Cuckoo’s Nest Chapter Questions
Chapter 1:
Discuss the opening of the novel: What do we learn about our narrator and his position on the ward? What do we learn about power constellations from the first page alone? (up to “… helped me all these years.” Cite and analyze the evidence!
Discuss the Chief’s description of Nurse Ratched’s entrance: What do we learn about her character based on the initial description on page 10? How does Kesey use imagery (especially visual and auditory) to establish her character before she even says a word? Cite and analyze the evidence!
Analyze the description of Big Nurse’s confrontation with the black boys: What does her
“transformation” suggest about her role on the ward and the society of the ward itself? What does it tell us about the Chief? Cite and analyze the evidence!
Analyze the description of how Nurse Ratched behaves when she sees the patients (bottom of page 11/5-6 in “big” book); what does this description suggest about her character, and about the theme of gender roles? Cite and analyze the evidence!
What happens when the orderlies try to shave Chief Bromden? What’s up with the fog? Cite and analyze the evidence!
Explain the significance of the two hunting “flashbacks” on pages 12 and 13 (pp. 6-8 in big book)? How do these relate to what’s happening on the ward, specifically with regard to the
Chief’s experiences? Cite and analyze the evidence!
Based on the evidence so far, what might the Combine be?
Chapter 2:
According to the Chief, what usually happens when a new Admission arrives on the ward? What does this suggest about power relationships? Cite and analyze the evidence!
How does Kesey (through the Chief) establish McMurphy’s character before he even appears?
How does this use of auditory imagery relate to the end of Chapter One, when the Chief says that the story is “gonna roar outta me like floodwaters” (13/8), and the overarching motif of muteness and remaining silent? What might this connection suggest about McMurphy’s effect on the
Chief? Cite and analyze the evidence!
What does the imagery of McMurphy’s walk (auditory through the description of sound) remind you of? Support your claim by analyzing the evidence!
What is significant about McMurphy’s laugh? Why would no one have laughed like that on the ward in years? What does this kind of laugh, or the lack thereof, signify? Cite and analyze the evidence!

Cuckoo’s Nest Chapter Questions
According to McMurphy, why did he request a transfer to the hospital?
In what way is McMurphy’s comment about how “they” define a psychopath highly significant, beyond its humorous effect? What does this comment suggest about society? Cite and analyze the evidence!
Chapter 3:
Discuss both the “official” and the real purpose of the log book: How does this practice enforce the kind of order and conformity that Nurse Ratched wants? Cite and analyze the evidence!
Discuss the Chief’s description of Ellis and Ruckly: What happened to them? Why, according to the Chief, is Ruckly “better off” than those who undergo a “successful” installation? (he is referring to lobotomy). Cite and analyze the evidence!
How does Nurse Ratched use the Acutes’ fear of the Chronics to maintain “order” on the ward?
Cite and analyze the evidence!
What’s ironic about the description of the brass plaque that hangs on the ward (both what it days and its placement)? Cite and analyze the evidence!
Look at the simile Kesey uses on page 22/19 when describing the way McMurphy makes the
Acutes uneasy; how does this comparison relate to the greater themes of power/authority, and conformity? Why does the Chief mention dials on a control panel here? Cite and analyze the evidence!
Describe McMurphy’s exchange with Harding: What does this dialogue remind you of (think film genre)? What does this exchange suggest about the theme of masculine identity and its absence in the ward? Cite and analyze the evidence!
Why does McMurphy laugh when he comes to shake the Chief’s hand? What does this suggest about his possible influence on the Chief and others? Cite and analyze the evidence!
Compare the descriptions of Harding’s and McMurphy’s hands: what does the contrast tell you?
Cite and analyze the evidence!

Cuckoo’s Nest Chapter Questions
Chapter 4:
What does the description of Nurse Ratched’s actions during her conversation with the “little nurse” regarding McMurphy suggest about her means of dealing with him? Look at the imagery and diction (word choice). (First two pages of Chapter 4) Cite and analyze the evidence!
Discuss the Chief’s description of Nurse Ratched’s method of choosing personnel and its relation to the machinery/electronics metaphor. Cite and analyze the evidence!
How does the daily routine on the ward serve to emasculate the patients and fortify Nurse
Ratched’s power? Cite and analyze the evidence!
Discuss the description of what happened to Mr. Taber: How does this tie into the theme of suppression of masculinity? Cite and analyze the evidence!
Examine the description of the Pubic Relations man and discuss its significance. Cite and analyze the evidence!
What is the purpose of the Chief’s flashback to the cotton mill? Connect this experience to what is happening on the ward. Where are the parallels? Why does the “humming” of the ward make the Chief think of his experience at the cotton mill? Cite and analyze the evidence!
Examine the irony of the paragraphs at the end of the chapter, beginning with: “Yes. This is what
I know.” (40-41) Cite and analyze the evidence!
Chapter 5:
Discuss the power struggle that takes place between Nurse Ratched and McMurphy at the Group
Meeting: At what points does McMurphy seem to have the upper hand? At what points does the
Nurse seem to? Cite and analyze the evidence!
What is the significance of Old Pete’s character? How was his uprising heroic, in a sense? What cartoon hero does he resemble in the Chief’s description of him when he attacks? What is he trying to tell the Acutes, really? How does the meaning of “I’m tired” change from the beginning of his outburst to the end? Cite and analyze the evidence!

Cuckoo’s Nest Chapter Questions
Explain McMurphy’s pecking party analogy and Harding’s reaction to it. Cite and analyze the evidence!
What is Harding’s “rabbit” theory? Cite and analyze the evidence!
Why do you think Kesey uses images of crucifixion when he has Harding describe Electro Shock
Therapy? How might this connect to the larger meaning of the novel? Cite and analyze the evidence!
What, according to Harding’s insinuation, is the way - other than laughing at her - to show a woman “who’s boss”? Will this work for McMurphy? (Note - this is an extremely misogynistic passage). Cite and analyze the evidence!
What does McMurphy bet he can do? What is his primary motivation for making this bet? Cite and analyze the evidence!
Chapter 6:
What is the point of the opening of the chapter (the anecdote about Christmas night)? Why do you think Kesey included it? Cite and analyze the evidence!
What effect does McMurphy have on the time control and the fog that the Chief claims the patients are normally subjected to? How might this be significant in a larger sense? Cite and analyze the evidence!
What does Harding tell Mac about the music, and how does Mack react? What kind of music is this? Cite and analyze the evidence!
Discuss the humor of the scene when Mack approaches the night nurse, Ms. Pilbow, as she is distributing pills. Cite and analyze the evidence!
Take note of Mack’s shorts!
Chapter 7
This chapter consists of a hallucination/nightmare that the Chief has after he doesn’t take his mind-numbing medication. Although we know that the chief’s truth may not be literal, what could be the metaphorical truth of what he sees in his nightmare? What is the point of these images and details? Cite and analyze the evidence!
Chapter 8

Cuckoo’s Nest Chapter Questions
Analyze the Chief’s ideas on how Mack was missed by the Combine (84). What are the possible reasons? How do these reasons suggest a strong criticism of society? Cite and analyze the evidence!
Discuss Mack’s comments about the toothpaste rule (85/93-94) – what is Kesey suggesting through the use of irony here? Cite and analyze the evidence!
What is the significance of the Chief’s memory of his father at this point in the chapter (86/94-
95). How is Mack like his father? What does he mean when he says: “I forget sometimes what laughter can do?” Cite and analyze the evidence!
Why does Mack’s appearance in a towel “shrink” Big Nurse? What is Kesey suggesting about the connection between power, sexuality, and gender roles here? (87/96-97). Cite and analyze the evidence!
How does Nurse Ratched “recover” from her shock of seeing Mack in his towel? What does she do to reassert her power? Cite and analyze the evidence!
How do the lyrics to the song Mack is singing actually support his role in this scene? Cite and analyze the evidence!
Chapter 9: Trace Nurse Ratched’s reactions the developments at the one o’clock meeting; what points does Mack “win”? How do we know, based on the Nurse’s reactions, when he’s got the upper hand? Which of the Nurse’s reactions tell us that she is not to be beaten so easily? How does the chapter end? What does the fog’s return have to do with what the Chief concludes at the end of the chapter? Cite and analyze the evidence!
Chapter 11:
Discuss the patients’ reasons for not voting to watch the World Series as Mack would like? Cite and analyze the evidence!
What is the significance of Mack’s attempt to lift the control panel? Cite and analyze the evidence!
Chapters 13 and 14
These are very short – what is their significance?