Nurse Ratched's authority over the inmates at the ward declined as McMuphy's influence increased. The men on the ward look up to McMurphy like they were his younger siblings. In part 4, Nurse Ratched tries to demolish that influence by revealing the income of the inmates, all but McMuphy's showed a steady decrease. Harding jump to McMurphy's defence saying that they were always told by McMurphy what his intentions were. Another attempt, by the nurse, was having all those who attended the fishing trip to be cleaned. During this event McMurphy and Chief get into a fight with the black boys who tried to forcefully wash George. Afterwards, both men were sentenced to electric shock therapy in Disturbed.
The respect for McMurphy has grown in his absence which forced the Big Nurse to remove him from Disturbed. With help from Turkle, the guys have an orgy with Candy and Sandy. They even plan an escape for McMurphy which unfortunately falls through. Nurse Ratched does her own investigation and see Bill with Candy and sends him to Doctor Spivey saying she was going to tell his mom. He kills himself along the way causing McMurphy to fly into a rage and attack her. She returns a week later and orders a lobotomy for McMurphy putting him in a vegetative state. The man who always stuck by McMurphy, Chief Bromden, puts his friend out of his misery by strangling him and then makes his escape by throwing the control panel through the window.

Cuckoo's Nest 3

The two most significant things that happened in this part of Cuckoo's Nest are one Chief decides to speak, and two McMurphy's fishing trip. These two events added some spice to these otherwise boring characters. Chief opens up to McMurphy at night when they are supposed to be sleeping. Once he starts, Chief finds it difficult to stop talking almost getting caught by one of the black boys when he comes around to figure out Chief's chewing gum mystery. The fishing trip seems to give the men their metaphorical balls back as they become master of their own domains rather than submitting to Nurse Ratched's orders.
In the beginning of the trip there was a few mishaps, but with the help of Doctor Spivey it went away. There were a few more complications which McMuphy's wit got them out of, and soon enough they were on the sea fishing, drinking beers, and enjoying the company of each other. They even seemed normal without Nurse Ratched there putting them down all the time.
The characters further develop, especially Chief Bromden, as the plot progresses. The rest of the group show a sign of some relative independence. Regardless of the change, they all return to the ward with even Doctor Spivey enjoying himself.

Cuckoo's Nest 2

In Part II, McMurphy takes on the role of the main character, as he consumes more of the pages than narrator Cheif Bromden. More of the action of the novel revolves around McMurphy at this point rather than Cheif Bromden, however, because Cheif Bromden is the narrator, only his thoughts appear on the page.
At the group meetings, McMurphy seems to be the most vocal opposition to Nurse Ratched and the staff. However, his most important meeting was the one in which he silently reacts to the rationing of cigarettes. He strategizes his insubordination in a way in which he can go unpunished. He remains silent rather than vocal and sticks his hand through the glass window of Nurse Ratched's office, breaking the glass claiming that it was so spotless that he forget it was there. Everyone in the meeting is stunned, and Nurse Ratched is even fearful.
McMurphy gets permission to assemble and train a basketball team. This establishes McMurphy officially as a leader of his fellow patients. They already admire him, but now he has some given authority over them because he is now the captain of their basketball team. Once the glass is replaced, one of the members intentionally bounce the ball through the glass, causing it to break and also deflating the ball, ending the basketball season. But not before a game between the staff and the patients in which McMurhpy gets a little physical with one of the black boys.

Cuckoo's Nest 1

I feel that reading One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest can be a bit difficult because of the narrator's, a distracted, mysterious "chronic" in a psych ward, delivery. He falls into flashbacks in which a part of his past are revealed, but are never are the flashbacks concluded, leaving gaps in the chronology of Cheif Bromden. We know that his heritage includes American Indian, hence the title "Cheif", he was born on a reservation, and we have a physical description of him. We also know that he is the oldest member of the ward, and has been there the longest. In the ward, he is labled as a "walker" and a "chronic" which means that he is mobile and, by the ward's opinion, does not have a chance for recovery. He plays the role of a deaf and mute person, but as we understand, it is only an act. At this time, however, we still do not have much information on why he is in the psych ward.

The stream of consciousness style used by Kesey is very effective because of the setting and narrator. This feature lends more credibility and adds to the authenticity of the novel. It helps capture the full character of Cheif Bromden rather than having a third person, omniscient narrator.