pages 1- 32/ June 27, 2010
Reading Response #1
At the beginning of the story, the author Ken Kesey, depicts the character of Chief Bromden as a shy and timid person. Chief Bromden allows three black aides to walk all over him and believe that he is deaf and dumb. He is nearly invisible to the other people at the ward. However, his appearance does not reflect his actions and personality. We go on to learn that the Chief is six feet and seven inches tall and rather large in stature. When we are reading stories, we often visualize a characters appearance to match their personality and actions. For example, when we read about a Grandmother, one often visualizes a frail and short woman who is not very friendly. With the larger- than- life stature of Chief Bromden, you would expect him to be the “bully” of the ward and for him to prey upon the three black aides not the other way around. In addition, considering the time the novel was written in (early 1960’s) and the race of the three aides I question why Kesey wrote the novel this way. This leads you to believe that Kesey was pro equality. During this time, people of the African American descent were considered less than Caucasians and were often abused by others. The image of Chief Bromden does not seem to correlate with his action at the beginning of this novel.
