I don't think he was. To me the book was about an individual's struggle against the system that can and will grind you down.

I remember when I came across this book in the library as a 14 year old. I sat down on the floor and just read and read. One of those first sentences of the book when you just know - this is going to be something huge.

Its difficult to say I think, simply because the understanding of mental health was wildly different when the book was written.

Its quite possible it was intended by the understanding of the time that he was not supposed to be there but by today's knowledge he may be diagnosed with something!

Question is was McMurphy even real. Or at least is he actually the person the Chief depicts.

The book was about the power of an institution to fuck ppl up. It's told by Chief Bromden who rebels because of (or at least after) what he sees happen to McMurphy.

Bromden was clearly ill. He's not a reliable narrator.

Different case with the film in this case the story is face value and Mac is in the Ward to avoid real jail. He is ill and a pathological anti-authoritarian figure but he's not suitable for or in need of a psychiatric hospital.

McMurphy was on a work farm and faked mental illness to get off of the farm. McMurphy thought that he would do the rest of his sentence in the hospital until one of the orderlies told him that it didn't work that way.

I've not read the book but seen the film. According to research around at the time of writing there was the beginnings of recognition that institutions themselves can make you ill. It's the pioneering work of Erving Goffman, who called the problem institutionalisation. His work plus further research eventually led to some (but not enough) reform of various institutions including psychiatric hospitals.

The implication is that you could go into a place like that and even a perfectly healthy person could be destabilised . We have to ask what should a sane person do in the face of institutional bullying and manipulation ? Is it right or helpful to go passive for the sake of a quiet life?

No. The book is about the struggle of the individual against an uncaring and cruel system designed to force conformity. McMurphy isn’t mentally ill; he’s human

I think Nurse Ratchet tightened his screws more than she should've. I feel like he was out of balance and she was cruel. One of the best books I read in school.

Complicated question. Where to draw the line between normal human behaviour and mental illness is one of the key themes of the book.

McMurphy probably had some narcissistic tendencies. He definitely didn’t know how to get appropriate attention.

I definitely understand what you mean. Whenever I choose a new book in a bookstore I read the first few sentences. Sometimes even if its a highly recommended book I might pass on it just cause I didn’t like the opening. But when it clicks.. you just know you gotta take it!

He was psychopath

It’s about the conflict between the idea of liberty and the reality of it. The takeaway is “authoritarian institutions see anti-authoritarians as their mortal enemies and make special effort to crush them.”

Chief Bromden gets well and breaks free because he keeps his mouth shut and stays out of trouble.

I think he may have had what we now call "anger management issues", which led to his brushes with the law. At one point, I believe he was at a fork in the road, and he decided to play up the "maybe I'm crazy" angle, so he would go to a mental facility, instead of a violent prison. This is all speculation...

I think despite his deviant behaviors; many of which I'm sure could fall into some DSM 5 categories, his attempted strangulation of Ms. Ratched was symbolic of the despair and fury many reasonable people would feel when broken by all the heartless machinery and corrupted authority in the world.

No. He was gaming the system but then entered into something he did not expect

She had just caused >!billy to kill himself by playing on billys mental illness and his codependency was on his mother. He had also bore witness to all of her other controlling manipulative ways with the patients that had no voice!< he was justifiably anger at the control she used to world power over the weak. It’s almost like it was a metaphor for voiceless in society.

Love the book. I don’t interpret him as being mentally ill. It’s like you say that he was provoked. If anything, his actions make the most sense in that moment because her control and dehumanizing/emasculating approach is responsible for the death of someone and McMurphy stands up for that person. We can all see what she did is wrong, and we root for him in that moment. He sacrifices himself for the justice of the innocent.

well he was in an institution

Everyone who questions Nurse Ratched is mentally ill

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I think he had a social disorder of some type. Hints of antisocial tendencies at least. I wonder if he had abuse or neglect in his past; it could have influenced his quickness to anger and confrontation. It’s been ages since I read the book but the scene in the film adaptation where the psychiatrists are discussing whether he truly belongs there or not seemed to indicate this was the paradox of his character.

He had antisocial personality disorder, meaning “against society“. It’s pretty much the same thing as being a sociopath. I think the killing was a mercy killing.

No. He wanted to go to a mental institution vs. prison.

It has been ages since I read the book or watched the movie, however my understanding has always been that McMurphy conned his way into a mental institution to avoid what he imagined was the harsher reality of serving a term in prison.

I think it is the juxtaposition of a 'sane' person held in a psychiatric ward that gives the audience a lens through which to view the conditions of the institution and possibly how McMurphy was caught up in his struggle against the system.

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IT! Definitely disturbing to me. But maybe it had something to do with reading it as a kid. I probably wouldn't find it as disturbing now.