Harding explains the technology and history behind electroshock therapy, which began when psychiatrists observed the calm cattle experienced following a blow to the head with a sledgehammer. The resulting convulsions in some of the cattle resembled epileptic seizures. Inspired, they used electricity to induce seizures to calm upset patients. Harding tells McMurphy that he shouldn’t worry about electroshock because, like lobotomies, the procedure is “out of vogue.” But he also informs McMurphy that Nurse Ratched has the authority to order both procedures. Harding calls lobotomies a “frontal-lobe castration,” adding that if Nurse Ratched “can’t cut below the belt she’ll do it above the eyes.”
The patients discuss if Ratched is the source of the hospital’s problems, and McMurphy pronounces his opinion that she is only one symptom of something larger and more malevolent. This pronouncement confirms Chief’s belief in the Combine. McMurphy tells the Acutes that he’s disappointed that they didn’t tell him that rebelling against Nurse Ratched would make his life worse in the long run. They admit to him that they are voluntary inmates at the hospital and can leave whenever they want. They tell McMurphy that they are not as strong as he, which is why they prefer to stay committed.
