One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Character Analysis Essay
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At the start of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Chief Bromden is one of the most pathetic characters on the ward. Physically he is gigantic; specifically 6 foot 8 inches and about 280 pounds. His ethnic background is half-white and half-Native American, which has resulted in belittlement from both the staff of the ward, and The Combine alike. Due to this continual mental deprecation Bromden has been committed longer than anybody else; making little progress in the ward. There is even evidence in the novel that overtime, Bromden’s overall sanity has deteriorated further. To a certain degree, Bromden is the character that the reader is able to understand most thoroughly. This is because of his unique position of the narrator of the novel. The whole entirety of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, is set through Bromden’s eyes. In contrast to some of the other characters…show more content… The stereotype that all Native Americans are unintelligent and uncivilized people has caused Bromden to truly not aspire to do anything. Ever since Bromden was a child, people have not treated him with minimal respect. This idea is presented in a story Bromden reveals through his narration. The story is about two appraisers who come to Bromden’s childhood residence to estimate the worth of the land, in order to sell it to the government. The two men do not even treat Bromden like a person. As they look for the owner of the land, Bromden’s father, the men talk around Bromden unaware and uninterested that he speaks English, and might have something valuable. Even when Bromden speaks he recalls, “…that they don’t look like they’d heard me talk at all. They aren’t even looking at me,” (Kesey 200). This is one of the first times Bromden recalls being treated inhumanly. A series of encounters like this eventually leads to his behavior of acting deaf throughout a majority of his time on the