Big Nurse, even when they're afraid of failing.

Why does the fog make the chief feel safe?

The fog causes Chief to feel safe simply because it acts as an escape mechanism from the reality of the ward. When Chief slips into the fog, he is able to escape Nurse Ratched's torment and powerful rule and find solace due to the safety that the fog brings .

What does Chief realize about the nurse and the combine that McMurphy does not?

Chief says that his mother and the Combine worked on his father to conform because he was physically large and did as he pleased — comparing him to McMurphy. Chief tells McMurphy that eventually the Combine caused his father to sell the tribal lands and waterfalls.

How is McMurphy like Pete consider their relationship with the combine?

The combine or asylum does not have the same control over them as it does with other men. Pete and Mcmurphy have developed a sense of identity before they were committed while the other men are, in part, a creation of the system: they look to conform and please others.

What does the wicker bag symbolize in Cuckoo's Nest?

Big Nurse Ratched enters the ward, and Chief describes her as carrying a wicker basket that contains the wheels and cogs she'll need to maintain the machinery of the Combine. He relates that her basket contains none of the feminine accoutrements one normally would imagine in a woman's purse.

Why did they transfer McMurphy from the work farm to the mental institution?

In 1963 Oregon, Randle Patrick McMurphy (Nicholson), a criminal who has been sentenced to a fairly short prison term, decides to have himself declared insane so he'll be transferred to a mental institution, where he expects to serve the rest of his term free of prison labor and in (comparative) comfort and luxury.

What is unusual about McMurphy?

What is unusual about McMurphy? McMurphy does not act like others. He is loud, laughs, and very bold.

Why is McMurphy admitted into the mental hospital?

Spivey explores with McMurphy the reason he has been sent to the mental hospital from the prison work farm, where he was held previously. The doctor asks McMurphy whether he is faking mental illness to get out of work, and McMurphy admits slyly that he believes there is nothing wrong with his mind.

What is Harding's rabbit and wolf analogy?

We need a good strong wolf like the nurse to teach us our place. When McMurphy accuses the men of being chickens, pecking at each other, Harding responds with the metaphor of the men as rabbits. Nurse Ratched represents the strong wolf who has the right to dominate them in the natural order of life.

What does the fog symbolize?

Fog illustrates obscurity, indistinction; in the Bible, it is an image preceding great revelations. It is the "GRAY zone" between reality and unreality, and uncertainty about the future and beyond. According to Browning it can represent approaching death.

What mental illness does Chief Bromden have?

Chief Bromden presented a long-standing history characterized by the complex features of Schizophrenia.

Who is Scanlon One Flew Over?

Scanlon: A patient obsessed with explosives and destruction. He is the only other non-vegetative patient confined to the ward by force aside from McMurphy and Bromden; the rest can leave at any time. Jim Sefelt and Bruce Fredrickson: Two epileptic patients.

Is Billy bibbit a virgin?

The next morning, Nurse Ratched finds the ward in complete disarray and Billy, cuddling with Candy. He has lost his virginity and for once, is relaxed.

Why does McMurphy get electroshock therapy?

McMurphy apologizes to Chief for getting him involved in the fight as the two are led to electroshock therapy. Alluding to his stay in a Chinese prison camp in the Korean War, McMurphy refuses to cooperate with Ratched to prevent the electroshock.