Conversations in the Night

Pages 217 to 224 see what is perhaps the most significant turning point of the novel so far: Bromden has spoken.

It is McMurphy who hears this, naturally, and their ensuing conversation seems to finally bring Bromden's thoughts into a reality more easily perceived by the reader. The gist of their talk focuses on size, with Bromden saying that he can't stand up, that he is simply too small whereas McMurphy is large and tough and much bigger than he. This does not relate to physical size, of course, for McMurphy is initially confused, saying that Bromden is much larger than he. Bromden expands on this, saying that he has been made small, like his father. We learn more about his father's past in a small anecdote here. He was chief of an Oregon tribe until the government basically bought off his people so they could get to the land they lived on. We again see the female gender cast in the role of authority and opponent to independent will as Bromden's mother, in addition to having her husband take her name, is shown to have held significant power over her husband. It is she who eventually convinces him to give up on the land, she who finally forces him to conform to the society's wishes. She is reflected in this role as being described as growing larger than both Bromden and his father combined, even though she was physically smaller than each of them.

Bromden also brings up the Combine, which continues to act in its role of forcing conformity onto the world. McMurphy realizes what Bromden is talking about as he says that Bromden both makes sense, but is also talking crazy - indicating that he realizes what Bromden's Combine delusion really is. Their conversation ends with McMurphy promising Bromden he'll help him get big again after being torn down by the ward, and talking about how he'll be treated better once he is big again.

To all this talk about growing bigger, there is a fairly obvious sexual component. It has been present throughout the novel so far and will likely continue from here. As mentioned before, McMurphy, who is the revolutionary of the ward, believes he has an excess of what he calls "whambam", or sexual energy. By reading between the lines of his conversation with Bromden, we can see that what the two are actually talking about in terms of "size" is also a sexual symbol, particularly when McMurphy takes off Bromden's sheets at the end and observes that he has, "growed a half a foot already" (Kesey 224).

By: Daniel Alexander