One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest Study Questions

While you watch the film, think about and answer the following questions, on a separate
sheet of paper:

1. Is R.P. McMurphy crazy? Why or why not?

2. Is Chief mentally ill? Why or why not?
3. Which characters would you say were mentally insane? Describe their symptoms.
4. Why does Billy do what he does at the end?
5. Why is Harding there?
6. Why don’t Chief and McMurphy leave when they have the chance?
7. Why does McMurphy get upset with the rest of the patients when he finds out that
they are voluntary admissions?
8. Do you think that this represents the environment of a mental hospital during this
time period?
9. Why did all the patients disappear from the hallway upstairs when the doctor
entered? (This was before the ECT was performed)
10. What were the doctors trying to accomplish with the ECT?
11. What do you notice about the music?
12. What happened physically to McMurphy at the end?
13. Why does the Chief do what he does at the end to McMurphy?
14. Who are the attendants on this floor? How do they differ from the attendants on
the other floors?
15. How do the floors differ? What is the significance of those changes, what do they
hope to accomplish?
16. What actors do you recognize?

Cast of Characters:

Patients
 R. P. McMurphy
 Billy Bibbit
 Chief Bromden
 Dale Harding
 Charlie Cheswick
 Martini
 Taber
 Pete Bancini
 Scanlon
 Frederickson
 Sefelt
Staff
 Nurse Ratched
 Nurse Pilbow
 Dr. Spivey
 Turkle
 Warren, Washington, Williams