One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest- what was real?

I just finished One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and I really liked it. I wish it would have ended differently, but the conclusion made sense.

Some of Bromden’s descriptions of the ward are obviously flat out hallucinations (the fog, the machines in the walls), but some of them seem to be skewed perceptions of people who are actually there. What do you think the reality of the patient who was nailed to the wall was? What about the man on the Disturbed ward who was attached to a hook?

What a sad, creepy story. I haven’t seen the movie, not sure I want to.

Hm…it’s been too long since I’ve read the book it seems. I don’t recall anything which seemed (purposefully) unreal.

I’ll try to read the book this week and respond.

I heard this on NPR last Thursday, it might interest you: http://weblogs.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=94243978

Interesting. Thanks for the link, beowulff.

I can’t give any real answers because I read the book so long ago, but I did want to point out that the end of either the prologue or chapter one does sort of answer this question, and it’s one of my favorite literary quotes ever:

“But it’s the truth even if it didn’t happen.”

I like that quote, too. :slight_smile:

The patient on the wall and the man on the hook had to have been there in some form, other people saw and interacted with them. Were they being restrained in another way and Bromden imagined the nails and the hook?

I shouldn have read it sooner, it’s out of everyone’s memory now!

If you haven’t seen the movie, do not waste another minute…go out and rent it now! Its definitely in my top ten.

I’ve worked on 4 inpatient psychiatric units if there are specific questions I can answer.

I recently took a trip to Salem and took some photos on the outside. It really is in terrible shape. If I get them posted up soon I’ll share.

I saw a stage production of “Cuckoo’s Nest” years ago, in which the man “nailed” to the wall was presented as real. He was simply a deranged patient who stood against a wall with arms outstretched, imagining that he was hanging from a cross.

At one point, McMurphy pulls the invisible, imaginary nails out of the wall, and the guy limply falls off his “cross.”

I haven’t seen the movie in years, and don’t recall whether it featured a similar scene.

:smack: Of course, that makes the most sense. Thank you, astorian.