The narrator Chief Bromden is a man pretending to be deaf who lives and mops in a mentally deficient ward of a hospital in the Pacific Northwest. He often suffers from his medication the hallucination of fog. Miss Ratched, or "Big Nurse", is the leader who runs the whole ward, and she has hired minions called the "black boys" who do her dirty work. Every day the mentally ill are put into a room where they can play cards and make mindless chatter. There are the Acutes, who still have a good portion of their sanity (and have a chance to be released), and the Chronics, who don't. Nothing ever changes at the ward, until the admission of R. P. McMurphy.
             McMurphy immediately assumes the leadership position among the Acutes. He is different then all of the people in the ward because of not only his persevering, sparkling attitude and friendliness, but also because he is actually sane. McMurphy tells the Acutes of his history in logging, gambling, and crime, and then begins to gamble with anyone who wanted (McMurphy got arrested for statutory rape, coming from this lifestyle. He pleaded insane so that he wouldn't have to do labor for his crime.). Later, during a group therapy session, McMurphy becomes disgusted with how the patients spy on each other to get a reward from Miss Ratched. He recognizes their overall fear of Miss Ratched and reveals his plan to bring her down.
             First, McMurphy creates himself to be a major annoyance, by singing when he's not supposed to. Then he starts asking for things that he knows he can't have, and wearing just a towel, which flusters Miss Ratched. Then, McMurphy fights for the patients, like creating a separate game room free from the loud music that Miss Ratched insists on having. When McMurphy asks the patients to vote for watching the World Series, however, the patients cowardly decline the offer. McMurphy demonstrates his strength and wins the Acutes&apos
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