Safe back in the fog

On page 123 we notice how chief retreats back into the fog for safety. Chief has come to the realization that the fog enables safety. He explains how McMurphy will never be able to understand the fog and the patients' desire to be safe. This passage truely shows that the fog is the metaphorical hallucination that reflects the continuous motif of Hiding and Invisibility. Chief is unable to see anything that night and because he is blind to things around him. Those around him, as well as him, accept the fog for safety. Chief then seems to spitefully say, "He keeps trying to drag us out of the fog, out in the open where we'd be easy to get at." resenting the fact that he tries to push towards a defiance of Nurse Ratched.

On pages 124-125 Chief goes on a huge rant explaining how back when he was in the army they would fog the airfields when he was in Europe. He uses this as a metaphor similar to the metaphor of the bird hiding in the tree. Chief explains why they used the fog machines in Europe in the army; "We had a whole platoon used to operate fog machines around airfields overseas. Whenever intelligence figured there might be a bombing attack, or if the generals had some secret they wanted to pull-- out of sight, hid so good that even the pies on the base couldnt see what went on-- they fogged the field." Chief uses this as a metaphor for his fog hallucinations that he experiences on the ward. Whenever he feels threatened or nervous or stressed he will have this fog hallucination to try to cover it up and to escape and avoid the threat. He will also do it so that people on the ward, usually big nurse cant see what he is doing. I think it was interesting that Chief reveals the meaning behind his fog hallucinations in this way. He also has the delusion that the ward bought a fog machine from the Army Surplus and installed it in the vents which is obviously not true.

Fear of Nurse Ratched

During the scene where there all in group therapy and McMurphy is urging all the patients to raise there hands in favor of watching world series. When Chief says "Nobody says a thing. There all sunk back out of sight in little pockets of fog. I can barely see them" (114). This comes to show that the patients are trying to act invisible, and were afraid of what Nurse Ratched was going to do with them if they were going to agree with McMurphy. When chief says "there all sunk back out of sight of Nurse Ratched." There fear of Nurse Ratched hides there true feelings of what they desire about the television viewing. There hidden feelings are that they want to side with McMuphy but are too afraid of Nurse Ratched.

Chiefs Death Dream-FROM CONNELL

"Old Rawler. Cut both nuts off and bled to death, sitting right on the can in the latrine, half a dozen people in there with him didnt know it till he fell off the floor, dead. What makes people so impatient is what i cant figure, all the guy had to do was wait" (124). Chief is saying there was no reason for Rawler to kill himself, the ward will eventually kill you. Chief is hiding from his true personality because in the passage before he was thinking about being outdoors, in the nature the picture presented to him. He won't admit the fact that he wants to get out of the ward before he dies.

All Together Now

On page 128, during a particularly strange meeting in which Billy Bibbit's stutter is being discussed, Chief says, "Then the talking fades out altogether; I never knew that to happen before. Maybe Billy's hid himself in the fog too. Maybe all the guys finally and forever crowded back into the fog," (128). Chief has always been able to be extremely observant because of his feigning "deafness", and now, with so many unusual things going on in the ward, he uses his ability to note the behavior of the other patients. Just like he is, the patients are nervous while they anticipate the wrath of Nurse Ratched. They all sense something may happen between McMurphy and Ratched this day, so they take special precautions to "hide" themselves. Usually, the men would be accusing Bibbit of things in order to keep attention on him, but no one is saying anything at all. Chief explains this a little later by saying, "I can't do nothing for you, Billy. You got to understand that as soon as a man goes to help somebody, he leaves himself wide open," (131). No one will stand up for Billy because they don't want to chance that the attention will turn to them. As of now, Nurse Ratched's rage is targeted at McMurphy, and the patients would like to keep it that way. So they hide. The enclose themselves in Chief's fog and wait for something to happen.

On page 123, Chief says, "Nobody complains about all the fog. I know why, now: as bad as it is, you can slip back in it and feel safe. That's what McMurphy can't understand, us wanting to be safe. He keeps trying to drag us out of the fog, out in the open where we'd be easy to get at." I think this shows that while Chief, as well as the other patients, like McMurphy, they're are scared of him. Chief in particular becomes worried that McMurphy will "drag" him out of the fog. There are two aspect of this idea: He is worried that McMurphy will psychologically not allow him to hide behind the fog anymore. Chief likes the fog because it makes him not have to acknowledge what his life is actually like. I think the second reason why Chief in particular is somewhat afriad of McMurphy is that McMurphy is the only one who know's Chief isn't deaf. He could be worried that McMurphy would reveal this fact and the exposure would, one again, drag him out of the fog. Chief is able to resort back to the fog because people think he's deaf and dumb when in reality he's anything but. Exposing his secret would make him entirely vulnerable to not only McMurphy but the staff and other patients.

Just as McMurphy seems to be making significant progress, Bromden starts to remember that the ward is powerful and so is Ratched. McMurphy tries to pull the patients out of the fog by letting them have opinions and personality (fun i.e.; carnival, laughing) but Bromden remembers that no one can beat the Nurse or the combine. Once Bromden starts to think about the power the ward and Racthed have over him the fog comes back. “The more I think about how nothing can be helped, the faster the fog rolls in”(97, your 102ish). Right when Bromden is on the brink of thinking that he might have a tiny bit of freedom, the haze of fog that blinds him and covers up his character comes again. I think he is scared of what freedom will bring. He constantly talks about the fog being safe. For instance, “And I’m glad when it gets thick enough you’re lost in it and can let go, and be safe again”(97). Bromden can “let go” meaning t\let the ward think for him. He is just a little piece of metal in their machine and controls his every thought and action. He feels safe in his position in life because he knows what to expect and doesn’t have to think for himself. However, freedom scares him because he’ll have to make decisions and have his own thoughts.