One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest Language and Communication Quotes

How we cite our quotes: All quotations are from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

Quote #1

Ratched: He also thinks he may have given her reason to seek sexual attention elsewhere, but he wasn't able to say how.

Mr. Harding is hesitant to say why he thinks his wife might have wanted sex from other men. It might be because Harding is secretly gay or because he doesn't think much of his own sexual abilities. The truth is we'll never know because he's unwilling (or unable) to communicate his deepest doubts.

Quote #2

Mr. Harding: The only thing I can really speculate on, Nurse Ratched, is the very existence of my life with or without my wife in terms of the human relationships, the juxtaposition of one person to another. The form, the content.

Whenever he's presented with a stressful question, Harding tends to revert to a bunch of intellectual nonsense that doesn't really mean anything. But he seems totally convinced that he's speaking clearly, which leads to a lot of misunderstandings between him and the other patients.

Quote #3

Max Taber: Harding, why don't you knock off that bulls*** and get to the point?

Max Taber doesn't have much patience for the times when Harding goes off on his intellectual nonsense rants. He snaps and tells Harding to get to the point. We can already see communication breaking down because of vagueness on Harding's side and frustration on Taber's side.