Narrator

Character Role Analysis

Chief Bromden

Chief plays the eyes and ears and mouth of the hospital for the reader, an irony given the fact that everybody in the hospital thinks he’s deaf and unable to speak. Because he is underestimated by the patients and the staff, he is able to go everywhere on the ward and overhear and see things that other patients never witness. This knowledge is key to allowing us to understand how the hospital functions and what McMurphy is up against when he pits himself against the system.