One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Language and Communication Quotes

Eventually, Harding's attempts to communicate to the group of patients fall apart. He goes off on a paranoid tangent because he thinks the men are accusing him of being gay, which he says might be true. But the others have no clue what he's talking about.

Chief Bromden is supposedly deaf and dumb, which is why the orderly Mr. Washington gets frustrated when McMurphy keeps talking to him. But McMurphy says it doesn't hurt anyone for him to talk, so Mr. Washington should mind his own business.

McMurphy nearly falls over with glee when he finds out that Chief Bromden has been fooling everyone in the mental hospital to think he's a deaf mute. For him, this is the greatest victory of all against Nurse Ratched's endless efforts to get the men to communicate their thoughts. Chief can communicate, he just chooses not to, maybe because he knows the game is rigged.