McMurphy’s mispronunciation of Nurse Ratched’s name indicates to the reader that her name indicates aspects of her personality. Rat-shed, obviously, has negative connotations, but the name is also similar sounding to “ratchet” and “wretched.”
Chief writes that McMurphy’s nonconformist behavior reminds him of his Indian father. Both men, he writes, liked to “get the goat” of other men by employing outlandish behavior and nonsequitors to baffle their more rigid opponents.
