From Zero to Hero

Chief Bromden, the native american in OFOCN, had a drastic change in personality at the end of the novel.  Before McMurphy had arrived at the institution, the Chief acted as if he were deaf and dumb.  He would go around cleaning the ward and no one ever suspected anything.  The employees would allow him to be present in staff meetings because they thought he couldn't hear them and Nurse Ratched would never questioned whether he was faking it or not.  The only person who did realize the act was McMurphy.  On page 75, McMurphy tells the Chief to watch out for the attending. Without thinking, the chief immediately laid down.  It was not until McMurphy started to laugh did the Chief realize that he had made a foolish error. This foolish error led McMurphy to discovering his secret.  McMurphy said to him quietly, "Why, you sure did give a jump when I told you that coon was coming, Chief.  I thought somebody told me you was deef."  From that moment on, the chief was more careful about what he did even though McMurphy never shared his secret with anyone in the ward.

As time went on, the chief got comfortable with McMurphy.  On page 186 he finally spoke to him when McMurphy gave him a piece of gum. He replied with the simple phrase, "thank you." That night the chief started to talk uncontrollably about how long he had been acting and everything he had heard through out the years.  McMurphy told him not to worry about his little secret and like before, he did not tell a soul.  It was not until after the fishing trip that the chief started speaking to everyone.  He became McMurphy's close friend and they went through a lot together.  The chief got as big as he used to be, he gained confidence, and he lost fear of the EST.  On page 243 he firmly stated, "I won't cry or yell.  Not with McMurphy here."  In the beginning of the novel he would always start to yell when it came to the shock therapy.  He would also describe the fog.

By the end of the novel, his head was clear.  The fog was gone and he knew exactly what he was after.  He came out of his bubble and became friends with the people of the ward.  One night he even got drunk with the other patients when Candy and Sandy snuck in.  The change was definitely seen on the last page when McMurphy came back from all of his "special therapy".  He looked like a vegetable and the other patients did not believe it.  They started to say that Nurse Ratched had made a man look just like him.  In order to keep McMurphy's legend alive, the chief suffocated him so that the people would not remember him as a vegetable.  In a way, the chief was McMurphy's hero.  He finished McMurphy's work and eventually escaped.  He went from zero to hero.