Chief Bromden Character Analysis

The novel OFOTCN and its film adaptation are both exemplary texts encompassing and vividly showcasing key themes relevant to the time of their release, such as the movement towards deinstitutionalisation in the United States. Furthermore, despite the few but significant differences between the two texts, they both successfully tell a riveting story about the portrayal and treatment of patients in a psychiatric ward, and the social authority they were bound by.
The most substantial difference between the film and written form of the text is the apparent significance of Chief Bromden’s character. The novel is solely from the point of view of the Chief; a half-Indian patient who has been at the institution since the end of the Second World War and presents himself to be both deaf and mute. Furthermore, due to his diagnosed schizophrenia, he is often subject to
In the novel, although he is debatably a hero-like figure, there are instances which showcase the rather objectionable aspects of his behaviour such as his numerous violent outbursts, his criminal past, and his short temper. An example of such an outburst can be seen can be witnessed from page 143-145 of the novel where in the span of hours, McMurphy unnecessarily lashes out at both Harding and Martini with no specific reason. He is shown to holler and whilst shuffling, scatters a deck of cards in frustration. The film, although incorporating his criminal past and some of his violent outbursts such as the shattering of Nurse Ratched’s window, softens the negative parts of his behaviour and show McMurphy to be the true hero of the film; the one attempting to question the authority which binds the patients. This may be due to the fact that as the significance of Chief’s character falls secondary to that of McMurphy’s in the film, it would be relatively more difficult for him to be seen as a questionable