Cagey

pages 164-196/July 14, 2010

Reading Response #6

The author, Ken Kesey, repeatedly uses the word “cagey” throughout the book. I think that it is interesting that he frequently uses the word in different contexts, which allows the word to have different meanings. This word corresponds with the characters in the text almost being confined to the ward until it is appropriate for them to go back and live their lives in the “normal” world; almost as if they were animals caged and secluded from the outside world forever. In the book, on page 3, it says, “They don’t bother not talking out loud about their hate secrets when I’m nearby because they think I’m deaf and dumb. Everybody thinks so. I’m cagey enough to fool them that much. If my being half Indian ever helped me in any way in this dirty life, it helped me being cagey, helped me all these years”. Chief Bromden is telling us about the situation that has been created. Within this context, the word cagey has been used to describe the chief as smart or intelligent enough to make others believe that he is deaf and dumb. Throughout the book, this word appears again, but with the meaning of being quite and kept inward. I think that Ken Kesey purposefully chose this word because it could be used in many different contexts but is also relevant in the setting of this novel.