1. Why was it necessary for Kesey to end the book with such a large show from McMurphy's side?
The party at the end was not just a show of power from McMurphy to Big Nurse, but it was also a way to show how far McMurphy had brought all of the characters. Billy was able to actually have a relationship of sorts with a woman, with the kind of woman who his mother would not have liked him to have. Harding was able to show off his reasonable side in trying to get everyone to clean up, and most of all, the Chief was actually able to take part at all. The fact that he was one of the ones present really shows that he has come a long way; not only does he dare to do something that Big Nurse would not like, but he also ends up interacting with the rest of the patients in a reasonable manner.
2. Was it ever possible for McMurphy to "win" the battle between him and Big Nurse? And I don't mean metaphorically, but physically.
While McMurphy did technically win the battle, he won at the cost of his life. Everyone else benefited save him. He was allowed to win in that the patients all began to leave, but McMurphy himself did not. The thing about this is that the Big Nurse had ultimate power over him. If he had run away then maybe he would have in effect won, but all in all, as long as he stayed in the ward, Big Nurse would have cut him off, had him lobotomized as she did.
3. In what ways did the other acutes add to the story?
The acutes showed how McMurphy was actually helping the ward, rather than just causing havoc for fun. Though he seemed to be doing things just for his own good, thanks to his development with the other acutes he was allowed to blur the line between selfish and self-sacrificing. Because of the acutes you can sit and debate McMurphy's reasons all you wish, but in the end the fact remains that for whatever reason he did it, he ended up helping these patients out.
4. How was Harding used to develop McMurphy?
Harding seemed to me to almost be a foil to McMurphy, an example in which the foil characters can actually get along. Harding seemed to be nervous, nitpicky and unsure of himself, quiet and allowing others to do as they wished; meanwhile, McMurphy was loud and boisterous, quite sure of himself and willing to point out to other people what he thought. However they are both friends, and they do both share the fact that they are smart, though they appear to me to be smart in different ways. Harding seems more book-smart, while McMurphy is more cunning. Allowing these two characters to work together, with McMurphy's personality bouncing off of Harding's, it characterized McMurphy much more strongly than he would have been otherwise.
