ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST BROMDEN RETURNS TO VISIT HARDING AND MARTINI It was his first time going to a mall; it was the first time he was so thronged by; but it was not the first time he had heard others hissing with awe tremors in their voices, "Look at him! He is huge." "Gee, what a giant!" "Look at the muscle. What a MAN!" The Chief wished that Mac could be with him at that moment, and tell everyone that "He is the MAN!" The Chief thought his first trip to a mall would be the beginning of his normal life, and the end of five years of hard work.
These five years had been harsh for the Chief. He struggled with society, remembering everyday, every minute that he was also living for Mac. By contrast, the twenty years of ward life were comparatively short. In a way, a manipulated life was an easy life.
Mike Harding on Touch 25
Louise Fletcher as Nurse Ratched in the 1975 film.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (film)Five years of hard work had finally paid off. Now he had a stable job, a place to live, a normal life.
Without Mac, I would be in that EST room pretending to be deaf and dumb day after day. Mac changed me, everythingáàeveryoneáàSometimes I wonder about Harding and Martini. How are they doing now? Maybe I should go back and visit them.
Hesitantly, he dialed the phone.
A sexy woman's voice melted through the phone.
"Hello, who is this?" "Hello, may I speak to Mr. Harding?" He choked a little with nervousness.
The woman's voice suddenly transformed with harshness.
"Who's that?... Ah, you must be one of his buddies," she emphasized the word "buddies" with contempt, chewing on it with relish-hatred, "You idiot, don't you know that he died 3 years ago?" There was a shock and a pause.