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.

Taking the red pill?

I think the motif of hiding is shown directly when Chief Bromden decides not to take the red pill. As an experienced member of the ward, Chief knows the effects of this red pill as he puts it, "...you don't just go to sleep; you're paralyzed with sleep, and all night long you can't wake, no matter what goes on around you." (82) While choosing not to take the pill, Chief is alone among the rest of the ward patients who are paralyzed by the pill. As the staff make their rounds to the patients, Chief hides his alertnes and makes sure he doesn't wake up to them "performing all kinds of horrible crimes" as they do to the patients around them.

I want to acknowledge Bromden's dream because I think it is extremely telling. Although it is clearly a nightmare in combination with his hallucinations and paranoia, if we can sift through the craziness, it tells the reader alot about his own feelings and the combine. Bromden is showing slight sign of emerging out of the fog by not taking his medicine for the first time in years. Also, the entire dream he relates the ward and everything in it to machinery---the hospital is a mechanical slaughterhouse. Throughout the dream he talks about the fog protecting him from being seen and he says, "I hope [McMurphy] knows enough to hide in the fog" (75...your 70ish). Bromden clearly likes McMurphy and wants him to be safe. What he has not put together yet is that McMurphy is not afraid of the ward or the people. But the most important part of the dream is when he suddenly feels exposed and vulnerable. While the reason behind his fears seems to be castration anxiety, he feels McMurphy pulling him and the other patients out of the fog where they will be "easy to get at". he feels vulnerable to the staff and due to his hallucinations, he feels vulnerable to the machine and the combine. In the dream he thinks the ward is a slaughterhouse. While the slaughterhouse murders humans, the ward murders humanity.

In response to Francesca's "Fog" post, I completely agree. The fog is used to cover up the patients character. For instance, when McMurphy is singing in the bathroom people are absolutely shocked! "Singing! Everybody's thunderstruck. They haven't heard such a thing in years, not on this ward"(78). (probably your page 73ish). Bromden then goes on to say that the black boys treat McMurphy differently because he is not fearful of them. This goes into the power of laughter etc. But getting back to how it relates to teh fog and invisibility, McMurphy is slowly pulling the patients out of the fog. He getting them to have opinions and vote in meetings. Thus, he is figuritively, and literally pulling the patients out of the fog that the ward has covered them with.

Hiding behind the Broom

It is also shown when Chief hides himself from other people, particularly McMurphy when he says " And I leaned over and go to mopping with my back to him so he won't see me grin. I feel good, seeing McMurphy get that black boy's goat like not many men could" (91). I feel that this expresses how Chief feels about McMurphy and that he is afraid to show him that he likes McMurphy and that he's happy with him. In this passage he is physically hiding behind his broom but metaphorically he is hiding his true feelings for McMurphy.

FOG

On page 75 there is a quote that describes the environment of the ward and in this quote the "fog" is used to represent there hidden pasts, personalities and feelings. This is shown when chief says "it's lost in the fog, like everything else." The fog is what covers everything up. The nurses in this ward just talk down to them and don't recognize that they are still human beings that have character. The "fog" is covering there hidden self.

Hiding through Hallucinations

Maybe Chief uses his hallucinations as something to hide behind. on page 86 and 87 Chief says, "Right and left there are other things happening just as bad - crazy, horrible things too goofy and outlandish to cry about and too much true to laugh about - but the fog is getting thick enough I don't have to watch." In a way, he is using the mental hallucinations as a crutch to hide from the terrible reality of the mental ward. By living in a "fog" or fantasy world, he doesn't have to acknowledge the atrocities he witnesses every day.