Suicide In One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest

In the novel One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest a loud and boisterous man by the name of Randall Patrick McMurphy in an attempt to cheat the system is committed to a mental institution. What he does not know is that once he is committed only the head nurse can let him leave. After McMurphy realizes this he confirms this causes one of the patients named Cheswick to commit suicide. Almost immediately after Cheswick’s suicide McMurphy begins to upset the established order of Nurse Ratched and over time convinces the other patients to help me him achieve this goal. Together they begin to cause trouble and their shenanigans start to vex Nurse Ratched. The patients continue to push the boundaries of the rules established by Nurse Ratched. They ask …show more content…
McMurphy then turns to the other patients in the ward and says “But I tried, though”(Kesey 111). Even though he failed, the fact that McMurphy tried boosts the confidence of the other patients and encourages them to assist McMurphy on his quest to upset Nurse Ratched's established order. An example of this is the debate to change the time when the patients are allowed to watch television television so that the patients can view the World Series. At this point many of the patients are on McMurphy’s side and raise their hands but McMurphy is short of a majority. He scours the ward and strives to win over one of the vegetables’ votes, but they are too mentally incapacitated to raise their hand let alone understand what they were voting for in the first place. Nurse Ratched closes the voting, but McMurphy convinces Chief Bromden raises his hand “Twenty-one! The Chief’s vote makes it twenty-one! And by God if that ain’t a majority I’ll eat my hat!”(Kesey 126). Nurse Ratched does not change her mind she simply smiles and says tells McMurphy that the voting is closed. In protest McMurphy refuses to clean and instead watches a blank television. This part of McMurphy’s quest to break nurse Ratched’s