Pages 116-169
Syllabus: Natalie
Notes: Baergen
Learning Goal:
To discuss the change in McMurphy and how it will shape the future plot of the book
Warm Up:
Watch this scene when Chief votes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XI_4HtIJYDM (note: there is vulgar language but nothing that isn't in the book). Discuss how this version of McMurphy is better or worse than the subdued and patient version of him.
Discussion Questions:
1. Why don't the patients laugh? Are they even able to anymore?
2. How does the motif of machinery add to the perspective of the story? What does this imply?
3. On page 140 Chief explains, "McMurphy wasn't like that. He hadn't let what he looked like run his life one way or the other, any more than he'd let the Combine mill him into fitting where they wanted him to fit." What does this say about the majority of society? How does what we look like shape our lives?
4. What is the significance of Harding's wife? Why is their relationship so bad?
5. After McMurphy exploded in the library, he said he saw "nothing but faces, I guess- just faces" in his dreams on pg. 160. Who are the faces and why do they perturb McMurphy so much?
6. After Bromden had been in the very thick fog for a while we hear one of the black boys say he is sleeping but he still sees the hands go up for the TV vote, does he see the fog when he is awake? How does the fog change the reader's perception of what is said vs. reality?
7. Was Nurse Ratched suspicious of Chief at the beginning of the staff meeting because she thinks he can hear or angry because he raised his hand? How does this add to her fury?
8. When the men were all sitting around the blank screen of the TV, why was Nurse Ratched's power ineffective against them? What made them non-compliant this time?
9. At the beginning of the staff meeting on page 132, Chief explains her stare as drilling through his skull, assuming Nurse Ratched knows her stare is an effective technique (as she uses it frequently) why didn't she stare her hatred at the men when they were watching the blank screen?
10. How will McMurphy escape his commitment? He realizes there is a bigger driving force than just the Nurse so will he do anything about that to be freed from his sentence?
11. What is the significance of Cheswick's death? Why did he die in the pool because his fingers were stuck in a grate?
Closing Activity:
Analyze how the change in McMurphy is affecting Nurse Ratched, Chief, and the Acute followers that McMurphy accumulated during his rebellion and how it did affect Cheswick. Predict McMurphy's next action he will take to get out of the ward.
