blog #4 last page

As I read the last page of this book, I realized how the tone of narration completely reversed from the beginning of the book. He starts out as a weak character, lost in his own mind of machine and fog and as the story goes on, the fog fades more and more and he begins to see things as well as himself more and more clearly and regains self confidence and a sense of individual.  The entire novel is told through Bromden's point of view, which is questionable, but as the story develops, so does his character. The fog he hallucinates helps him slip from reality, "right now she's got the fog machine switched on, and it's rolling in so fast I can't see a thing but her face, rolling in thicker and thicker, and I feel as hopeless and dead as I felt happy a minute ago," (113 Kesey.)  The "fog" clouds his vision of the world, symbolizing  his desire to escape from reality, every time he acts out of fear, the fogs overcomes him as a form of protection, just like his "deafness". He wants to be as invisible as possible, because that kept him safe all through out the years, hes been invisible and lost. How ever on the last page of the book, Bromden is an whole another person, or more accurately, he becomes the person he's suppose to have become this whole time. He is confident, even begins to communicate verbally with McMurphy, no longer hiding behind a shield of invisibility. At the end of the book, Bromden talks about his plans after McMurphy's death and free of Ratched, "I might go to Canada eventually, but i think I'll stop along the Columbia on the way......Mostly, I'd just like to look over the country around the gorge again, just to bring some of it clear in my mind again. I been away a long time" (325 Kesey.) For the first time in the entire book, he is hopeful, looking forward to the days ahead of him, instead of worry about the fog, the shock shop, the black boys, and the before-breakfast Monday shaves. It made me smile and happy on the inside to know McMurphy's rebellion and sacrifice wasn't for nothing, it helped Bromden and many other patients back to who they were before the ward. It gave me a glimpse of their newly found freedom and individuality, a sense of hopefulness that ends the book with a billion and one possibilities.  The ending tone is in such direct contrast with the beginning of the book it almost, almost made me forget what a frightened and weak character Bromden was.