Why does Chief Bromden pretend to be deaf and mute?

According to the source novel, he pretends to be deaf and dumb because it allows him to hear the secrets of the people around him.
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What is Bromden pretending to be?

Bromden admits that he pretends to be deaf and dumb, revealing his cleverness to successfully get away with this trickery. His subterfuge reflects dual sides of sanity. While it might seem insane to pretend to be deaf and dumb, Bromden does benefit.
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How does McMurphy know Chief isn't deaf?

McMurphy discovers Chief isn't deaf when he tells him an orderly is coming to tie him into bed and Chief responds immediately. The story of Santa Claus indicates that the Combine is able to change even the most innocuous and innocent individual from a happy, full-bodied and bearded individual into a conformist.
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Is Chief deaf and mute?

Chief, therefore, pretends to be deaf and mute. At the hospital, the staff treats him as if he actually is handicapped. Because their behavior provides him with the chance to overhear many conversations, Chief continues his act.
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Is Chief deaf?

Because Chief pretends to be deaf and unable to speak, people talk freely around him, allowing him to learn their secrets. Although he appears powerless, he actually has a lot of power because of all the knowledge he's gained through observation and listening in on conversations.
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16. Marilynne Robinson, Housekeeping (cont.)



What does Chief Bromden suffer from?

Chief Bromden presented a long-standing history characterized by the complex features of Schizophrenia.
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Is Chief mentally ill Why or why not?

By Ken Kesey

Chief Bromden is a Columbia Indian who suffers from schizophrenia. Although he plays a central role in the story, he is largely an observer. Chief is an interesting narrator because he is certainly not unbiased, and his mental illness can also shed doubt on his reliability.
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Why does the Chief continue his pretense that he is deaf and mute even after his vote at the group meeting?

Why does the Chief continue his pretense that he is deaf and mute, even after his vote at the group meeting? How does this help his role as a narrator? Chief is a shadow. He just blends in with the environment because the other patients think he is deaf and mute, this lie makes him feel safe and invisible.
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What does Chief Bromden symbolize?

Chief Bromden, a tall American-Indian mute is the central character that symbolizes the change throughout the text and also throughout society. Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest uses this character that is subject to change as the narrator event though his perceptions cannot be fully trusted.
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What happens to Chief Bromden at the end?

By the end of the novel, the fog has cleared, and Bromden has recovered the personal strength to euthanize McMurphy, escape from the hospital, and record his account of the events.
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Why is Chief Bromden in the mental hospital?

After seeing his father, a Native American chieftain, humiliated at the hands of the U.S. government and his white wife, Chief Bromden descends into clinical depression and begins hallucinating. Soon he is diagnosed with schizophrenia.
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What does the fog represent in Cuckoo's Nest?

The Fog Machine

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.
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How long was Chief Bromden in the ward?

Chief Bromden

He suffers from paranoia and hallucinations, has received multiple electroshock treatments, and has been in the hospital for ten years, longer than any other patient in the ward.
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What mental illness are in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest?

Mac and Susanna are diagnosed with personality disorders: Anti-Social Personality Disorder and Borderline Personality Disorder, respectively.
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Is Chief Bromden crazy?

Chief Bromden is perhaps a paranoid schizophrenic, and as a result he is heavily medicated most of the time. Bromden believes the Combine, a mysterious syndicate, runs everything through the use of machine and human agents like Nurse Ratched and her evil minions, the orderlies.
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How does Bromden describe the ward?

How does Chief Bromden describe the ward? He looks around the ward as a new man might, he catalogues and classifies. Matter-of-fact description, gives the impression of objectivity. Emphasizes the regimentation and depersonalization of the inmates.
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How did Chief Bromden change?

At first, the Chief seems almost a caricature of an old wooden cigar-store Indian, but he grows and changes more than anyone during the course of the film. In the beginning, his defense against Nurse Ratched is complete withdrawal. By pretending to be deaf, he need neither speak nor interact with anyone.
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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 .
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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.
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What do you suppose the fog is is it real Why does the chief need it?

Answers 1. The fog is a metaphor for Bromden's lack of mental clarity, thickening whenever he becomes less stable, receding as he gains confidence. It is not a literal fog. Many patients have been lost in the fog in their desire to remove themselves from reality.
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How does Chief Bromden feel about McMurphy in this chapter?

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Chapter 17

Bromden is amazed that McMurphy can be so strong; he doesn't let anyone else's opinion of him define who he is. There are times when Bromden sees him painting a picture or writing letters to people.
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What tribe is Chief Bromden from?

He is the son of the once-powerful Chinook tribal chief, “The Pine that 'Stands Tallest on the Mountain,'” but his mother, whose surname he bears, was white.
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Was Bromden in the war?

Chief played high school football, which enabled him to travel to different areas. During one out-of-town trip, his team is given a tour of a factory where he meets a young African-American woman who begs him to take her away with him. Fully grown to 6'7", Chief enters the Army during World War II.
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What mental illness does Harding have?

This diagnosis of Delusional Disorder, Persecutory type, would allow Harding's real issue to be confronted (his homosexuality), which Harding demonstrates that he wants to do, but feels he cannot speak the truth about. The setting of this film is in the 1960s, which works against Harding's favor.
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Who is schizophrenic in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest?

Based on the book written by Ken Kesey, Milos Formans' 1975 film adaptation of One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest depicts petty criminal and conman RP McMurphy (Jack Nicholson) who feigns insanity to get out of a prison sentence.
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