Machinery Imagery- OFOTCN

The image provided above is that of a combine harvester, not so friendly looking- I know. This machine does several different operations at once; it cuts, threshes, cleans, and finally discharges grain into bulk. It seems to have a very routine system, that if messed up would defeat the purpose of the machine. The farmer wouldn't be happy if this occurred, much like Mrs. Ratched if her system in the ward was broken. The Combine harvester above, can very much depict the Combine in the novel One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest.

The combine harvester gives much of the feeling that Chief describes as the combine in the novel, it's cold, hard, and you can hear it's gears cranking. The combine, depicted in the novel runs the ward, and it's basically a machine-run world. We can relate the ward to this farm; the farm is harvested by the combine harvester, which in-turn depicts the combine in the novel. While the combine harvester obviously resembles the combine, each grain that is being harvested can resemble each person, some come out 'bad' and others just the way they like. each person, or grain, is part of the system that Chief describes.

The farmer, who is running this machine, we can relate to Mrs. Ratched. The farmer moves with the machine, in order to control it. usually gears and nobs move in a certain way that is uniform to the machine; therefore the farmer would most likely be moving like the machine itself. This is much like Mrs. Ratched in the way that she moves, machine-like, with the combine. As she is in control of it, she moves along with it in a robotic manner. Therefore the farmer moves as the combine harvester does, and Mrs. Ratched moves as the combine does. To conclude, the combine harvester can describe the combine in the novel One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest.