On pages 110-112 we see the characters in the book playing a monopoly game. People seem to be enjoying it, and Harding is being his usual self i.e. trying to act really smart and sophisticated. Harding is defying McMurphy's kindness toward Martini, until McMurphy tells him to "Shut up and roll." Chief then notices Harding's hands/fingers-"Harding gathers the dice up with his long fingers, feeling the smooth surfaces with his thumb as if he was blind. The fingers are the same color as the dice and look like they were carved by his other hand. The dice rattle in his hand as he shakes it. They tumble to a stop in front of McMurphy." (112)
It seems this passage is almost going on in slow motion. Chief takes his time, with great detail, to describe this scene. Yet to me it sounds rather unimportant. We already know a good deal about Harding's personality, and it's no surprise he wants to act professional. To me this passage seems pointless, and I don't see why Kesey mentions this moment, along with many others.
Do you think Kesey's all little details are important and interesting?
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4 comments:
I'm glad that you noticed how "slow motion" the scene was going. Kesey really takes a lot of time describing the setting which I think is good. In opposition to you I feel like the little details he includes are meaningful. The reader gets a true sense of what it would be like to play a board game with patients in a mental ward. I also find it interesting how mentally ill Martini is by the way he doesnt understand anything going on in the game and chews the pieces.
I think that if you feel that this scene is unimportant, then you have some serious self-reflecting to do. Kesey is a brilliant writer and personally, I feel that this epitomizes the way that he can really bring a reader into the situation. Chief clearly is not in the right state of mind, and as he narrates, we are inside his head. We hear the reality thoughts, and the thoughts that are a little out of the ordinary. And I ask you chrisr, have you been reading? I don't mean to sound interrogative but I feel that anyone that has been reading would fully understand this.
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