Their showdown is over Eisenhower — whoever voted for him the most is the craziest guy there. McMurphy wins. In his first afternoon group meeting, McMurphy observes how Nurse Ratched pits all the men against one another. McMurphy makes a bet with the guys that he can break Nurse Ratched without destroying himself. After his morning shower, McMurphy shows up in only a towel. He claims his clothes were stolen. So McMurphy has scored a point against Nurse Ratched.
He brings the vote up again at the next meeting. All the Acutes raise their hands — twenty of them. McMurphy goes around to the Chronics, begging one of them to raise their hand.
His belief that the hospital would be more comfortable than the Pendleton Work Farm, where he was serving a six-month sentence, haunts McMurphy later when he discovers the power Nurse Ratched wields over him—that she can send him for electroshock treatments and keep him committed as long as she likes.
Whether insane or not, the hospital is undeniably in control of the fates of its patients. Taber was subjected to electroshock treatments and possibly brain work, which leaves him docile and unable to think. McMurphy undergoes a kind of baptism upon entering the ward, and he slowly gathers disciples around him as he increases his rebellion against Ratched. Though McMurphy has the opportunity to conform to the rules and save himself, he ultimately chooses to fight for the men on the ward.
For a while, McMurphy does conform in order to save himself. At that point he steps up his rebellion. His strength in the face of electroshock therapy makes him an even more powerful symbol to the men on the ward.
He wants to stick around until he can help Billy overcome his fear of women. Although he seems to be winning for a time, Nurse Ratched has the upper-hand. He loses it when Billy Bibbit commits suicide and he tries to strangle Nurse Ratched to death.
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