The readers are first introduced to Chief Bromden, the narrator of the novel who has been in the mental hospital for fifteen years. As a "Chronic", a type of patient that cannot be cured, the half Columbia Indian pretended to be deaf and dumb with much success. In the hospital the patients are under the power of Big Nurse Ratched. She was a former army nurse and leads a strict daily routine. She encourages the "Acute" patients, ones that are young enough to 'fix' to spy on and record each other's weaknesses and faults in a big book. In order to maintain her oppressive control, she orders the more rebellious patients to either have lobotomies or to undergo electro-shock therapy.
             One day, R. P McMurphy arrives and right away causes a stir in the ward. He was transferred from the Pendleton Work Camp because he thought it would be much easier to be in the ward and pretend to be whatever the court wanted him to be. In this case it was to be insane. He is not a usual admission. He quickly rebels against the rules and introduces himself to all the patients as a gambling man who loves cards and women. He refuses to conform to the rules of the Big Nurse, but is told by the patients that it is very difficult to do since the Nurse possesses such totalitarian authourity. McMurphy however still makes a bet with the patients, claiming that he could make Nurse Ratched lose her temper before she could make him lose his.
             McMurphy wins his bet when he and the other patients, whom he has also encouraged to rebel stage a protest to change the television schedule so they could watch the World Series. Nurse Ratched becomes infuriated and demands that all patients continue their daily chores scheduled for that time.
             However during free time, McMurphy learns that instead of staying until his original sentence from the work camp was over, he would have to receive permission from the staff, particularly Nurse Ratched to leave the hospital. Because he...