"All up the coast I could see signs of what the Combine has accomplished since I was last through this country, things like, for example - a train stopping at a station and laying a string of full-grown men in mirrored suits and machined hats, laying them like a hatch of identical insects, half-life things coming pht-pht-pht out of the last car . . . moving on down the spoiled land to deposit another hatch. Or things like five thousand houses punched out identical by a machine and strung across the hills outside of town, so fresh from the factory they're still linked together like sausages . . . (Kesey 227-228)."
The passage which has been cited from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest may come off as confusing to novice readers or those unfamiliar with the stylistic use of figurative language. So many literary devices are used that one may get lost in the poetic cacophony of the speaker's intentions. The first half of this entry will explain what's really going on, while the second half will focus more on the speaker and the effect he intends to achieve through this passage.
In the events leading up to the appearance of this passage in the novel, McMurphy had been taking his group of patients on their planned fishing trip. As they pass through town, Chief Bromden, who had not seen the outside world in a long time, starts to notice what town looks like and what civilization has achieved so far. It almost feels like the Chief is sizing up the human race and its attempts at establishing a stable society. The Chief refers to the human race as the Combine, comparing it to a well-oiled and structured machine. When the Chief refers to "men in mirrored suits and machined hats" as well as when he refers to the suburban landscape as "five thousand houses punched out identical by a machine . . . so fresh from the factory they're still linked together like sausages," he simply means to establish a universal truth that everything has become the same. By intelligently using metaphor, alliteration, and hyperbole, the reader can see that everything is ordered the same and true to the conformity, for it looks all monotonously similar. This reveals that one of the main focuses of this passage is to recognize the established human conformity and how it appears in relation to the Chief's perspective within the novel.
If one were to look back through the novel and read up on Chief Bromden's character, one would take note that he's not only an Native American in looks, but also still at heart. The Chief has the traditional Native American mentality where he acknowledges and respects that his race was established first. He still seems to look at the white man as different. Keeping all of this information in mind, one could infer that Chief Bromden, who's also the speaker, is seeing all of this civilization as just more means of white colonialism. Through the diction in this passage, comparing the typical businessman to "insects, half-life things," it becomes obvious through close-reading that the comparison wasn't blind or unintentional. By describing them as insects, author Ken Kesey speaking through the Chief hints that the Chief still sees normal businessmen as foreign, and maybe even annoying or insignificant. He strengthens this point by cleverly molding the syntax to place "insects" right by "half-life". It seems pretty far-fetched, but after reading both in succession, one can get the image of a weak, alienated human being. It's almost as if the Chief wants the reader to feel as foreign as he does in this situation.
This passage may seem confusing for some, but if one just slows down long enough to truly take everything in, everything will become crystal clear. One just needs to look at the syntax and the diction as well as the author's intention to determine its true meaning. Remember, just because one has eyes, it doesn't mean they always see.
If one were to look back through the novel and read up on Chief Bromden's character, one would take note that he's not only an Native American in looks, but also still at heart. The Chief has the traditional Native American mentality where he acknowledges and respects that his race was established first. He still seems to look at the white man as different. Keeping all of this information in mind, one could infer that Chief Bromden, who's also the speaker, is seeing all of this civilization as just more means of white colonialism. Through the diction in this passage, comparing the typical businessman to "insects, half-life things," it becomes obvious through close-reading that the comparison wasn't blind or unintentional. By describing them as insects, author Ken Kesey speaking through the Chief hints that the Chief still sees normal businessmen as foreign, and maybe even annoying or insignificant. He strengthens this point by cleverly molding the syntax to place "insects" right by "half-life". It seems pretty far-fetched, but after reading both in succession, one can get the image of a weak, alienated human being. It's almost as if the Chief wants the reader to feel as foreign as he does in this situation.
This passage may seem confusing for some, but if one just slows down long enough to truly take everything in, everything will become crystal clear. One just needs to look at the syntax and the diction as well as the author's intention to determine its true meaning. Remember, just because one has eyes, it doesn't mean they always see.
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