Part III

Two significant things happen in part III of Cuckoo's Nest; Chief decides to finally speak, and McMurphy's fishing trip. These two events add some spice to these otherwise somewhat uninteresting characters. Chief opens up to McMurphy at night when they are supposed to be sleeping and finds it difficult to stop talking when one of the black boys comes around to figure out Chief's chewing gum mystery. The fishing trip seems to give the men their metaphorical balls back as they become master of their own domains rather than submitting to Nurse Ratched's orders.

The night before the fishing trip, one of the aides come around and scrapes gum from underneath Chief's bed, claiming that he finally figured out how a broke man like Chief could afford gum. He says he never saw Chief go to the canteen to buy anything because he doesn't have any money, but somehow has gum to chew. After the aide leaves, McMurphy rolls over in the bed next to Chief and hands him a piece of gum, and Chief instinctively thanks him without realizing he broke his long silence. Both Chief and McMurphy exchange anectdotes, but quickly then realize they are making too much noise and that they may get caught. Before calling it a night, McMurhpy convinces Chief to come along on the fishing trip under the condition that Chief follows McMurhpy's workout plan to get Chief buff again.

The following morning, McMurhpy's fishing trip plans almost fall through, but with help from the Doctor Spivey, the guys and Candy, the "chaparone" hit the road. When they go to the gas station, the men follow McMurphy's lead of acting as a tough guy when they run into some trouble at the gas station, which boosts their confidence. However, this confidence subsides on the dock while the men working on the docks begin to verbally harass Candy. The once tough guys fall silent, leaving Candy defenseless. They also run into some legal trouble regarding the boat rentle, but McMurhpy decides to take matters into his own hands, punching out the captain and taking the boat anyway.

On the boat, they enjoy masculine activities such as drinking beer, fishing, soaking up the sun with their shirts off, and enjoying Candy's company, especially Billy, who could be regarded as the sweetheart of the group. They all seem to be somewhat normal, almost not even needing to be institutionalized; quite different than they seemed under Nurse Ratched's care.

With the progression of the plot, the characters further develop, especially Chief Bromden. The rest of the group show a sign of some relative independence rather than incompotence as seen during their days in the Combine. Regardless, they all return to the ward, with even Doctor Spivey enjoying himself.