Cuckoo Themes

I think one of the biggest themes in the book was to have the guts to even attempt to overthrow a higher power. In the book this is one of the most viewed themes, in the movie you see some moments where it appears but isn't as strongly pushed as in the book. I also think chiefs' narration also helps to see the combine as a whole not just through McMurphy and Big nurse. Chief lets us get everything that's going on like the staff meetings the green slime on the walls, his visions in the fog and everything. The film rushes everything and reduces chiefs part dramatically. Another theme that ties into the first is the members struggling to fit into society. In the book its one of McMurphys main goals to get them to understand that they can easily fit into a normal society. But the movie kills that theme by depicting everyone as completely loony. The book they seem like they actually could just fit right in to normal society. But the movie makes you think that they are better off leaving them in the combine.