Chief Bromden: Chief Bromden is the narrator of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. It is stated that he is the half-bred son of the Chief of the Columbia Indians. He suffers from hallucinations and intense paranoia; ailments that he has received many electroshock therapy treatments for. He has resided in the hospital for over a decade – far longer than any of the other patients.
Bromden has a tainted view of modern society, believing it to be oppressive and ruled by a collective that he refers to as the Combine. He believes that the Combine sends those who refuse to conform to the mental hospital in order to be reprogramed or beaten until they break. The Chief tells the saga of the mental hospital while strengthening his cognitive abilities and rediscovering himself.
Early on, Chief Bromden receives the nickname “Chief Broom” because he is always instructed to sweep the halls of the facility. He sees himself as being weak, a belief that is likely exaggerated due in part to his constant hallucinations and desire to shield himself from reality. Towards the end of the novel, his perception of himself changes and he discovers the strength to not only defend his friends, but also to stand up for himself.
Randle McMurphy: Randle is regarded as the protagonist of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. He is a large man, with a fondness for card games and boxing. He is covered in tattoos and as a scar across his nose. Previously. McMurphy was sentenced to six months of hard labour at a prison work farm, however, after receiving a diagnoses as a psychopath – for too much fighting and fornication – he was sent to the hospital. He did not contest this transfer, believing that a hospital stay would be much more relaxed than the prison.
McMurphy serves as the unlikely hero in the story, he is the dominating force that challenges the establishment and stands up for those who are victimized. He is representative of freedom, sexuality and determination; all dominant characteristics that contrast those of the patients around him. As the Chief later speculates, McMurphy is not insane, but rather attempting to manipulate the system to his advantage. Later on, McMurphy clearly shows remorse for having believed that the hospital would be a better place for him than the prison farm. He has seen the true power that Nurse Ratched holds over the infirmed and knows that he cannot leave until she says so.
Nurse Ratched: Nurse Ratched is not only the head of the ward, but also one of the most hated villains in all of popular culture. She is the main antagonist of the novel, and a former army nurse. She rules over the mental ward with an iron fist and shows no sign of femininity or humanity. She is stiff, patronizing and mean. Ratched chooses her staff based on how easily they will submit to her commands, furthermore, she degrades her patients by deploying psychologically manipulative tactics engineered to destroy them from the inside out. It is her objective to leach the humanity from the patients left in her charge.
Dale Harding: Dale is an educated man, and the president of the Patient’s Council. Under his guidance, McMurphy learns the reality of life at the hospital. Despite having married a woman, Harding is openly homosexual. He exhibits tremendous difficulty dealing with the outside world’s damning views on homosexuality and commits himself to the hospital in order to hide. His rehabilitation and re-emergence of his sense of self worth are indicative of the success of McMurphy’s fight against Ratched and the establishment. Harding checking himself out of the hospital opens the flood gates for other cured patients and encourages them to leave.
Billy Bibbit: Billy is meek and shy. He has a horrible stutter and appears to be drastically younger than his age. Billy Bibbit has spent his entire life under the pressure of his domineering mother – a close personal friend of Nurse Ratched. Billy checked himself into the hospital voluntarily as he was unable to cope with the world or the people living in it. Despite being able to leave at will, Billy commits suicide after Nurse Ratched threatens to out his behaviour with a prostitute to his mother.
Doctor Spivey: Doctor Spivey is mild mannered, and has an addiction to opiates. The Nurse uses this to her advantage, choosing him to be the doctor on her ward because she knows that he can easily be controlled. However, after McMurphy’s arrival, the Doctor, like the others, begins to stand up for himself. He is often seen supporting McMurphy’s ideas.
Charles Cheswick: Charles was the first patient to show his approval and support for McMurphy’s revolt against Nurse Ratched and her militant regime. Cheswick proves to be a man who talks more than he acts, and later drowns himself when McMurphy does not stand with him when Cheswick finally gains the inner strength to stand up to Nurse Ratched. It is his death that awakens the fight in McMurphy and forces him to recognize that conformity is not the answer.
Candy Starr: Candy is a gorgeous, young and vibrant prostitute. She joins McMurphy and the other men on a fishing trip, and then comes back to the hospital for a late night party.
George Sorenson: Nicknamed ‘Rub-a-Dub George’ due to his extreme fear of dirt, George is a large man and a former seaman. He is recruited by McMurphy to be the captain of their fishing trip. McMurphy comes to George’s defense one day and is sent for electroshock therapy.
Pete Bancini: Pete is one of the patients, because ehe suffered severe brain damage during birth. Pete is constantly telling the other patients and the staff that he is tired, and at one point in the novel remarks that he was born dead.