One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Coined by Bromden, this phrase refers to a massive, “nation-wide” social superstructure that coaxes and, when necessary, coerces individuals to comply with society’s norms and rules. The term simultaneously suggests the combined efforts of various entities and the mechanical motion of harvesting and threshing—of people rather than grain. Bromden recognizes the ward as a “factory for the Combine,” designed to reform those who fail to fit into society (36). When he observes the Combine in action, Bromden typically hallucinates mechanical imagery, whether in the building around him or in the people who do the Combine’s bidding. When Bromden leaves the hospital for the fishing trip, he observes the proliferation of identical suburban homes as evidence that the Combine’s work is progressing.

McMurphy introduces himself as a gambler, and his actions back up the point. In addition to spending most of his free time running a gambling table in the ward’s day room, McMurphy frequently makes bets of all kinds with the other patients. Symbolically, McMurphy’s feud with Ratched escalates in much the same way as a game of poker: McMurphy takes progressively larger risks as Ratched tries to call his bluff. In the end, however, neither is bluffing: McMurphy tries to kill Ratched, and she sentences him to the severest punishment available to her: corrective brain surgery. By framing their conflict as a kind of gamble, Kesey emphasizes the high stakes and risks associated with resisting the Combine.

Bromden hallucinates a thick, oppressive fog whenever he senses the Combine acting upon him. In the days and weeks after McMurphy’s arrival, Bromden notices that the fog’s influence decreases, though it comes and goes as Bromden’s awareness fluctuates. When Bromden temporarily loses faith in McMurphy, the fog returns in force, though it again dissipates when Bromden votes or expresses himself in other ways. Though the fog has a certain appeal, carrying as it does the promise of safety, it fades away for good as Bromden grows into a new awareness of self.