The fact the he believes that makes him extremely weak.
Despite being six feet and seven inches tall, people around him belittles Chief Bromden for a long time. Because of this, he thinks that he once used to be big, but not anymore at the present (Kesey 18). The time that McMurphy starts to pull him out of the fog, he came to the realization regarding the source of the charade of the Chief (Bloom 27). This charade takes into account that Chief Bromden was not the one who started acting deaf; it is the people who started it. This is because people started to act as if he was too dumb for him to hear what they were saying. Through this, it becomes clear that he tries to act insane while he is sane (Kappel 16).
In one telling experience, when Chief Bromden was only 10 years old, three officials from the government came to see his father regarding buying the land that belonged to the tribe. This was for the purpose of building a hydroelectric dam on the land. However, Chief Bromden was home alone, and when he tries to speak to the government officials, they behaved as if he was not there (Porter 8). This consequence of this experience is the one which sowed the seeds for his own withdrawal, and then initiated the mistreatment of the outside world. Since this time, all people regarded him as deaf and dumb. .
The primary reason behind hospitalization of Bromden is cloaked in ambiguity. However, he may have had a significant mental breakdown because of witnessing the decline of his own father (Kesey 43). In addition, this may be because of witnessing the horrors of the fights during the Second World War. These two possible scenarios take into account an emasculating, as well as controlling authority. In the first scenario, it takes into consideration the government officials; while in the second scenario involve the army in the war (Bloom 33). The two authority figures contribute significantly in providing Chief Bromden with fodder for his dark vision with regard to the society.
