Character Analysis
(Click the character infographic to download.)
Cheswick is one of the Acutes, the first patient to support McMurphy when he pits himself against Nurse Ratched. When McMurphy doesn’t support Cheswick in his own stand against Nurse Ratched, Cheswick commits suicide. His suicide shows McMurphy that he has more influence over the men than he realized. It also shows him that conforming to Nurse Ratched just for the sake of his own freedom has consequences for all these men.