A straightforward quote that introduces Harding, describes his
appearance and touches upon his personality. The quote
describes Harding as an attractive man through the mentioning
of his broad shoulders and handsome face. The quote also
describes Harding’s more delicate features that contrast with a
traditional sense of handsomeness for a man. The description
of Harding’s hands as long, dainty and pretty clashes with his
broad shoulders and traditionally handsome face. The last part
of the quote also mentions Harding’s tendency to flutter his
hands as he talks and his eagerness to hide them when he
realizes their movement. This habit of Harding’s reflects his
self-consciousness about his appearance and actions; he is
uncomfortable with his delicate hands and suppressive of his
sexuality.
Direct Characterization:
Direct Characterization:
“Harding is a flat, nervous man with a face that sometimes makes you
think you seen him in the movies, like it’s a face too pretty to just be a
guy on the street. He’s got wide, thin shoulders and he curves them in
around his chest when he’s trying to hide inside himself. He’s got hands
so long and white and dainty I think they carved each other out of
soap, and sometimes they get loose and glide around in front of him
free as two white birds until he notices them and traps them between
his knees” (Page 15, PDF)
“You can see Harding sitting on
a towel behind her, looking
skinny in his bathing suit, like
he’s waiting for some big guy to
kick sand on him”
(Page 16, PDF)
This short simple quote encompasses Harding’s selfconscious nature. Harding is often concerned with how
others view his masculinity, he does not like the other
patients talking about his inability to satisfy his wife or his
sexuality. Harding believes his hands, which are described
as thin white and pretty, are a symbol of his unmasculine
nature that he hopes to hide form the other patients.
Harding flinches, and I see his
hands begin to creep out from
between his knees like white
spiders from between two mosscovered tree limbs, up the limbs
toward the joining at the trunk.
(Page 46, PDF)
This exchange of speech between Harding and
McMurphy creates a clear contrast between
the characters and indirectly provides
information about Harding. Harding’s use of
formal speech reveals that he is quite
educated. Harding’s syntax also shows that his
mind is in order and that he is perhaps not in
the ward for any major mental ailment.
Effect on Others:
“The Acutes are grinning now,
not so uneasy any more, and
glad that something out of the
ordinary’s going on. They all
razz Harding, ask him if he’s
bull goose loony. He lays down
his cards.” (Page 15, PDF)
Thoughts:
it bothers him that
he’s got pretty hands
(Page 16, PDF)
This passage describes the patient’s reaction to
Harding being asked if he’s the ‘bull goose looney’ of
the ward. The patients respect Harding as their de
facto leader and look to him to decide whether he is
the bull goose looney. While there is an underlying
taunt in the patients question they none the less
look to Harding to decide whether he is in fact the
‘bull goose looney’
Actions:
Role or Diagnosis:
Additional Information:
“’Yet it seems I have been
accused of a multitude of things,
of jealousy and paranoia, of not
being man enough to satisfy my
wife, of having relations with
male friends of mine’”
(Page 49, PDF)
Here it is finally revealed why Harding, who acts perfectly sane, is in
the ward. Although Harding mentions being accused of paranoia,
among other things, it is most likely his sexual encounters with other
men that landed him in the ward of the mentally ill. One Flew Over
the Cuckoo’s Nest was written in a time when homosexuality was
believed to be an illness and a choice that could be dealt with like
depression or anxiety. It is now known that one cannot choose sexual
preference. Therefore, Harding has no true reason to be kept in a
ward designed for those with extreme mental illnesses.
Speech:
“A ‘pecking party’? I fear
your quaint down-home
speech is wasted on me, my
friend. I have not the
slightest inclination what
you’re talking about.”
(Page 44, PDF)
Looks/Appearance:
This quote is taken from the part of the story
where McMurphy tries to convince Harding that
Nurse Ratched does more harm than good for the
patients. As Harding begins to feel uncomfortable,
and possibly even offended, he moves his hands
closer to him and rests them on his lap. Bromden,
the narrator, makes the comparison of Harding’s
hands to white spiders. This indirect description
of Harding’s hands reiterates what was already
mentioned in the story; Harding was thin long
white hands
Here Bromden does not focus on the specific of
Harding’s appearance but rather on the
impression his overall appearance gives. The
impression given by the description of Harding
is that he is a sorry, perhaps even pathetic,
looking man. The passage also states that
Harding is skinny which further attributes to his
lesser demeanor.
“’He has also stated that his wife’s
ample bosom at times gives him a
feeling of inferiority. So. Does anyone
care to touch upon this subject
further?’ Harding shuts his eyes”
(Page 33, PDF)
This part of the story has Ratched
introduce the topic of Harding’s
wife, a topic he wishes to avoid, at
one of the group meetings.
Harding’s action here shows that
he would rather stay quite and let
the group speak disrespectfully of
his wife than try to divert the
conversation or defend his wife.
Additional Information:
“Harding tries to drawl like McMurphy; it
sounds funny with his high, breathy voice”
(Page 16, PDF)
“Harding tries to grin,
but his face and lips are
so white the grin is lost”
(Page 46, PDF)
This quote is taken while McMurphy is trying to convince Harding that
Ratched does not have the patient’s best interests at heart and that the
men are being stripped of their masculinity. Although Harding knows
what McMurphy says is true he does not want to believe it and tries to
appear unbothered by grinning. Here it can be seen that Harding does not
like others to see when he is bothered, a habit he perhaps acquired from
being the topic of many group meetings.
This quote describes Harding trying to imitate
McMurphy’s manner of speech. It can be
inferred that Harding does this to avoid
appearing weak in front of McMurphy and to try
and match is rugged aura. The reason Harding
relies on imitating McMurphy to appear strong
is because he does not have confidence in his
own masculinity. Harding believes that the
sound of McMurphy’s voice is enough to
diminish his influence on the other patients.